Dontgiveupthefight wins La Verendrye Stakes at Assiniboia Downs
Dontgiveupthefight stayed perfect in 2026 with a two-length La Verendrye Stakes score, a clean stakes win that points beyond a local sprint.
Dontgiveupthefight turned a good-track sprint into a statement at Assiniboia Downs, drawing away to win the La Verendrye Stakes by two lengths on June 24. Kimal Santo timed the ride for Robertino Diodoro, and the 4-year-old filly carried 123 pounds through six furlongs in 1:12.71, with Rocky Bay Rae second and Bling Dancer another head back in third.
That mattered because the race was not a collapse job or a lonely front-running cruise. The top three finished tightly enough to produce honest exotics, and the field behind them included Welcometohollywood, Mad About Marie, Yankee Doodle, Chai, Magic Chrome, Emirates Affair, Spin the Breeze and Olga. On a day when the purse was C$51,500, with BloodHorse listing the U.S.-equivalent value at $36,242, Dontgiveupthefight still had to prove she could handle stakes pressure, a good surface and a legitimate pace scenario. She did, and the payout line reflected it: $6.00 to win, $3.70 to place, $2.70 to show.
The win also sharpened the campaign picture. Equibase lists the Kentucky-bred chestnut as foaled March 13, 2022, by Jimmy Creed out of Miselly, by Jack Milton, and the pedigree fits the way she is running now: useful speed, enough professionalism and a profile that suggests there may be more in the tank. Her charted record now reads 12 starts, six wins, one second, three thirds and $111,855 in career earnings, with $31,320 banked in 2026 before this stakes victory. For owner Charles Garvey and the Robertino Diodoro barn, that is the sort of form that turns a promising filly into a horse you start mapping to better spots.
The La Verendrye has been a fast six-furlong exam in recent years, and Dontgiveupthefight answered it faster than the last two winners. Spitten Kitten took the 2024 renewal in 1:13.12, and the 2025 edition went in 1:12.99 on a fast track. Dontgiveupthefight’s 1:12.71 on good ground did not come close to the track record of 1:09, but it did move her into the conversation as more than a one-stop local stakes winner. She now looks like a mare who can keep circling the short-race circuit and force tougher questions the next time she shows up.
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