2025 ASD leading trainer Steve Keplin, Jr. (right) in the winner’s circle after his victory in the Chantilly Stakes with Gina’s Serenade for owner Arnason Farms. (Jason Halstead / Assiniboia photo)
by G. S. Thompson
2025 Assiniboia Downs leading trainer Steve Keplin, Jr. is chomping at the bit to get back to the Downs for 2026, and his stable will have a slightly different makeup this year, but some of his 2025 stars are already in training.
The 32-year-old Turtle Mountain Chippewa from Belcourt, N.D., who won numerous stakes races last season, is taking a quality-over-quantity approach this year, shooting for a stable of around a dozen horses rather than the 25-30 he cycled through in 2025.
“I’m trying to have around the dozen mark, with a little bit more quality,” said Keplin, who plans to ship back to the Downs in mid-April, three to four weeks before the meet opens. Three of his 2025 stars, triple-stakes winner Judo, and stakes-placed Marvelous Lady and Up Striker, are already in training at Fonner Park in Nebraska after 90 days off.
Keplin claimed Judo for $12,500 at Turfway Park in December 2024 and guided him to a stellar season at Assiniboia Downs in 2025 with three straight stakes wins including the Free Press, the R. J. Speers Memorial, and the Harvey Warner Manitoba Mile. Judo also finished second in the Already Dia Overnight Stakes and the Gold Cup, and led all earners at Assiniboia Downs with US$81,749 from a record of 4-1-1 in seven starts.
“I think he got the rest he needed after the meet,” said Keplin. “He hadn’t had any time off before. He should be back to his old self now.”
Keplin also won stakes in 2025 with Gina’s Serenade and Sophia’s Storm. The former won the Honorable Lady Overnight Stakes and the Chantilly, and the latter won Red Berry Overnight Stakes and the La Verendrye.
Keplin’s success comes naturally as a result of lessons from his father, Steve Keplin, Sr., who taught him, “a lot of the old horseman stuff.”
Growing up, money was tight. Keplin remembers trips with his dad to buy horses where they had to sleep in the trailer or truck overnight because they were “a little bit short on cash.” The horses they could afford rarely cost more than $1,000 or $1,500.
“I remember the tough times,” said Keplin. “But my dad did well with what he had. I feel very blessed that something I dreamed about growing up actually became a reality.”
That dream took hold when he was about 12 or 13 years old during a trip to Winnipeg with his father. They were stabled next to longtime friend and Downs all-time leading trainer Gary Danelson, and young Steve walked in to see Danelson’s assistant trainer Walter at work.
“There were horses hand walking, and there were big deep beds, and Walter was patting down a stall with a lot of straw,” said Keplin. “I just thought right then, this is what I want to do. That was my first real memory of wanting to be a trainer.”
Now, with top owners like Barry Arnason and others putting up the money, Keplin is living the dream. “We have a little bit more money behind us now, and I’ve got a couple guys coming forward and trying to be a part of the team. I never had these opportunities growing up with my dad, so this is kind of a dream come true.”
Judo (outside) and jockey Prayven Badrie win the Free Press Stakes, for trainer Steve Keplin, Jr. and owner James Parisien.
The partnership with Arnason, which worked so well in 2025, continues. Arnason has a 3-year-old filly at Turfway Park and Keplin also has horses with his brother James and their father, along with three babies purchased at a Fasig-Tipton sale, now being developed in Winnipeg. “Barry and us also have a group that’s trying to claim a horse, hopefully we get a Derby prospect,” said Keplin.
The better horses will help Keplin get to where he eventually wants to go. “If we ever do plan on going south for the winter, we’re going need the better horses,” he said.
Despite his success and bigger plans, Keplin hasn’t changed. “I never try to act better than anyone, no matter what,” he said. “I remember growing up, we had nothing. I know what it’s like. And now that we have a little bit more, It feels better.”
With his 8-year-old son beginning to pick horses’ feet and help in the barn, Keplin is passing on the family tradition. “You’ve got to start somewhere, right?” he said.
His father Steve Sr., now 63, still makes the trip up from Belcourt during stakes weeks, walking hots, helping in the barn, and visiting with old friends like Danelson in the kitchen.
“I’m just looking forward to being back,” said Keplin.
From sleeping in horse trailers to winning stakes races, from $1,500 claimers to Derby prospects, Steve Keplin, Jr. has come a long way. He compiled a record of 40-27-19 from 130 starts in 2025 for purse earnings of $US440,686, winning at a 31% clip. But he hasn’t forgotten where he came from. And in the horse business, maybe more so than most….
That matters.