RCMP Musical Ride. At the Downs on Friday, August 3 and Saturday, August 4!
by George
Jockeys Rohan Singh and Jennifer Reid each won four races on the weekend, the Friday Pick-4 paid big and we saw one of the largest win-place-show pools in Assiniboia Downs’ history when someone bet a fortune to show on She’s Regal in the $15,000 Gold Strike Mile.
There was $57,754 in the mutuel pool when the runners went to post in the third race on Friday, the Gold Strike Mile for 3-year-old Manitoba-bred fillies. More than $50,000 of that was bet to show on heavy favourite She’s Regal, who repaid her bridge-jumper backer with a monstrous 22-length Secretariat-style romp under Rohan Sing for trainer Chad Torevell.
She’s Regal simply went to the front and widened, setting all the fractions of 24.00, 49.00 and 1:14.20 before drawing off under her own steam to stop the clock in 1:42.20. Not since Overskate won the Manitoba Derby in 1978 have we seen such a large margin of victory.
Babble Champ rallied for second under Trevor Simpson and it was a further 1 ½-lengths back to Albedo under Gustavo Ortiz. Polka Punch finished fourth in the four-horse field. She’s Regal paid $2.10 across the board.
Bred by Cam Ziprick and Charles Fouillard, the 3-year-old filly by Going Commando-She Is Impressive by Regal Classic earned $9,474 for her lopsided victory and improved her career record to 5-1-3 from nine starts for earnings of $87,594.
She’s Regal helped Singh to one of his four victories over the weekend. The only other jockey to come close to Singh on the two 7-race cards was Jennifer Reid, who also won four races. The spoils on the weekend came in the form of single wins for Tyrone Nelson, Prayven Badrie, Clint Magera, Chris Husbands, Trevor Simpson and Robert Reeves Jr.
Chad Torevell was the only trainer to record multiple victories over the weekend. Besides She’s Regal on Friday, Torevell also won with longshot 2-year-old and first-time-starter Wage War ($27.60) and Pleasant Gal ($13.30) on Saturday. Numerous smaller trainers won races on the weekend including Don Schnell, Wendell Mustard, Maria Stanford, Marjorie Patterson, Wayne Elias and Darrell Lawson. Congratulations!
The 15% Pick 4 paid a handsome $4,293.80 for a $2 ticket on Friday when the payoffs became successively larger in races four through seven. Winners were Bar on the Beach ($5.30), Got Milch ($9.80), Vader ($15.70) and Farm Hand ($24.60). Farm Hand also topped the largest $2 Superfecta of the weekend at $5,989.60 when only one person had the winning combination of 8-7-9-ALL.
Saturday’s payoffs weren’t quite as lucrative, as the $2 Pick-4 paid $401.00 based on prices of $4.30, $4.20, $9.70 and $13.30 but someone did well on the final race of the weekend when the $2 Superfecta paid $4,320.60.
Remember, there will be no live racing this Wednesday as we head into Manitoba Derby weekend on Friday, August 3. The famed RCMP Musical Ride will be here on both Friday, August 3 and Saturday, August 4 during the live race cards that begin at 7 p.m. The evenings will also include the fastest horses in the world, quarter horses.
Admission is free but for reserved rush seating in the best seats in the house please call 885-3330. Tickets are also available for a special meal deal of barbeque ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad and baked beans for $13.39. Read more here.
2011 Manitoba Derby Winner Hammers Bullet gets a well-deserved pat!
And then it’s on the biggest race day of the year at Assiniboia Downs, Manitoba Derby Day, Monday, August 6, which features the $75,000 Manitoba Derby for 3-year-olds, the $50,000 Assiniboia Oaks for 3-year-old fillies, the $30,000 Graduation Stakes for 2-year-olds and the $30,000 R.J. Speers for older horses.
Not only will the betting pools be large and lucrative on Derby Day, including a guaranteed Pick-4 pool of $10,000, there will also be a $300 hat contest, a Derby match contest, charity photos with the Derby Belles, a petting farm, pony rides and giant inflatable bouncers.
Sorry, the last two items are for the kids 🙂
Read more about Manitoba Derby Day here.
Next Post Time for Live Racing: 7 p.m. Friday, August 3, 2012