Assiniboia Downs standing tall Little track that could hits winner's circle By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2020

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2020 (1563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The odds weren’t in their favour, with a pandemic putting their immediate future in jeopardy. But like an unheralded long shot coming out of nowhere to overtake a crowded field down the stretch, Assiniboia Downs is standing tall in the winner’s circle these days.

Three weeks into the 63rd season of live racing unlike any other, the little track that has survived numerous other threats in the past now has the attention of an international sporting community starved for fresh content. Multiple nights of record-setting online wagering and formal broadcasting partnerships with 37 American states and eight countries as far away as Australia means more eyes, and wallets, than ever are on the product.

And yet the facility itself, which approximately 250,000 Manitobans would typically visit every year, resembles a ghost town owing to COVID-19 restrictions. It makes for a stark contrast, which I witnessed first-hand on Tuesday night.

“It’s hard to get used to, I tell you. I’ve worked here for 38 years. Obviously I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Downs CEO Darren Dunn, who took me behind the scenes to see how one of the hottest sports facilities in the world right now is functioning under less-than-ideal circumstances.

“The stands are empty, but the interest for Assiniboia Downs is global.”

Tuesday’s nearly $1.2-million handle would have been an all-time record, if not for the fact ASD has already rewritten its own history books several times this spring. Almost all of that came from outside the otherwise vacant grounds, save for about 100 people confined to the Terrace Dining Room after it was allowed to open this week at 50 per cent capacity.

Standing near the finish line, the silence is eerie.

Take the first race. Veteran trainer Jerry Gourneau couldn’t rein in his excitement as Legendary Larry pulled away from the pack, beating six other thoroughbreds under a grey sky and steady drizzle. The only sound, aside from the horses themselves, came from Gourneau’s shouts of “C’mon Larry! C’mon Larry!”

“Usually when they come down the lane, there’s the thunder and the roar and everybody’s screaming. That’s the thing I miss the most,” said longtime track announcer Kirt Contois.

“The stands are empty, but the interest for Assiniboia Downs is global.” – Downs CEO Darren Dunn

For any trainer, winning never gets old. But it’s especially sweet these days.

“It just depends on where you run your horses. I’m a bottom feeder,” joked Gourneau.

If that’s the case, he’s eating pretty well, with a track-leading eight victories already.

The North Dakota product has been coming to Winnipeg every spring for the past 40 years and married a local woman. He has 38 horses at the track, with more on the way, and this year presented a unique opportunity. ASD was the first track in Canada, and one of the first in North America, to get going.

“As an owner and a trainer, we watch their handle. We want to make sure we know what they’re getting into. Already (ASD) is at more than $10 million. Last year I think their total amount was about $12 (million). People are sitting at home right now, and when you’re stir crazy and sitting at home, and there’s horse racing on there and you happen to set up an account, what are you going to do?” said Gourneau.

That’s why ASD is holding races every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening this season. With no local fans to placate due to crowd-size restrictions currently in place, it was all about filling a void and building an online audience.

“Our ability to get back to live racing before most absolutely opened up new markets. Rather than us phoning to gauge interest, our phone was ringing to ask about getting our product,” said Dunn.

Jockey Antonio Whitehall, a 27-year-old from Barbados, has been riding in Winnipeg for several years now. With eight wins this season, he’s relishing the chance to compete for a bigger audience than ever.

“It keeps me on my game. I know a lot of people are watching me, a lot of people are depending on me. So I make sure I buckle down and do what I can do,” said Whitehall.

Fortunately, he arrived in early March, before COVID-19 meant border closures and severe travel restrictions.

“I guess it was perfect timing. If I had waited I would have missed it. I would have lost all my mounts and had no business this year,” he said.

“I guess it was perfect timing. If I had waited I would have missed it. I would have lost all my mounts and had no business this year.” – Jockey Antonio Whitehall

ASD has built a makeshift studio on their third floor, which normally would be packed with spectators, in which Contois and a pair of handicappers speak nightly to their audience. They’ve also attracted business that would normally bypass Winnipeg for other tracks, which explains why there are approximately 600 horses on site right now, compared to 450 last year.

“We had to get racing somewhere. Between me, my brother and my dad we have probably about 100 horses. The feed bills were adding up. These guys offered us a good spot,” said Riley Rycroft, an Alberta native who has brought 23 horses to Winnipeg with tracks in his home province, along with British Columbia, still dark.

“They’re having house parties back home, enjoying some beers, have Assiniboia on the big screen and bet through their online accounts.”

No doubt they enjoyed watching Tuesday’s second race, when the Rycroft-owned Xtreme Denigray finished second to Gourneau’s Frankalee Fun. I know I did, considering I placed a $2 quinella bet on the pair through my easy-to-navigate HPIbet account about 30 seconds before post time, cashing in a tidy $12.30. Same goes for the sixth race, won by Rycroft’s Ojo Del Mar, My quinella bet, paired with race favourite Strong Arm, who finished second, paid $5.40

My handicapping skills are quite rusty, so my wagers were based entirely on the fact I’d met and spoken to both men. Gotta be lucky to be good, right?

Circumstances have meant a sort of homecoming for the Rycroft family, as they raced horses here in the 1980s before focusing their attention elsewhere. They’ve been impressed by how ASD has pulled this off.

“I don’t think they could have done things any better. Everybody knows the margins they deal with in horse racing, slim as can be. I don’t know man, the grass is cut, the staff is friendly, everything is clean. This probably isn’t the best thing to say, but they could send our management over here and get a blueprint on how they run this place,” said Rycroft.

“Everybody involved in racing has a soft spot… to see a place like this go crazy with the betting, it’s good. It’s given everybody a little bit of hope. They’re seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel, where three weeks ago it was awful.”

Dunn is looking forward to the future, which could include opening up some of their 140 VLTs, which have been shuttered for the past three months, in addition to potentially expanding their restaurant capacity, perhaps later this month under Phase 3. This would help, especially with the marketplace starting to get more crowded now with many other tracks opening up across Canada the U.S.

And while they only receive a tiny margin of overall wagering, it’s helped offset the loss of other traditional revenue streams.

“We’re thrilled with the results. We had high expectations but they’ve been exceeded so far,” said Dunn.

“I look at it like being the captain of a ship three months ago that got capsized. We’ve flipped the ship back over, we’re still listing, but I’ve got people in the hull every day pumping water out and, for the first time in a long time, I can actually see port and have some comfort that we’re going to get there.”

As we’ve come to learn with ASD over the years, bet against them at your own peril.

 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg