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"Almost-live"
racing starts tomorrow . . .
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Experience the fun of
"almost-live" racing every Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. from the Downs' sister track, Remington Park in Oklahoma.
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Let's get ready to rumblllllllle! Never a dull moment in this wonderful
world of horse-racing, is there?
What's the sequel to live racing? "Almost live" racing, of
course--featuring cranked-up volume and fun starting tomorrow from the Downs'
sister track in Oklahoma
City, Remington
Park. It'll sound "live." You
just won't see animals running around the local track--except maybe
rabbits--so just don't look out the Clubhouse windows and concentrate,
instead, on picking your "show parlay" at Remington where you
could win $25 in wagering vouchers Friday and Saturday nights. Plus as
a bonus on Friday 10 players will play winner take-all Texas Hold'em
for a top prize of $100 in wagering vouchers. Post time for
"almost live" racing is 6:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday.
And you and I have a date Saturday morning--right?--down
in the Finish Line banquet hall at 11 a.m. to share opinions on prime
plays, talk about forming a club and prepare for the biggest day in
racing, the Breeders' Cup. Email
me now to confirm our "date:" theinsider@assiniboiadowns.com I'll have freshly-brewed coffee waiting
for you. And if you're getting
bored with racing up here in the northern hemisphere which is heading
toward (brrr!) winter, you can escape Down Under where spring has just
sprung and where--thank you very much--a 20-cent superfecta from
Australia padded my wallet big-time last Saturday night. Get the lowdown on playing Down Under
here.
Okay, settle down, I'll let you know in a moment today's
winning $50 bonus number in the Breeders' Cup Bonanza giveaway. (I
assume most of you picked up your Bonanza numbers at the track last
weekend.) But first, let's salute all the impressive winners from the
past weekend, on track and off, right after you wrack your brain for an
answer to this sneaky bit of trivia.
TRIVIA QUESTION: What
is the record for the most consecutive losses by a race horse? (a) 28 losses (b)
47 losses (c) 65 losses (d)
125 losses (See answer at
end of column.)
WINNERS GALORE: Whether they wanted to or not
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Glen Sirkis shows winning
intensity
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The real drama of the past weekend wasn't on the race
track but in the poker finale in the Finish Line Sunday where 74 of you
competed for a trip to Las
Vegas and entry into the World Series of
Poker. Interestingly, Glen Sirkis who writes Bettor's Blog and who got into the poker match for the same reason most
people climb mountains--because it's there--couldn't lose if he had
wanted to. Very short-stacked at
the final table, he lucked into an ace on a river card just to keep him
alive heading into the final half-hour of play where he frustrated his
rival, Bill Sloan, by
getting good cards almost every hand and doubling his puny stack again
and again to overwhelm his competitor.
Sirkis has always acknowledged that he's a horseplayer, not a
poker player, but he took his horseplaying intensity into less-familiar
poker country and it served him well. Free poker will continue Friday
nights after "almost-live" racing from Remington--with $100
in betting vouchers up for grabs. Ten seats available. To get in, enter
"show parlay challenge" at Remington.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Cuth explodes past 100
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Cuthbertson unsaddling after 100th
win as top trainer Drexler looks on.
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Was there any doubt?
When jockey Alan
Cuthbertson came into the final weekend of live racing with 98 wins, it wasn't
"if" he'd get 100, it was "when." Friday, he got to 99. So close, tantalizingly close. But Saturday, he exploded, getting
his 100th win in the very first race--the first since Chris Martin did it 1995--then,
for good measure, added another three on the day and three more on
Sunday including the Winnipeg Futurity. "Bonnie and I set a
goal and we achieved it," he said ,
referring to his agent, Bonnie
Eshelman and the mark they set for themselves before the season
began. Last year, he had 81 wins
as leading rider so the 100-win mark was an ambitious objective. No wonder he has been riding like a
man on a mission! On the trainer side, it was no contest either: Martin
Drexler, 37, swept every
category--wins (43), win percentage (33) and money earned ($542,000).
Now he's off to try Polytrack for the second year at Woodbine for the
balance of the year. Speaking of
whom: You missed a great piece
of racing writing if you didn't read Paul Wiecek's article Saturday in the Free Press about
Drexler escaping Czechoslovakia
as a kid with his doctor Dad.
Compelling reading. It's
great to see Wiecek back writing about racing after a sabbatical.
WEEKEND LIVE RACE WRAP-UP:
Gray's got it good
You'll enjoy reading Allan Gray's Weekend
Recap. He hits the high points of the big
races on last weekend's closing cards and zeroes in on the leading
racing personalities in a brief, breezy fashion. A good read.
