BY STEVE KOCH

Florida-bred Sophia’s Storm led from start to finish last night to capture the $36,613 La Verendrye Stakes at Assiniboia Downs in a final time of 1:12.99 for six furlongs. The 6-year-old bay mare, sent off as the second choice, broke alertly from post four under jockey Sven Balroop and never looked back. After setting fractions of :23.02 and :47.17, Sophia’s Storm opened up a clear advantage turning for home and held on gamely to score by one-half length.

The victory marked Sophia’s Storm’s fourth win of 2025 and boosted her seasonal earnings to over $57,000. The daughter of Handsome Mike, bred by Just For Fun Stable Inc., is trained by Steve Keplin Jr. and owned by Arnason Farms, Parker Wallette, and James Keplin.

Sophia’s Storm returned $3.40 to win in the field of six fillies and mares.

The La Verendrye Stakes was run over a fast track on a cloudy evening at the Manitoba oval.

Parts of this story were drafted by Claude.ai

Return to the June 26 issue of Wire to Wire