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Hats off
. . . to a great Derby . . .
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MOTHER
AND DAUGHTER'S "HORSING AROUND" NETS PRIZES
A week of rummaging around at craft stores and horse-painting
helped Mom Kimberly Wainwright (right) earn $100 for most creative
hat on Derby Day while daughter Robin 12, scored prizes in the
children's category.
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Hi friends! Derbied
out? If you came to the races on Derby Day, you witnessed a great day at the races. The handle on the
live card soared to $475,000!
Woodbine players were given the opportunity to
bet on the entire Derby Day card and they responded by boosting the
pool by about $60,000. And Californians added over $40,000. Apparently the hottest game in
town--with quality horses, large fields, interesting bets (20-cent superfectas) and contests galore--has caught fire
with increasing numbers of people in a big way.
Warning
sign: The only warning sign on the whole
day was Weather Warning, the
longshot that won the Derby at 34-1, "looking to shock the world" as announcer Darren Dunn put it as the horse
romped down the stretch. The win had the horse's hotter-than-a-pistol
trainer, Marty Drexler, who had three horses in the 12-horse
race, searching for words to explain how a horse that usually quits,
didn't this time: "Horses get brave when they're
on the front," he
offered.
Interestingly,
three hours earlier, I was making that very point in an emphatic way to
the crowd gathered around my "Learn the Secrets" stage before
racing began. "Beware of the horse with giant
pace numbers that gets an easy comfortable lead," I told them. I hope a few of those listeners cashed tickets--even though I didn't
listen to my own advice and figured Weather Warning would fade to
finish fourth to complete my superfecta tickets. I thought he would
have received at least some early pressure.
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Coming soon
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Can
Derby Day get bigger?
How about the 60th on the Downs' 50th? If you thought this year's Derby Day
was exciting and dramatic, wait until next year: In case you didn't notice, this was
the 59th running of the Derby in the
Downs' 49th year. Next year, it will be the milestone 60th Manitoba
Derby during the Downs' 50th anniversary year. And with it, for starters,
the introduction of a Derby theme
song--along the lines of theme songs for the big Triple Crown races in
the U.S. (My Old
Kentucky Home for the Kentucky Derby, etc.) And you—yes,
you--will have an opportunity to vote for your favourite
Manitoba-themed melody for the official Derby Day theme song. Stay tuned--literally!
Okay,
as the Derby fades into
history, the countdown begins to the opening of a giant corn-maze with
dueling horses so big that Martians will be able to see the image on
earth through their telescopes--and which you'll get a chance to see in
a hot air balloon ride! More on
that in the next Insider. In the meantime, these choice bits
and winners from Derby Day and beyond . . .
TYLER TALKS: "Just give me a horse"
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Tyler Baze
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Jockey
Tyler Baze,
who came up from California to ride Rage Till Dawn to a
second-place finish in the Derby, gives you
the feeling he'd even ride in the Antarctic if horses ever raced
there. Busting with enthusiasm,
he said he only knew that Assiniboia Downs was "somewhere up in Canada"
but
was perfectly happy to be here. "You just give me a horse to
ride and I'm happy." Why
did he come up to the Downs? Because a son of Rage Till Dawn's
co-owner, Rob Nokes, who is based out of California,
asked him to go up to the Downs to ride for his father, a former Steward at Assiniboia Downs.
I
was more interested in his take on the synthetic tracks he's had to adjust
to in California--first Hollywood's Cushion
and now Del Mar's
Polytrack. "You have to ride them more like turf," he
said. "I've totally changed my style of riding." He used to love to bust out in front
but he's tempered that to holding horses for later moves. "I have a clock in my
head." Despite the
manufacturer's claims, he said the tracks seem to have occasional
biases: sometimes early speed holds, sometimes not. Some riders don't like it as much as
dirt, he said, but didn't want to name them. For his part, you know that even if he
had to ride over surfaces made of Rice Krispies
or Cheerios, he'd have no hesitation; he just loves riding.
