Punters push Assiniboia Downs’ wagering to record highs

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This article was published 28/05/2020 (1626 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some shrewd moves by Assiniboia Downs management, combined with a lack of sports betting opportunities around the world, resulted in two record-setting wagering days in the first three days of thoroughbred horse racing at the local track.

And, opening day wasn’t too bad either.

The Downs started its 2020 season on Monday with wagering of $1,067,221, just shy of the one-day record of $1,106,999 established Aug. 1, 2016 on Manitoba Derby Day. But on Tuesday fans obliterated that mark in dramatic fashion, pumping $1,623,616 through the internet wires.

And they weren’t done yet. On Wednesday, punters broke the record again, blasting $1,786,264 through the online pipes.

The local wagering was done via Canada’s HPIbet.com online wagering platform, and some technical adjustments had to be made to the Downs’ website on Wednesday as virtual fans crowded in to see the action and initially crashed the site.

While the Downs was obviously happy with the monster numbers, CEO Darren Dunn was also empathetic towards other businesses in the province.

“We are extremely proud of the exciting initial wagering numbers,” he said. “It is very satisfying to see that the strategy we were laser focused on with our adjusted live racing schedule of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night has worked so well. In fact, beyond our expectations.

“In saying that, the net margin retained on signal sales is quite small. However, like so many businesses out there right now who, like us, are struggling for revenue, we are so appreciative that we have something coming in right now. Everything matters during these challenging times.”

The Downs receives a substantially smaller cut of all money wagered online as compared to the percentage they would receive if customers were wagering in person at the track. Combined with the loss of food and beverage services and any revenues that might have been created through VLT play, it’s still a tight ship, but it is sailing forward.

Attendance had been rising at Assiniboia Downs every year for almost a decade, and while the current wagering numbers are filling the feed bucket for now, the ambience, and yes, the romance of live racing, is missed by management, horsemen and the fans themselves.

Nothing can replace the camaraderie found during a night out at the track, but the missing element will be somewhat soothed for now by the massive wagering pools and big payoffs.

For example, on Wednesday night the Pick-4 pool was $133,879 and the Jackpot Pick-5 pool was $64,014. Also on Wednesday, in the final race of the day, the Win-Place-Show pool came in at $71,350, the Exactor pool was $63,263 and the Triactor reached $57,371. And there’s a Jackpot Pick-5 carryover of $55,173 into next Monday, after only three days of live racing.

It won’t be long before some other tracks start to take advantage of the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday race nights, which will affect the Assiniboia Downs pools, but they should in theory still remain much more lucrative than normal, which means better payoffs for everyone.

On Tuesday night, a $2 Pick-4 paid $26,146.70 and the $1 Jackpot Pick-5 paid $15,762.25. The big payoffs were triggered by three long shots trained by Steve Gaskin, Jared Brown and Dennis Dorchester. And even with only two long shots in the mix you can get a decent payoff.

On opening night, two well-bet favourites combined with two nice long shots trained by trainer Ryan Desjarlais to produce a $2 Pick-4 payoff of $3,453. And on Wednesday night, long shots trained by Jerry Gourneau and Shelley Brown combined with two heavy favourites to produce a $2 Pick-4 payoff of $5,439.60.

Brown won the final race of the day on Wednesday, the Iwoodificould Overnight Stakes, with her own Mr. Dazzle ($17.70), a horse she had purchased for just $3,000 at a two-year-old-in-training sale two years ago.

In other stakes action, Alberta-based trainer Craig Smith shipped Music at Work into trainer Jared Brown’s barn to win the Liz’s Pride Overnight Stakes for Indyrock Racing on Tuesday.

Trainer Murray Duncan, the wily veteran from Carberry, continued his karma ways on opening day. The 79-year-old Duncan saddled Miss Imperial to win the Go Go Lolo Overnight Stakes, a race named after the freight train mare he conditioned to win numerous stakes here a few years ago to thunderous roars from the crowds.