What a Force dominates Chantilly Stakes at Assiniboia Downs

What a Force put a clear stamp on the 3-year-old filly sprint race at Assiniboia Downs, winning the Chantilly Stakes by 4 1/4 lengths on June 24 and doing it in 1:12.73 for 6 furlongs over good ground. The margin mattered as much as the clock: this was not a scramble at the wire, but a clean separation from a field of seven that included the 6/5 favorite Evolution, who faded to sixth.

Jose Mariano Asencio had What a Force in control from the start, and Assiniboia Downs described the effort as a wire-to-wire victory in the $50,000 stakes. Wecanonlyimagine held second and Steal Your Soul was third, but neither ever threatened the winner once the race got serious. Sporting Life listed What a Force at 5/1 at post time, a price that made the performance look even sharper because she handled the market leader and still finished with authority.

The Chantilly has been part of the Assiniboia calendar since 1981, and that history makes this more than a one-race flourish. Previous winners include One and Only, One More Lady, Coral Prospect, Hey Hey Renee, Gleaming Victory and Miss Missile, a roll call that puts What a Force into a line of sprint fillies that mattered around the meet. Assiniboia Downs also noted that the Chantilly landed on a card full of longshot results and payoffs, and What a Force, a Century Mile shipper, helped keep that tone alive while delivering the most decisive stakes run of the afternoon.

The numbers behind the filly back up the eye test. Bred in British Columbia by Paul Caravetta, the dark bay/brown filly foaled April 27, 2023 is by Counterforce out of Everythings a Blur and races for Peter, David, Welsh, Ed and Dale, Dennis. Equibase had her 2026 line at 3 starts, 2 wins, 1 second and $28,918 before the Chantilly; the stakes score pushed her seasonal earnings to $50,452 and her lifetime total to $55,269. That is the kind of efficiency that changes placement decisions. A filly who wins this cleanly against the best number in the race does not just belong in the conversation for the division at Assiniboia Downs, she moves to the front of it.