SPIN TO WIN THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS IN THE CLUBWEST GAMING LOUNGE - Enter at the VLT cage every Thursday and Friday for a chance to spin the wheel for up to $100 cash! Draws will be made every 30 minutes starting at noon.

TUESDAYS ARE TREMENDOUS IN APRIL - 5% cash back on all eligible wagering Tuesdays in April. Minimum wagered $100 (each Tuesday). Maximum deposit $25 (each Tuesday). Wagers must be placed on HPI account to qualify. ($2.10 payoffs not included).

OAKLAWN CASH BACK SPECIAL THIS SATURDAY - 4% cash back on all eligible wagering on Oaklawn Saturday, April 23. Minimum wagered $100. Maximum deposit $25. Wagers must be placed on HPI account to qualify. ($2.10 payoffs not included).

MOTHER'S DAY BRUNCH: Treat Mom to brunch on her special day! Sunday, May 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Click here for full menu. Adults $44.95, 12 & under $21.95, 5 & under $9.95. For tickets call 204-885-3330. This event sells out quickly so get your tickets today!

ASD's signature Prime Rib buffet is returning for live race nights starting Monday, May 23. Call 204-885-3330. Adults, $47.95, Seniors (65+), $44.95, 12 & under, $27.95, 5 & under, $14.95. See the buffet highlights at ASDowns.com. Reservations are required. Call 204-885-3330. Click here for full race schedule.

Jockey Renaldo Cumberbatch has arrived!

Perhaps the most underrated jockey in the history of Assiniboia Downs, the 43-year-old rider from Barbados was unable to return to the Downs for the past two years due to Covid-19 restrictions. The last time we saw him was in 2019, when he finished fourth in the standings with 36 wins.

More smooth than flashy, and a top-5 rider at ASD almost every season since he arrived in Canada in 2005, Cumberbatch has compiled a win-place-show record of 412-423-449 from 3,524 starts for purse earnings of $3,573,998, and those earnings come courtesy of some awful good mounts including Escape Clause, Hidden Grace, Sixthirtyjoe, Can’t Use Nellie, Budlitelarry, Aware, Hot Rodin and more. Recognize any of those names? We certainly do!

The soften-spoke saddlesmith often goes off at overlay odds, no matter who he is riding, and if a fellow rider makes a mistake on the favourite, he’ll beat them every time. Oh what the heck, he might just beat them regardless. Trainers like that. Fans like it more.

Glad to have you back Renaldo!

Gary Danelson, the all-time leading trainer at Assiniboia Downs with 1,234 wins, is back in action at the Downs after a two-year absence, and happy to be here! The 84-year-old veteran trainer was seen in the track kitchen on Tuesday morning with longtime partner Bonnie McCrory, and both had big smiles.

Danelson, who has probably won every stakes race at the Downs since it opened in 1958, will have three horses in training at ASD this year, two that were conditioned for him by trainer Jared Brown last year and another that he claimed at Turf Paradise.

“I didn’t think I was going to make it,” said Danelson, who survived a 34-day bout with Covid-19. “It almost got me, but training horses is something I've done all my life. I have to do it."

Motivation is a powerful remedy, especially when it comes in the form of horses.

Final Furlong would like to congratulate our 2021 Horse of the Year Honourees! They are all so deserving of this award and highlight the diversity and flexibility of the thoroughbred. All of our honourees have been placed in the new Hall of Fame section of our updated website. We are so excited to show it off!

If you are showing a thoroughbred during the 2022 season and want to be eligible for next year's awards please go to the Final Furlong website (FinalFurlongCanada.com) to register. Only those registered will be eligible.

See photos and bios of all the winners here.

Former ASD champion Miss Imperial will meet four very classy rivals including Maracuja, trained by former Assiniboia Downs trainer Rob Atras, in the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) on Saturday (5th race) at Oaklawn Park. (Don't forget, HPIBet.com has a 4% Cash Back Bonus that day too!)

Miss Imperial gets a six to nine pound break in the weights from her rivals in the Apple Blossom, but she faces a massive class raise. Besides Maracuja, who gave Atras his first Grade 1 win in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga last year, Miss Imperial will be facing the very game 2021 Apple Blossom winner Letruska, 2020 Apple Blossom winner Ce Ce, as well as Cotillion Stakes (G1) winner Clairiere.

Will the weight break be enough to propel Miss Imperial to a performance similar to that of Manitoba star Escape Clause, who missed by a coming-back-at-the-wire nose to Eclipse Award winner Midnight Bisou in this race in 2019?

Do you have an interesting photo you would like showcased in an upcoming newsletter? Email your photos to [email protected].

Larry Cordes’ homebred Mighty Heart was named Canada’s Horse of the Year for the second straight year at the 47th annual Sovereign Awards on April 14 at Universal Eventspace in Vaughan, Ontario. It was the first time since 2019 that the Sovereign Awards, hosted by the Jockey Club of Canada, was held in person, and some 240 people attended in a beautiful setting. Jason Portuondo was Master of Ceremonies. Jennifer Morrison has all the winners at the Canadian Thoroughbred here.

Because the greatest Manitoba-bred horse ever, Escape Clause, is now producing babies at one of the biggest horse breeding operations in the world ‒ Northern Farm on Hokkaido Island ‒ and she’s already given birth to two foals, a colt last year and a filly recently, both sired by the stallion Duramente, who won the Japanese Derby in record time. More from Ivan Bigg at the Canadian Thoroughbred here.

THE CALENDAR IS BACK! The 2023 Final Furlong Calendar is now in the planning stage and they are looking for 2023 Calendar Models. If you have a horse that was listed on Final Furlong, please email two photos of your FF Alumnus depicting their best life away from the track along with their racing name, year listed (if known) and what they are up to. Send the email to [email protected] All photos must be 300 dpi resolution.