Mr. Fillip local favourite for Derby – Winnipeg Free Press

Mr Fillip established himself as the local horse to beat in the upcoming Manitoba Derby with a resounding victory in the Derby Trial, two more stakes winners benefited from astute management and a fourth helped trainer Lee Delaronde take the lead in the active trainer standings.

Delaronde took over the conditioning of the Henry S. Witt, Jr. horses from trainer Jerry Gourneau, who was suspended indefinitely on June 21. While the final ruling on that suspension goes through the appeals process, Delaronde is on his way to the training title with the largest stable on the property. He has won 14 races to date, which puts him two ahead of runner-up Devon Gittens, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

Delaronde won the 31st running of the $50,000 Jack Hardy Stakes for Witt on Monday, 6-1 ahead of Midnight Lady, who beat two very tough favorites with a big rally under jockey Prayven Badrie to increase Delaronde’s meet-leading purse earnings to US$169,200. Most of that earnings went to six-time leading Downs owner Witt, who currently leads all owners again with purse earnings of US$243,005. The next closest owner to Witt in the standings is A2 Thoroughbreds with US$82,329.

On the same night that Delaronde won the Jack Hardy Stakes, a rising star won the 30th running of the $50,000 Derby Trial for trainer Rick Wise. Mr. Fillip scored favorably against the front-runners for jockey Antonio Whitehall in the one-mile trial and ran away from the field in the straight, winning by six lengths. Owned by former Manitoba Derby-winning owners Norman Tremblay and Randy Howg, Mr. Fillip was sent to Canada by record-breaking Manitoba Derby-winning trainer Robertino Diodoro with another Derby victory in mind.

Both Tremblay and Howg have been part of Diodoro’s winning ownership teams. Tremblay won in 2018 with Sky Promise and Howg won in 2016 with Inside Straight. Now, Mr. Fillip has established himself as the local favourite for the $125,000 Manitoba Derby on Monday, August 5.

Rick Wise, who previously trained Derby winners for Diodoro, trains locally. Neither Wise nor jockey Antonio Whitehall would trade their horse for another runner in this year’s Derby, even though the race may feature some great horses.

Mr. Fillip also has credentials south of the border to back him up. Before winning the Golden Boy Stakes and Derby Trial here, he had finished fourth over a mile in the $200,000 Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn Park, and won the $50,000 Golden Circle Stakes at Prairie Meadows over six furlongs by a widening of 13 ¼ lengths. In the Derby Trial, he was probably only asked to run about 100 yards, and both Wise and Whitehall agreed that this is a professional racehorse now, and it will take a good one to beat him.

And speaking of Derbies, fans of horse racing in Manitoba will be excited to hear that 2022 Kentucky Derby outsider Rich Strike, out of the Manitoba-bred mare Gold Strike, is back in training, this time with Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Rich Strike recently had his second training session after a long break to recover from physical wear and tear. The break was no doubt recommended by Mott when he was selected as the new trainer of “our” Kentucky Derby winner over a year ago, and we wish him the best!