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When this thumb presses that button at about 7 p.m.
tomorrow, Assiniboia's first race in 1958 will be dramatically
linked to today.
See
how below.
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Okay, you can put your socks back on. I'm assuming, of
course,
you heard the details about the Big Reveal yesterday. And, if your socks weren't totally
knocked off by the awesome giveaway, surely your socks must have drooped
just a little, didn't they? Mine
certainly did when I learned about it.
You say you haven't heard the details? Well, then, get a load of this: Playing a simple show parlay on live
racing--which opens tomorrow night--can make you $50,000 richer. Someone must--someone will--walk out of
Assiniboia Downs with $50,000 cash just for having filled out a simple "
show parlay challenge" entry form.
How
big is that? Especially since the Downs isn't exactly a major league
race track. It's a modest race
track on the Canadian prairies with big dreams and bigger
intentions. And those intentions
are to create a buzz on the most important anniversary since it was
"born" in 1958. Now you
know why I was telling you in recent columns to play show parlays. Now, today, you know it can be your
gateway to a family trip around the world, a classy new car or a tankful of gas. Two finalists for $50,000 will be
determined each live race day. So,
simply put, the more times you come out to live racing and fill out a
free show parlay entry form, the better chance you'll have of being that
someone.
STOP Oh, this just about slipped my mind. A great 8-page
horse racing supplement appears in today's (Thursday's) Winnipeg Free
Press. If you're not a subscriber, you still have time to pick up a copy
of today's paper at a newsstand or store. It's a good read because it
contains historical flashbacks:
the rags-to-riches horses, the day the Queen visited and created
the biggest traffic jam ever, the best-ever jocks, trainers and horses, a
1958-2008 timeline and more.
Award-winning racing writer George Williams did a lot of
the research and writing. Okay,
I'll wait while you head out before the papers are sold out.
Dum-de-dum-de-dum. Yes, I
know, getting dumb and dumber.
That's what happens to writers whose fingers have been worn raw by
the amount of writing I've been doing lately. I've just started writing a new weekly
racing column in the Canstar community
newspapers that Winnipeggers get delivered to their doors each Thursday
(which is also today). My column has the very original title At the
Races. Little nuggets of
racing and flashbacks for the masses. Bigg news
everywhere all the time. But,
don't worry, you guys are my favourites. I'm not going to leave you. Okay . . . now what special goodies lie
in wait as Kentucky Derby weekend unfolds?
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Jockey Dick
Armstrong
50 years ago
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And yesterday
at the Downs - the centre
of attention
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YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS
OPENING DAY!
Winning jockey in 1958 will
"start" 50th season Friday
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Ready to make history
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Besides
the $50,000 giveaway, it really doesn't get any better than this for
opening a 50th season of live racing.
Dick Armstrong, the rider of the horse that won the
first-ever race at Assiniboia Downs on June 10, 1958, will have his thumb
on the button that will release the horses from the starting gate for
Friday's first race. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. I've been looking at the
black-and-white picture of him and other 1958-era jockeys for a few
months, wondering what it must have been like back then. And then I hear that promo guy Allan
Gray, with the help of his father, trainer Clayton Gray,
helped track down Dick Armstrong where he currently works--at age 68--as
a jockey's room custodian and harness racing timer at Northlands Park in
Edmonton. When I spoke to Dick on
the phone the other day, I was like a gushing schoolgirl speaking to her
heart-throb idol. He sounded so
great on the phone--and he expressed such a love for the friendliness of
Winnipeggers when he raced here for about a decade starting in 1958--I
know you're going to want to meet him.
He will be signing autographs
in the main lobby from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Friday. You can have him sign a picture of
himself on page 3 of the new souvenir colour racing program. Read about his remarkable career here.
KENTUCKY DERBY SATURDAY
Free souvenir glasses; Big Brown's gonna win
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Get this souvenir glass Saturday
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We
already know this is going to be one heckuva horse
race and we finally have a horse (don't we always say this?) that could
end the 30-year Triple Crown drought.
I'll say it right here and now:
If Big Brown runs like he did in the Florida Derby-- posting very
quick early fractions from the toughest outside post in the country--and
then coasting home, he's not only your Kentucky Derby winner, he's your
Triple Crown winner. The highly
vaunted Pyro, who won the Risen Star Stakes and
the Louisiana Derby and finished second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile
last fall, is a closer that, unfortunately, won't get there in time. My superfecta is this: $1 wheel--Big Brown with Pyro with Colonel John (winner of the Santa Anita
Derby) with ALL. And
Big Brown with Pyro with ALL with Colonel John. Remember who told you when you're
cashing. I could cover myself by
saying "it's a horserace and you never know what will happen"
but I'm hardly a bashful fence-sitter. If you want wimpy, go to the Bettor's Blog, and see
what less-than-even-money horse Stretch is betting his place money on
these days. If Big Brown clears the field early, I'll be lined up at the
windows before you.
Derby Day goodies: A great buffet is lined up but you'd
better phone 885-3330 quickly to reserve.
It usually sells out early.
