Trainer Lise Pruitt with Noble Escape. (George Williams)
By G.S. Thompson
The training track is open at ASD, and more trainers are shipping in daily.
Over 100 horses are on the grounds now with trainers Wendy Anderson, Jared Brown, Terry Cole, Ray Gardipy, Tom Gardipy Jr., Steve Gaskin, Devon Gittens, Jerry Gourneau, Mike Taphorn, Judy Hunter, Courtney Ross, Craig Smith, and Lise Pruitt. Reigning leading trainer Steve Keplin Jr., Jason Homer, Mike Nault, and Rick Wise are expected this week.
You can tell Pruitt is happy to be back in action. We caught up with her in the barn on Thursday morning, where she had hay spread on the ground in front of her stalls, and a big gelding named Noble Escape was trying to rest his chin on her shoulder. It is hard to imagine a better picture of the sport getting itself back together after a long winter.
Pruitt is heading into the 2025 season with 14 horses and expects to be at around 18 to 20 by opening day. Nearly all of them belong to owner/breeder Barry Arnason, and most are young Manitoba-breds still working toward becoming something.
“We’ve just got a lot of young horses that have to become stars,” said Lise.
Happy horses with lots of food in front of them in Lise Pruitt’s barn. (George Williams)
Her early favourite among them is a filly named Neytiri, a three-year-old who earned roughly $30,000 as a two-year-old, placing in the Debutante Stakes. The name comes straight from the Avatar films.
“Her mom is Avatari,” said Lise. “I watched that movie because of her breeding. I said, who’s the blue girl that fell in love with Jake? And that’s her.”
The horse Pruitt is watching most closely may be Saint George, a Florida-bred that Arnason purchased after the colt posted the fastest three-eighths work at the OBS sale and broke his maiden here convincingly.
On the help side, Pruitt has her most trusted people back. Groom Richie Ricketts is in the barn, and Syd Blackwood, who has been on the grounds for well over a decade, will be galloping horses for her. “He’s my trusted man,” said Lise.
She’s also got Chad Forbes galloping horses. Forbes is a jockey from Jamaica who was at Assiniboia Downs two years ago, moved to Hastings Park for a season, and came back when Hastings cancelled its meet.
“He’s a hell of a galloper, and he’s doing a fantastic job,” said Lise.
The rider everyone connected to Pruitt’s barn is watching is her daughter Ciera, who finished 2025 with 12 wins and is returning as an apprentice with the weight allowance advantage intact. She spent the winter in Tampa working for trainer Craig Smith, staying away from race riding to protect her apprenticeship status for the upcoming season at ASD.
“She got better and better every time she rode a horse,” said Lise. “This year is go time.”
Most of last year’s talented jockeys, and some new fresh talent, many of them from the Caribbean, are expected back this year, including leading rider Damario Bynoe and three-time champion Antonio Whitehall, along with Ronald Ali, Sven Balroop, Shavon Belle, Mathew Bennett, Rashawn Brewster, Arthur Budhu, Sheldon Chickeness, Renaldo Cumberbatch, Dario Dalrymple, Roger Hewitt, Rachaad Knights, Javaniel Patterson, Devante Prescod, Ciera Pruitt, Lenny Seecharan, Neville Stephenson, Shavon Townsend, Omar Walker and Jeremiah Worrell.
Horses are being readied. The live racing season is coming fast, on Tuesday, May 12.