Alberta Bred Stakes highlight of RMTC weekend
There will be plenty of live racing at Rocky Mountain Turf Club this weekend with three days of action. Things kick off tonight at 6 p.m. with six live races on the card. Saturday and Sunday feature eight races each day, with post time at 1:15 p.m.
The Alberta Bred Stakes Day is Saturday, with the first six races being Alberta Bred Stakes races.
Things kick off with a fiveand-a-half furlong race for Fillies and Mares featuring John Poirier’s, She’s it Again, matching up against Garry Marks, Lady Amelia.
The second race is for the boys at a distance of five-anda-half furlongs. In here you have horses such as Laurie Ferguson’s, Stripling Warrior, Pete Dubois’, Gallant Gabe, and Allan Brown’s, Polka Dot River.
Race three is for three-yearold fillies and the two main combatants will be, Pegasus Onezeroone, coming in from Edmonton with Shawn Calfrobe, while Elly Rutherford counters with Crafty Can Do It.
Race four is a full field of eight two-year-olds, where two Edmonton horses appear to be the odds-on favourites. Tizluminous Dorothy, trained by Lyle Magnuson and Makeourday, trained by Bob Gwilliam, are the horses to keep an eye on in here.
Race five stretches out to seven furlongs with Ron Scott’s, Captain Will and Pete Dubois’ Endless Courage being the early favourites.
The Fillies and Mares wrap up the Alberta Bred Stakes races going seven furlongs. Miss Moochie, trained by Lyle Magnuson, and Almost Ninety, one of three horses sent out by trainer Brad Mead, are the morning line favourites in this one.
While at the track, you will hear the unusual name of Mankumar Mohindee. Mohindee is a soft-spoken man who has a twinkle in his eye every time he talks about his horses.
Mohindee is also probably the only owner/trainer with a master’s degree in business administration and taught post secondary for 10 years at a University level.
Mankumark came to Canada from his home of Mauritius, an island off the Indian Ocean with a population of 1.2 million people.
Horse racing is a major industry there and Mauritius boasts the third-oldest race track in the world. Mankumar always enjoyed going to the races there as a spectator and would marvel at the beauty of the horses that were racing.
Mankumar arrived in Canada with his wife and son eight years ago. He found that in order to continue teaching he would have to take some more courses in Canada.
Instead, he signed a contract with Maple Leaf and worked for them two-and-a-half years.
After that, he moved onto a chicken plant and then moved to the Agro Fuel cheese factory where he works as a receiver on the night shift, while his wife works there during the day in the front office.
Mankumar began his horse racing journey five years ago when he enrolled in the grooming course at Olds College. He credits Theresa Sealy, who works for H.R.A. and is an instructor at the college, as being a huge help to him.
Upon graduation, Mankumar had to apprentice and he came to Lethbridge to train under trainer Laurie Ferguson for over two years.
Mankumar then took out a trainer's licence and bought one horse, who he had great success with. After that, he went to Phoenix and bought two more horses and turned them into winners.
Last winter, he went back to Phoenix and bought two more horses and has again had tremendous success. He now has a stable of five horses.
One of Mankumar’s biggest thrills came last year when one of his horses, Carlot Cowboy0, had a leg injury and he spent four weeks nursing him back to health. Upon his return, he won his first race and then his second time out, won the Sprint Stakes Race.
Mankumar plans on taking some time off work in November and December and travel to Phoenix with his horses, plus he plans on buying some more. Mankumar’s ultimate goal is to work full-time with race horses year round.
One can’t help but notice the twinkle in the eye of Mankumar Mohindee when he talks of his love and respect of horses. There is no doubt that Mankumar will fulfil his dream.
Do yourself a favour when you’re betting and don’t leave a Mohindee horse out of your triactor box.