The first 250 people at the track on Saturday will receive a
souvenir Derby glass and there will be other
merchandise draws. The best thing
is that Manley Chan, food and beverages manager,
has said he will deliver up the tastiest Mint Julep drink this side of
Churchill Downs. "It's a
complicated drink to make," Manley said, "but I couldn't
believe how delicious it is." One of the ingredients is fresh
mint. It's served in a Derby glass--which you also get to
keep. A small quantity of Derby glasses will be given away at
OTB locations, also. Get there for
the Derby early!
WHY SATURDAY LIVE
RACING IS SO BIG, TOO
Trip for two to the Breeders' Cup to
be awarded
Since
the beginning of the year, a lot of you have been getting your Tour d'
Champs card stamped when you attended big race days from Florida, California, New York and other simulcast tracks. Get
two more stamps and you'll have completed your card--Friday's live card
and Saturday afternoon's Kentucky Derby--and then you turn in your card
for entries to win a trip for two to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita in
October. The draw will be made after
the fifth live race Saturday night.
If you attended all 12 of the Tour d' Champs race days, you have
12 chances to win the trip! Make
sure you're at the track Saturday afternoon to get your final stamp and
fill out your entries for the draw that night. Someone's going to be really, really
happy. I hope it's you.
EXTRA FUN AND CONTESTS DURING
LIVE
Poker Fridays and Saturdays, First
& Worst, Viva Las Vegas
Can
any place in town match the wall-to-wall action at the track? Live racing by itself is exciting. But
then add the mystery of who the two $50,000 finalists will be each live
race day from $50,000 show parlay entrants. And FREE POKER Fridays and Saturdays
(ultimately leading to a chance to play in the World Series of
Poker). And FIRST AND WORST every live race day where
there's cash to be made by predicting the first and last horses in the
spotlight simulcast race that day. And FRIDAY'S
INSTA-FRAME FANTASTIC FAN
drawn from $50,000 show parlay entrants.
And ROOKIE NIGHTS with
outspoken sportscaster Scott Taylor, BACKSTRETCH
BREAKFAST TOURS the last Saturday of each month, Viva Las
Vegas MONTHLY HORSEPLAYER CONTESTS
to earn a trip to Vegas and a $1 milllion
tourney, FAMILY FUN Sundays begins June 1 with petting farm and
pony rides and watch for GOLDEYES DAY. Go to www.assiniboiadowns.com daily for
updates and contest info.
WHO WON?
Two survive final day of
"Death"
Bob
Pirson and Ryan Cavan survived the final edition of Death
by Stampede last Saturday and split $100 in betting vouchers. Barrie Outar ($50) and Gregory Allan
Davis ($75) were the biggest winners on the season-concluding night
of Double Play Saturday night.
Davis predicted six consecutive show
winners--three at Mountaineer and three at Meadowlands. Hope he played those at the windows in
a parlay. Can he now parlay his
show-smarts at Double Play into winning a parlay in $50,000 show parlay
challenge and thereby become a finalist for the big money?
Top show player last Friday: Dave Brockhill
($25). Top poker players: Newbie handicapper Rick Down
($100), student Brent Williams ($50) both get into the September
finale that will send someone to Vegas and World Series of Poker
qualifying rounds. Third at poker
was Ed McKenna ($25).
TIP O' THE WEEK: Scoop the dumb money
If
you attended the seminar on "how to attack big race days" last
Saturday in the Finish Line you may have predicted my tip for today: Work hard analyzing all the races at
Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Saturday. Why?
This is the day there's more "dumb money" being bet than
any other day of the year.
Non-horseplayers come out in droves. They don't read a program, they bet
their house numbers or the horse with the odd-sounding name. Think of them as donating to your
favourite charity--you. Work hard
and be rewarded!
BONUS TIP:: Start the live race season right!
Watch
all races carefully, looking for horses trying hard in their first start
of the year. They could become
great bets next time they race.
Especially useful is noting horses that get into a heated duel, then fade. If
they get away cleanly without pressure next time, they have a good chance
to winning. Want to see a specific
example? Click here
for a short new video the Downs has put online.
MINI-BULLETIN: Stretch goes soft and permits whining!
I
knew it! After instituting a stern
"no whining" rule for five players engaged in a horseplaying
contest on his Bettor's
Blog, Stretch permitted a losing player to indulge in
excuse-making. So--even steel-hearted Stretch is no match for the
powerful forces of woulda, coulda, shoulda in the game of
horseplaying. Whining will find a
way! Next!
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Shrimp with pistachio nuts
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FAN-FAVOURITE HAWAIIAN CUISINE makes a return visit to the
Terrace Dining Room tonight where you can also pick up a souvenir racing program
for tomorrow night's live races and Saturday's Kentucky Derby line-up.
All you can eat $14.95. From 5 to 8 p.m. in the Terrace Dining
Room. Menu. Next
Thursday: Chinese
UPCOMING EVENTS: Just the biggest single day in
North American racing--the Kentucky Derby on Saturday when Churchill
Downs begins its card at 10 a.m. Fort Erie meet starts Saturday at 12:05
p.m. Twenty-four tracks in total race
Saturday. Schedule.
NEW! How-to horseplaying videos added to Downs website. Find out how to watch a race for future
profit. More.
Live racing post times: Friday
and Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 1
p.m.
See you in line Friday at 8
p.m. to get Dick's autograph!
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