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On an accident-prone
week, happy holidays! With five
sleeps to Christmas Day, I hope your days are better than mine. First I
smashed
my head on the
corner of a wall while turning quickly and had blood trickling down
my
forehead, then smashed it again on the corner of a medicine chest for a
second bloody wound an inch from the first, then spilled an entire cup
of coffee on my computer keyboard--requiring a quick trip to Future
Shop to pick up another--then burned a finger on the handle of a coffee
cup that, for some reason, is not microwave-friendly. Not to mention trying to recover from
a miserable cold that has my ears blocked and my nose running. So, as I painfully, head-throbbingly,
write this, forgive me if a degenerate into spasms of incoherency. I think my next trip is to the mall
to sit on Santa's knee and ask him to grant me a make-over. But I'd probably skid into a pole on
the way there so, on second thought ....
Interestingly,
though, the dark clouds have not followed me to the betting
windows. In fact, it's been the
exact opposite, which has me questioning the schizophrenic nature of
luck: I'm a basket case on one
hand, but the stars are lined up perfectly in my favour on the
horseplaying side. You'll see
why in a moment. It's been
amazing. I want to keep this column
short and sweet, though, because your head is probably swimming with
last-minute chores in preparation for Christmas, Solstice, Festivus or
whatever you're celebrating to brighten up the darkest days of the
year. (Good news: The sun reverses direction and starts
heading back to us just after midnight Saturday.)
BIZZARRO RACING LUCK:
Santa Claus comes
early
 (1)
$18 gets me $1,350: Reading this column, you know I like
Australian racing and especially 20-cent superfectas because it's
possible to pick up an entire superfecta pool in a race (usually
$2,500) for that paltry sum.
Last Friday, an impossible 13-horse field of first-time-starters
presented itself as a possible superfecta opportunity in this way: take all horses in the first two
positions on my superfecta ticket to single horses finishing third and
fourth. That way, if longshots
finish in the top positions, the superfecta might still pay out even if
the third and fourth horses on the ticket are incorrect. For $18, it
was a worthwhile gamble. What
horses to take as singles in the third and fourth positions? When I've made this kind of bet on
very rare occasions in the past, I had taken # 2 for third and #1 for
fourth. Since #2 was a scratch in this Australian race, I substituted
the race favourite, #8, in the third position and #1 kept
the fourth spot.
Here's
how the race, a 5 1/2 furlong turf sprint, unfolded: On the early pace
were the two horses I needed for third and fourth: #8 (2-1) and #1 (10-1). In the stretch, it looked like they
would finish first and second but then two longshot horses emerged from
the trailing pack (at odds of 10-1 and 15-1), passing #8 as #8 drew
away from #1. So my $18 ticket--ALL with ALL with #8 with
#1--was dead-on and paid a handsome $1,350. The race could not have unfolded any
better. B.S. luck, as I call
it. But little did I realize I'd
have an equally crazy occurrence for spending mere bus money the next
day.
 (2)
$5 gets me $1,400: At Los Alamitos on Saturday I had a
single horse, #6, keyed in the fourth leg of a pick-4 ticket. It would have been nice to win the
pick-4 but it wasn't going to pay much.
I watched to see what Chris,
the Los Alamitos track selector, liked in the race because he appears
to be an excellent handicapper at a track I only recently started
playing. Chris liked #4. So, to back up my pick-4 ticket in
case my #6 lost, I spent $5 playing a superfecta ticket that looked
like this: 4-6-ALL-1. I played the #1 horse in the fourth
position because the inside post horse often "picks up the
pieces" in short races since the horse is saving ground.
Sure
enough, Chris's #4 selection won and my #6 finished second. And #1 was passed by a late-closing
#2 (at 40-1) to finish fourth.
For my $5 investment, I got a return of $1,400. Yes, you read that right. I still don't know how it possibly
could have paid that much. But
that's the nature of superfectas--get one big longshot somewhere on the
ticket and the payoff is boxcars.
