Manitoba mare strikes it rich with Kentucky Derby-winning offspring

When three-year-old colt Rich Strike stunned the horse racing world on Saturday, it sent tremors through the dirt track and empty seats 2,000 kilometres away at Winnipeg's Assiniboia Downs.

"There was a lot of yelling and screaming — and even that was from people who didn't cash a wager. It was just a lot of pride here in Manitoba," said Darren Dunn, CEO of the Downs, at the city's western edge.

"Beyond excited. Capital OMG in my head, I couldn't believe it. It shocked our world out here and we're thrilled."

Rich Strike is a Manitoban once-removed. His mom is, Gold Strike, a thoroughbred mare born in 2002 just southwest of Winnipeg in the tiny community of Brunkild.

"We've never had a horse connected to Manitoba even run in the Derby, so this is as close as it gets. To have the mother of the Kentucky Derby winner, I can't even begin to tell you how rare that is [for Manitoba]," said Dunn.

"It's probably the biggest thing that's ever happened out here to us."

Among those getting a horse, er hoarse, throat was Assiniboia Downs trainer Blair Miller.

"All racetrack people watch the Kentucky Derby, it's like our Superbowl. It's the biggest single race of the year," he said.

It was Miller who first tapped into and refined Gold Strike's obvious raw talents while she made an early name for herself at the local track.

"She was just a really classy horse from Day 1, just a real nice, smart filly. We knew she was going to be a good one," he said.

Bred and raced by Harlequin Ranches — owned by Dick Bonnycastle, the former owner and publisher of Harlequin Enterprises — Gold Strike started racing in 2004.

She won two of her three starts at Assiniboia Downs before moving to Canada's big leagues at Woodbine Racetrack just outside of