WINNERS' CORNER:
Marty nabs Sun, then stars; Cuth
scores #60 on 60th
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Trainer Marty Drexler careers:
Sun Stakes on Sunday, Derby on Monday
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Jockey Alan Cuthbertson
Starts 60th birthday with win #60
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Wasn't
I just writing about these guys in the last Insider? Trainer Marty Drexler,
37, once a groom in the morning and a mutuel ticket seller at the Downs
at night, is riding the crest of every horseman's dreams: first Culpeper Moon, a horse he trains for Shyman Farms, won the $45,000 Winnipeg Sun stakes
Sunday but that was just the warm-up to the career day he had on
holiday Monday when he scored first and third place finishes in the
$100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby with two more Shyman
Farms horses, Weather Warning
and Great Discovery. Marty
understandably looked a little shell-shocked afterward but most people
on the backstretch would agree:
It couldn't have happened to a nicer--or harder
working--guy. He said he plans
to train again at the Downs next season
but is eyeing Woodbine as his ultimate home, a path taken by former
great Downs trainers and
top jocks. As for Jockey Paul Leacock's role in the victory,
there was equal understatement: "I
was just riding according to instructions." Nice when such a big race is won with
a stunningly simple strategy.
Meanwhile,
over on another front, a bit of a coincidence: While the infield board was wishing winningest jockey Alan Cuthbertson a happy 60th
birthday last Saturday, the oldest full-time jockey in the business
came flying down the stretch on Bailywick in the first race to score--you got it--win #60
for the season. Then he gave
himself three more presents later in the card: three more wins. Does he mind when people keep
mentioning his age? "Naw,"
he shrugs, with a feistiness that you know will keep him turning back
youthful challengers many more years.
WINNER$: Lucky pairing with Derby winner gets $200
When
George Yashuk
had his name drawn from show parlay entrants in Monday's Derby
Sweepstakes and he was paired with 34-1 Weather Warning, he must have
been bemoaning his bad luck--until his horse got the lead and didn't
look back. The lucky pairing
earned him $200. Stephan Atamanchuk
received $150 for his pairing with second-place horse Rage Till Dawn
and Dino Longhi
$100 for third-place Great Discovery.
Other
winners:
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Poker stars: Friday's
winners included Shawn Gorrie ($100), James Ward
($50) and Rob Atras ($25). Saturday's
winners were Trevor
Phelps ($100),
Felix Berthelette ($50) and Manny Medeiros ($25). Top two each day will
get a seat in the Sept. 23 finale for a trip to Las Vegas and a Texas hold 'em
world series event. (Play show parlay
challenge to win a seat at the tables.)
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Friday's Insta-Frame Fantastic Fan: John
Urbanski's name was drawn
from show parlay entrants last Friday.
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Top show-parlay challenge players: On-track, Don Wright increased his
imaginary $10 to $128 in three races. Off-track the best player was
Eleanor Devlin who upped her $10 to $138.
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Which newspaper selects horses better? George
Williams of the
Free Press maintains his lead over the Sun's Bill Bilous.
POLY WOES WORSEN: Waxed particles clog breathing
Scoping
the breathing passages of horses has become the biggest part of
veterinarian's work at Woodbine these days after horses ride over the
synthetic Polytrack surface, kicking up sticky waxed particles,
according to backstretch workers. Jockeys routinely clear their noses
of "brown sludge" after a race and prefer to work their
horses on the dirt training track rather than go out on the Poly
surface. Gallop boys who work
horses on the main track are being cautioned to wear masks. Woodbine management says it is
continuing to work on the surface to get it right. Polytrack was installed last summer
at a cost of $10 million. It is
an amalgam of synthetic fibres, rubber chunks
and silicone, all with a waxed coating, and the track recently added
cable jell (the jell around electrical wiring) that has been described
as looking like sprinkles on the icing of a cake.
SEATTLE UP: The "people's" horse bucks her shins
The
people's horse, Seattle Up,
last year's $20,000 sales topper at the horse auction, is a little ouchy today.
