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Good news, folks! Canadian common-pooling with New Jersey, the state
where the Breeders' Cup will be held in three weeks, will finally begin
Tuesday, Oct. 16. You will be
able to bet directly into the Meadowlands pool starting that day, giving
you opportunities for much bigger payoffs. And, of course, when Monmouth--site
of the Breeders' Cup--begins its short meet on Oct. 24, the pools will
be common and Canadians will have a shot at the multi-million dollar
pick-6.
And this just in:
Playing the pick-6 at New York tracks has been reduced from $3 to $2 because the
Canadian dollar is now about par with the U.S. dollar. Only if
the dollar declines to 85-cents will the pick-6 bet be increased to $3.
Other
news isn't so great; in fact, downright sad. Popular race-tracker and collectibles
enthusiast Gord Mawhinney
died last Saturday at 65. More
on that shortly.
Other
reasons to read on and put off raking autumn leaves a little while
longer:
• Who won the
contest to predict Becky's wins as a trainer?
• How did the
first meeting last Saturday to form a horseplayer club go? You
missed a profitable one!
• Have you
ever wondered why betting on horses is called "parimutuel"
wagering? Wonder no
more.
•
Is
your Breeders' Cup Bonanza number worth $50?
• Who won the
title of "show" king during live racing?
• Why is the
opening of Keeneland's fall meeting on Friday
so important?
 And
you can't really get out to rake the leaves if you're getting ready to drive
out to the Downs to feast on comfort food--roast turkey, stuffing,
mashed potatoes and gravy--tonight from 5 to 8 p.m., all-you-can-eat,
in the Terrace Dining Room, can you? Glance at the menu here. First .... this quick
read:
HORSEPLAYER CLUB MEETING:
You missed a good
one
Before
I talk about last Saturday's inaugural meeting to form a horseplayer
club, note this: The topic at
the next meeting is "How to
spot almost-guaranteed winners." That meeting, open to everyone, is in
nine days: Saturday, Oct. 13 at 11 a.m. Mark it down. It's in the lower level
Finish Line banquet hall.
I
know many of you regretted not making last Saturday's meeting. It was a good one: Only six showed, but the enthusiasm
was so high and everyone loved the sharing of ideas so much they just
kept on playing as a group until mid-afternoon. EVERYONE cashed on the first race
they played from Belmont Park when a 7-1
horse beat a less-than-even-money horse. They lucked out of the pick-6 from
Santa Anita, but two other prime plays on the day won. "I
learned so much," was the prevailing talk. It was agreed by the group to put off
electing a president for another meeting or two and suggested that I
continue to host meetings EVERY TWO WEEKS until that time. They wanted to get the word out how
valuable these sessions are. My
prediction is that the club gets off the ground and becomes a solid
money-making force.
TRIVIA TEASER: Why is betting on horses called "parimutuel" wagering, and not simply wagering?
(See answer at the end of column)
SO SAD: Untimely passing
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Gord Mawhinney
1942-2007
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Lots
of players in the Race Book will miss big man Gord Mawhinney, striding around in
his khaki shorts, just off the golf course, to play the horses or make
his mark at the poker tables. He
died of a heart attack last Saturday at 65--a birthday he celebrated during
live racing by making a Winners' Circle presentation. He was also popular in the field of
collectible cards, operating Faceoff
Collectibles on Ness Avenue and selling
them on ebay, garnering an incredible 262 favourable comments (many over-the-top). Kids will miss coming into his store
to barter with the big guy. The
premature death of his wife resulted in his being Mr. Mom to his son
and daughter. As his obituary
Tuesday in the Winnipeg Free Press
put it: "Gord lived every day with joy,
kindness, a lucky horse pick and a worn-out library card." A service will be held tomorrow at
Thomson Funeral Home, 669
Broadway Avenue at 2
p.m.
TRAINER BECKY "BOUNCES:" Kathy predicted it
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Trainer "Becky"
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Rebecca
"Becky" Welch, 24, last year's amazing 40 per cent win-percentage
trainer at the Downs,
"bounced" this season, her second year in this demanding line
of work. Kathleen Buckoski predicted this would
happen so she wins my pre-season contest that asked readers to predict
Becky's record during the live season which ended Sept. 24. Trainer Rebecca had 10 wins,
Kathleen had predicted nine so she wins the prize consisting of
two Thursday theme night dinners for two. Kathy, in fact, is on somewhat of a
roll. You might recognize her
name from last week's Insider, in which she finished second in the trip-to-Vegas
horseplayer tournament but was bumped up to first when the winner was
disqualified for being under 21, a requirement
under the rules.