SECOND-PLACE FINISHER WINS VEGAS TRIP
An
unfortunate disqualification has resulted in the second-place finisher
in last Saturday's Viva Las Vegas horseplayer tournament being placed
first. Brittany Jonatanson had finished first with a closing
bankroll of $79.20 but was disqualified when it was learned she is
20-years-old and the rules state players must be 21. "It's very unfortunate,"
said general manager Sharon
Gulyas, "but rules are
rules." Kathleen Buckoski, with a
bankroll of $76.90 was elevated to first and will be heading to Las Vegas with a guest
in January to compete in the Coast Casinos $1 million Horseplayer World
Series. Mike Dodds finished
third with a closing bankroll of $69.90. Players were required
to make mythical $2 win/place bets with a starting bankroll of $36 on
the nine races on the Downs' card. There were 72 entrants. Kathleen will join the other four
monthly winners heading to Vegas in January.
THE SEASON BY THE NUMBERS:
Handle was up!
The closing numbers of the live-race season appear to
indicate you like what you've been getting: competitive racing and
interesting contests. You helped
push $7.8 million through the windows compared to $7.2 million last
year. On-track, the handle was
$5.58 compared to $5.47 million in 2006. And simulcast partners
contributed $2.23 million, up from $1.77 million. But, as with most tracks, racing
could not sustain itself without VLT revenues and, as Jockey Club
President Harvey Warner has
repeatedly told the media, the Downs
is ultimately hoping to be granted permission to turn itself into a
"racino" with more gaming opportunities for patrons. The
politicians will have the final say on that. One thing's sure: with 50th anniversary
celebrations looming, the best is yet to come!
POLYUNFORTUNATE: Top 2-year-old breaks down at Santa
It was not a good omen for the opening of Santa Anita's
Oak Tree meet yesterday. Top
2-year-old colt, Drill Down,
expected to be the favourite in a Grade 1 stakes this Sunday, broke an
ankle while training Monday on the drying-out surface of the
newly-installed synthetic Cushion Track and had to be euthanized. The $350,000 colt, which won his
maiden race impressively, was reportedly not insured. Santa Anita,
along with other California
major tracks, had been forced to install a synthetic
surface--wax-coated fibres, rubber and silicone--by the California
Horse Racing Board by the end of this year, citing safety concerns with
dirt, and Santa Anita's management had done so with reluctance.
The horse's shaken trainer, Mike Machowsky, didn't blame the new surface for the
breakdown but other trainers said the surface was unpredictable after
the rain and chose to work their horses over the dirt training track
instead. This breakdown came a day after a promising 3-year-old
training at Hollywood
Park--Latin Rhythms, winner of the El
Cajon Stakes at Del
Mar--had to be euthanized after suffering a leg injury during a workout
over that Cushion Track.
HORSEPLAY TIP OF THE WEEK: This is the time of year that classy
3-year-olds have a better chance of beating older classy horses.
BREEDERS' CUP CA$H BONANZA: Is this your number?
Today's
$50 bonus winning number is 1273. To claim your prize click here. Breeders'
Cup Bonanza cash giveaway numbers were distributed on the final three
days of live racing. A new
winning number is published every day on the Downs' home page www.assiniboiadowns.com and a new $50 bonus number will be
published here each Thursday until Thursday, Oct. 25, two days before
Breeders' Cup Day. On that day,
draws will be made at the track for cash prizes of $500, $250 and
$100. Also, 20
betting vouchers of $10 will be drawn for.
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Jambalaya
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CHICKEN SIMMERED IN BEER, peanut-crusted
cod and jambalaya are three of the entrees you can sink your teeth into
this evening at New Orleans night in the Terrace Dining Room featuring
all-you-can-eat soup, salads, entrees and a spectacular dessert table
from 5 to 8 p.m. $14.95. Full menu. Next Taste the World theme: Thanksgiving feast. Reservations: 885-3330.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Let's get serious about serious money! A reminder again about our date this
Saturday at 11
a.m. down in the Finish Line. Let's get serious--or at least
semi-serious--about forming a horseplayer club to pursue those big U.S.
pools. Do yourself a favour and at least come see what it's about and
learn about a few prime plays on the day that can put money into your
pocket. Let's do it!
Street
Sense races Saturday: Watch Kentucky
Derby winner Street Sense
and his rival Hard Spun in
their final prep race this Saturday at Turfway before their expected
entry into the Breeders' Cup Classic Oct. 27.
NEXT INSIDER: Cleaning
up loose ends from the live season.
Who won the contest to predict trainer Rebecca Welch's final win tally? Who is "show" king? New $50
bonus number.
Answer to trivia
question: You
won't believe this. The answer
is: (d) 125 losses. Dona
Chepa,
a 9-year-old brown mare, finished last in a six-horse field at Camarero
Racetrack in eastern Puerto Rico last week, her 125th consecutive loss
since she beginning her racing career on Valentine's Day, 2001. She finished second--once--in 2003.
Previous record of 0 for 124 was set by Australian horse Ouroene who raced from
1976-83. Hey, time to bet on
Dona Chepa. She's overdue! (Thanks to Darren Dunn for alerting The Insider to this.)
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