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Uncharacteristic Springs Mild Upset In Manitoba Derby On Record Wagering Night

The 73^rd running of Monday night's Manitoba Derby at Assiniboia Downs in Winnpeg, Canada, consisted of a full field of 12 horses and the Jackpot Pick 5 with the $1 million payout guarantee which did not disappoint.

Hastings Park invader, Uncharacteristic, rallied from off the pace to catch the front-running favorite Myopic and gave trainer Robert VanOverschot his second career Manitoba Derby win. He won the 2002 rendition with Shogun Warrior. Uncharacteristic returned $12.50 to win.

Wagering for the night program totaled $2,542,309, a new Manitoba Derby program record, with a whopping $1,488,795 in the Jackpot Pick 5 pool as customers chased the $1 million guaranteed prize.

“What a night this year's Derby was, and it was so great to have some fans attend again,” said Darren Dunn, CEO of Assiniboia Downs. “The full field for the race set up quite a finish. It was fantastic to hear that roar of the crowd! We are so thankful to horseplayers, horsepeople and staff who all came together to pull off an outstanding event.”

There were multiple winners for the Jackpot Pick 5 and a 20 cent ticket was worth $600. The wager requires the correct selection of the winner of the last 5 races and it is only 20 cents for each combination.

The Downs is following up this mandatory day by offering a $250,000 guaranteed payout for a single winning ticket on the Jackpot Pick 5 starting on Tuesday, August 3 and will continue to be offered through the end of the meet or until it is won.

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“We wanted to try something new with a substantial jackpot guarantee following the mandatory event,” said Dunn. “Guaranteeing a $250,000 minimum payout for any single winner could create a huge payout for anyone holding that ticket as the pool begins to build again.”

The other jackpot pool, the Jackpot Hi 5 continues to be elusive to punters. It has not been won yet this year and the jackpot has now reached $84,687. This wager requires the correct selection of the first five finishers in the last race each day and a ticket is only 20 cents.

Racing continues every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday through September 15 at 7:30 pm (Central Time).

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O’Brien-Trained Mother Earth Very Game In Prix Rothschild

The Prix Rothschild, a Group 1 race restricted to fillies and mares, and run over one mile on the straight course at La Touques racecourse, kick-started the 2021 Deauville Barrière Meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 3rd. After a superb battle, it was the Irish filly Mother Earth who carried the day at the main expense of the French pair, Sagamiyra and Speak of the Devil. The first four home finished within half a length of each other.

Mother Earth (Zoffany) didn't have the clearest of runs but the 3-year-old filly showed great courage to fend off all comers. Carrying the label of the Coolmore, the international powerhouse, Mother Earth already won the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket in May, a classic race which seeks to determine the best future breeding prospects. She followed this up with three excellent performances, having finished second in the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, and third in both the Coronation Stakes and Falmouth Stakes – three very prestigious Group 1 events.

“She's very tough and very consistent,” trainer Aidan O'Brien said of Mother Earth. “Ryan [Moore] gave her a lovely ride and she is very professional. We are very lucky in France this year, Ioritz [Mendizabal] gave our horses some great rides as did Ryan today and we are very lucky to have some very well bred horses. Mother Earth has a great mind. She travels very well, she settles very well and she quickens very well. She is a very good filly. We think the mile is really her trip as she travels really well. Sometimes, when she goes to the front, she waits a little bit but the mile is her perfect trip, we think, at the moment.

“I don't think she needs a break: she is very professional and she takes her races very well and loves racing. Her races are spaced out nice that far and she has come from her races very well. The Matron or the Moulin could be options, she is on all those races. We will see how she comes from this one before picking the next one. She is very versatile regarding the ground so America could be an option and she was second there last year.”

Take a bow, Ryan Moore! Mother Earth is a Group 1 winner again as she lands the Prix Rothschild for Aidan O'Brien at @fgdeauville… pic.twitter.com/9AGdtMXNOZ

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) August 3, 2021

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Undefeated 3-Year-Old Life Is Good, Now In Pletcher’s Barn, Expected To Return In Jerkens

Undefeated sophomore colt Life Is Good, formerly in the barn of embattled trainer Bob Baffert but now conditioned by Todd Pletcher, is expected to make his return to the races in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 28, reports the Daily Racing Form.

The son of Into Mischief has not raced since March due to injury, when he was sent to his co-owner WinStar Farm to recover. WinStar trainer Destin Heath had the colt in training at Keeneland until mid-July, when he was shipped up to Pletcher' barn in New York. Life Is Good has now breezed twice at Saratoga since his arrival. WinStar's Elliott Walden indicated that the Jerkens will be used a step toward a return to two-turn races later in the year.

Also pointed to the Jerkens are Jackie's Warrior, last weekend's runaway winner of the G2 Amsterdam for trainer Steve Asmussen, as well as Pletcher trainee Following Sea, elevated to second last out in the G1 Haskell.

“That's our current target,” Pletcher told DRF of Life is Good and the Jerkens. “See how the horse continues to train, but you're not going to find any easy spots to come back in, I wouldn't think.”

Baffert-Trained Illumination Headed To Saratoga For Test

Trainer Bob Baffert plans to send maiden winner Illumination to Saratoga for this Saturday's Grade 1 Test Stakes, reports the Daily Racing Form. It will be his first starter in New York since a judge overturned the New York Racing Association's ban of Bob Baffert on July 14.

NYRA notified Baffert ahead of the Belmont Stakes that it was suspending his ability to enter horses in races or have stall space at its racetracks due to his recent history of medication violations (five over a one-year period), the conflicting statements he provided to media around the Medina Spirit scandal, and Churchill Downs' suspension of the trainer.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York determined that NYRA's suspension of Baffert should not have taken place without some sort of hearing allowing him to address the organization's accusations against him. Although NYRA was asserting its private property rights in the case, Amon said the organization is closely entwined enough with the state that its suspension of Baffert constituted a state action, thereby requiring due process.

The Test Stakes will be held over the main track at seven furlongs and restricted to sophomore fillies. Baffert won the Test last year with Gamine, who is expected to ship to Saratoga for the G1 Ballerina on Aug. 28. The trainer is not expected to be in attendance for this Saturday's race at Saratoga.

Illumination, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro, broke her maiden on June 4 at Santa Anita by eight lengths, but has not raced since. That was her fifth career start, but first in over seven months, during which time co-owner George Bolton told DRF the filly was turned out and given time to grow up.

The $900,000 yearling purchase from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select sale earned a Grade 1 placing as a 2-year-old in the Del Mar Debutante, finishing third. She is out of the stakes-winning, multiple graded stakes-placed Street Sense mare Light the City, from the family of Mastery, Two Step Salsa, and Top Commander.