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Kathleen Buckoski
Contest winner
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Kathleen
comes from a horseplaying family: her husband, Grant, owns horses under
the Hardball Stable name so maybe that reminds her of the
"bounce" factor that affects horses and hence projected a
"bounce" for Becky. Horses that put in a huge winning effort,
winning by open lengths, often will not race as well in their next
start. In fact, some race downright miserably. However, that same horse
will then come back with a winning effort in its next start. So maybe that is what will happen to
Becky in her third year! Last
year, you may recall, she was second-leading win-percentage trainer in
all of North
America
with 23 wins from 58 starts.
This year she had 10 wins from 64 starts but she tripled her
second-place finishes from the previous year. Her horses finished second 11 times
this year, compared to three times last year. So she wasn't far away from the
Winners' Circle in those races.
I'm sure everyone wishes Becky a big bounce back. Thanks, too,
to the 19 entrants to my contest, most of whom predicted a bit of a win
bounce, but not as big as it was.
Their mean prediction was 18 wins.
TAKE A BOW: George triumphs again, Charles is show king
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George Williams
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George
Williams,
race selector at the Winnipeg Free Press, assumed the lead right out of
the gate in a match race with his Sun rival, Bill Bilous, during the 70-day
live race meet and never looked back.
He predicted 195 correct wins to Bill's 187. I guess it helps, too, that George
charts the races for the Daily Racing Form from the press box. That probably gives him the edge that
Bill doesn't have.
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Charles Scotlend
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The
overall champion of the live season's "show parlay challenge"
turned out to be a runaway, too, with Charles Scotlend putting up a
huge number--$450--that others found
insurmountable. Turning a mere
$10 into that kind of money in only three races once again shows the
value of letting your money ride in the least-risky way possible. As Mr. Parlay, Charles received $100
and a trophy. But, during my
snapping his picture on the last day of live racing, he kept
saying: "Tell them I won the last race superfecta, too." All right, Charles, done. And, yes, that was a nice longshot
win. Now are you ready to prove
your show prowess at the simulcast windows? What about Breeders' Cup Day? Ten bucks could probably be turned
into thousands of dollars if you keep the parlay going. What about everybody else? This could bail you out of a bad day
if your win bets aren't connecting.
ALMOST-LIVE RACING KICKS OFF: First winners
The
first weekend of almost-live racing featuring the Downs' sister
track, Remington Park in Oklahoma, saw Luis Medeiros win $100 in
betting vouchers at the poker table Friday night and Art Solvason topping show
parlay earnings, turning his $10 into $85.50. Almost-live, where the
track turns up the volume and the fun, goes
every Friday and Saturday through October at 6:30
p.m.
in the Downs' Race Book.
HORSEPLAY TIP OF THE WEEK:
Never run out of
money
Separate
great plays from weak plays and have two bankrolls for each--let's say
$100 for great plays, $30 for weak ones. When you make your great plays, bet a
certain percentage of your bankroll--say 20 per cent--which means your
bets go up when you're winning and go down when you're not. But you seldom will run out of
money. Use $30 for your very
small fun bets. If you run out,
you run out. Don't dip into your
prime-bets bankroll. To build up
your fun-bets bankroll, try playing a show parlay starting with, say
$6. A partner and I turned $8
into $350 playing let-it-ride show bets--really!
BREEDERS' CUP CA$H BONANZA: Is this your number?
Today's
$50 bonus winning number is 1147. 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.
UPCOMING EVENTS: Keeneland starts big: Nine, count 'em--nine--stakes
races are featured from tomorrow, opening day, thru Sunday at Keeneland's fall meet because horses are still
prepping for the Breeders' Cup in three weeks. How is their Poly track going to fare
this season? Slow as molasses
again? Hmmm.
Prix
de l'Arc de Triomphe: 9 a.m. Sunday at the track if it goes. The European rights-holders to the
most important race in Europe
were late in getting out the necessary paperwork so it probably won't be
known until tomorrow whether the Downs
will be able to carry racing from France
Sunday morning. Watch the
website: www.assiniboiadowns.com
Answer to trivia
question: Parimutuel, which is a
French term meaning "among ourselves,"
is used to show that players are betting against each other and not
against the house, as is the case in casino games. It means the track
has no interest in who wins or loses or how big the wins are. The track
simply acts as a middleman, extracting its "take" (for
purses, overhead, etc.) and distributing the remaining money among
winners.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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