by Joe Quillen
Assiniboia Downs Race 7 – La Verendrye Stakes
It’s Tuesday, and today, we go north of the border to Assiniboia Downs for today’s race for today’s featured race. Today we have seven fillies and mares who will go six furlongs here in a race that most will have to stay awake for, as this race will not go off here on the East Coast until 11:05 pm Eastern time.
Hopefully those north of the border are in good spirits after last night’s game seven of the Stanley Cup Final. Congrats to the Florida Panthers for winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, and congrats to Edmonton on a hell of a run to last night’s finale. Hopefully this race at Assiniboia Downs will be a distraction from being so close to winning a championship.
Favored here in the Assiniboia Downs finale is the 6 Melisandre (9/5 ML) who won the Taboga last time out in a QPW featured race three weeks ago. She has the versatility to win on the front end like last time out, or close like she did in her 2024 debut a month ago. She is 11 for 22 lifetime with six seconds and a third, all at Assiniboia. She is definitely going to be tough here today.
The favorite may be challenged here on the front end by the 7 Spitten Kitten (2/1 ML) She was scratched from the Taboga after wintering at Tampa Bay Downs. She tired in the stretch of this race and might be dueling with the favorite here. She steps up into stakes company here and had two nice works leading up to this race.
The 2 Damn the Torpedoes (7/2 ML) was four-wide down the backstretch, went even wider on the turn and into the stretch to close to finish second in the common Assiniboia Downs race three weeks ago. She drew the outside post and never had a chance to get towards the rail. She will have a better post here today and this could be the difference between finishing second and having her picture taken in the winner’s circle.
The 1 Orange Theory (15/1 ML) ran well despite the fifth-place finish and could improve off of that effort. She might be a horse to look at later on in the season when the fillies and mares go longer, but she could sneak onto the board here.
The 5 Big Stretch (5/1 ML) may be in the same boat at the 1, as she looks like a mare who wants longer. She’s running for the first time in 2024 after running in Assiniboia Downs last September, but she did close well in her 2023 distance going shorter. She will be closing as well.
I am thinking that Melisandre and Spitten Kitten are going to duel down the backstretch, softening each other up for the closers. I think that Damn the Torpedoes will not be wide all away around the track and take advantage of using a shorter route to the win here. I’ll call this 2-6-5-7 and my play is $20 to win on the 2. Good luck everyone!
Check out my show “Also Eligible” on Saturday mornings at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific as AJ Johnson and I discuss the big races, the latest news in horse racing and much more!