During her race last Sunday, when jockey Alan Cuthbertson said she was ready to make her move,
she bucked her shins--a very painful experience that caused her to limp
under the finish line fifth and will put her on the shelf for an
undetermined amount of time.
Young horses (she's two) have a tendency to do that. It was her third lifetime start, this
one in a $15,000 claiming race.
In other words, her first two less-than-auspicious starts had
the owners, which include MJC president Harvey Warner, willing to part
with Seattle Slew's great
granddaughter for $15,000.
There were no takers.
Maybe she's just a late-developing sort. Hope springs eternal in the world of
racing.
HORSEPLAY TIP OF THE WEEK:
90% is patience
Everyone
knows what it takes to be a winner at the track--patiently waiting for
their best bets--yet almost no one follows their best instincts. Human nature is odd that way. Take a real veteran of the racing
wars: After the Derby on Monday,
he pointed to a horse at Mountaineer that couldn't lose. "If
he loses, I'll quit coming to the races." Yah, sure. But the horse DID look unbeatable and
I certainly bet him. It was a
dropping speed horse. Yes, he
won, and paid a handsome $6. But
the lesson was this: If this
veteran had waited for this kind of horse, and chunked a big part of
his bankroll on it, he would have had a terrific day. But when it came to this race, he was
looking for a loan. Thankfully, this horse completed his win-3, on
which he collected about $170.
But how much better would his day have been if had waited for
this kind of play? You show me a
person who can be patient and I'll show you a winner.
NEW WINNING LUCKY NUMBER$ for this week: Did you pick
up a free Lucky Number card for August when you were at the track on Derby
weekend? If the number on your
card matches one of these numbers, you're a winner! $25
winner: 7737 $10
winners: 5804, 8358 $5
winners: 8962, 7917, 7758, 6775, 6504. Claim your prize at www.assiniboiadowns.com See
additional lucky numbers worth up to $200 posted weekly on the Lucky
Numbers page on the website. Next Lucky
Number distribution days:
Sunday, Sept. 2 and Labour Day Monday, Sept. 3.
THE EIFFEL TOWER IS FAR AWAY but tasty
French cuisine is only a short drive away tonight in the Downs' Terrace
Dining Room. That's the Taste
the World theme tonight between 5 and 8
p.m.
All you can eat $14.95. Salivate
over the menu here. Next
Thursday's theme: German. Phone 885-3330 for reservatons.
WAGERING
CHANGE: $5 bonus on win/place only
The $5 bonus
ticket added to each $100 bet on live races will apply only
to win and place bets, general manager Sharon Gulyas has
announced. The change will take place starting this Saturday, Aug.
11. Occasional show bets of $5,000 has resulted in negative
pools where the Downs has found itself having to make up the difference
between what was wagered and how much money was in the pool. Minimum
payoffs are always $2.10, or five per cent of the wager, but the
bonus has pushed that to more than 10 per cent. However, $100 win
and place bets--where each $100 gets you $105--still represents a great
deal!
UPCOMING EVENTS: Riotous "newbie nite"
in 10 days
Here's
your chance to introduce friends to the racing game in a atmosphere steeped in fun. Bring them to the next
newbie nite in the trackside tent in 10
days: Saturday, Aug. 18. Learning to play the races has never
been this much fun, thanks to the Downs' promotional assistant Chelsea and the lively
horseplaying banter of Stretch,
of Bettor's Blog fame. He had
the newbies in stitches at the first newbie nite last month.
There are contests, games, special Downs' Dollars and
more. Call Chelsea to book
places for your gang: 885-3330,
ext. 207 or email promotions@assiniboiadowns.com.
Arlington Million goes Saturday: The premiere event in Arlington's season, the Arlington Million, 1 1/4 miles over turf, runs this Saturday pitting powerful Californian, After Market (three straight graded stakes victories), against The Tin Man, last year's Million winner. Canadian entry, Jambalaya, will be looking to upset in the eight-horse race.
NEXT INSIDER: Get a free chance to ride the skies next month to
see an historical first: Dueling
horses carved into the biggest corn maze in Canada.
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