Nursing my various hurts, I haven't played any races since. Knowing that luck--good or bad--
happens in three's, can I dare hope for one more improbable win? Even a bizzarro pick-6? Maybe. But I'll have to get to the track
first without skidding into the ditch and gashing my head--for a third
time.
REAL NEWS: 50th anniversary logo revealed
Enough
of Ivan Biggisms! Let's move on
now to the real news: unveiling
the logo to mark the most important anniversary since Assiniboia Downs
opened its doors on June
10, 1958. Here's the logo that will sit atop a
plethora of special events, contests and giveaways that will mark this
landmark year.
Whaddya
think? It has a crisp, simple
elegance and I especially like the "0" in "50"
being opened on one side with a horse's head heading into a limitless
future--since anniversaries are times to recount highlights of the past
but especially to gallop toward even better times.
BEST WRITERS IN CANADA: Wiecek, Besson at Freep
It comes as no real surprise to his readers that Winnipeg Free Press writer Paul Wiecek has won official recognition as the best racing feature writer in Canada, winning the prestigious Sovereign Award for the fifth time for "Holding Life by the Reins," a feature article on Sept. 22 describing trainer Marty Drexler's rise to leading trainer after escaping from Czechoslovakia as a kid with his doctor Dad. Read his story here. Wiecek's "stable" mate, Allan Besson, excelled in the "outstanding newspaper article" category, beating out two Toronto Star nominees, with "Graduation Day Celebration," a sensitive story about the graduation from the Downs' groom school of a young woman afflicted with a disfiguring syndrome (Free Press, July 6).
Ontarians swept awards in the horse/connections categories: 3-year-old filly Sealy Hill, who excelled on both Poly and turf, winning the Wonder Where stakes, was named horse of the year. Her connections, trainer Mark Casse and owner/breeder Eugene Melnyk also captured top honours in their categories at the 33rd annual awards ceremony which was held in Toronto last Friday. Woodbine's Patrick Husbands was named outstanding jockey, having earned $9-million in purse money with 149 wins in 717 starts.
PSST! Something REALLY big in store
I
can't say much about it right now.
But get ready, just prior to the opening of the 50th season of
live racing on May 2, for an announcement that will knock your socks
off. "Something huge"
is all I can say now. That
should keep you wondering!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I
should send Christmas cards to Russell Baze every week!"--blogger
Stretch,
after the winningest jockey ever, Russell
Baze, perfectly timed a stretch move in Golden Gate's fourth race
Saturday to win at odds of 2-1, giving Stretch a sizable pickup on his
biggest bet of the day.
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL to
tonight's traditional Christmas feast in the festive Terrace Dining Room
featuring turkey and all the trimmings--but sorry, I've just been told it's sold out--but there's still room at next Thursday's theme night where you'll probably be turkeyed-out and welcome the change. Next
Thursday's theme: Greek.
New
Year's Eve: Two sittings. Book today at 885-3330. Menu.
HOLIDAY SCHEDULE: Short eve, closed Xmas, big Boxing
 Weekend: Full schedule of racing. Friday and Saturday: Laurel's
first race goes to post at 11:10
a.m.; Sunday, a full day begins with Calder at 11:25 a.m. Full schedule.
Christmas
Eve
(Monday): Partial day of racing. Three tracks only: Calder and Philadelphia
go to post at 11:25
a.m., Fair Grounds at 12:35 p.m.
Christmas
Day: Closed. (Get over
it Sammy!)
Boxing
Day: Special day of fun
beginning with distribution of free colourful Santa Anita calendar to
first 200 at the track and at OTB locations. Racing starts with Laurel
at 11:10
a.m. It's opening day
for the showcase Santa Anita meet on its controversial Cushion
Track. Post time: 2 p.m.
NOTE: Watch for next column on Xmas Day Not that you're really going to watch
for it. But I'm going to program
the next Insider to hit your
email box Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 25, Christmas Day, in case you're
checking out your email in a bit of quiet time after a day of
overindulgence. It will give you
the lowdown on special Boxing Day happenings--one of the more popular
racing days of the year. In the
meantime . . .
Warmest wishes for a
galloping great holiday!
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