Assiniboia Downs racing meet begins Monday night

The Assiniboia Downs meet begins Monday evening with a six-race card that begins at 8:35 p.m. CDT.

Racing happens on Monday and Tuesday evenings through the end of May, with Wednesday-evening racing added to the schedule in June. Racing goes back to just Mondays and Tuesdays starting Sept. 9, with closing day scheduled for Sept. 17. The flagship race of the meet, the Manitoba Derby, happens Aug. 5.

Assiniboia Downs is eliminating the run-up starting this meet in an effort to provide more accurate and consistent times. Instead of a run-up distance before the timer begins, races at all distances will be clocked from the time the runners leave the gate.

The richest race on the opening-day card is the second, a five-furlong allowance optional claiming dirt sprint. Alberta-bred Jeff Fa Fa, most recently fourth in a $32,000 claiming race at Aqueduct, is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the field of five. Though the 5-year-old Competitive Edge gelding was off the board in all four starts in New York over the fall and winter, he won four straight in Canada in 2023 including three allowance races at Assiniboia and the Red Diamond Express Handicap at Century Downs.