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This is
worth shouting from the rooftops, folks!
Assiniboia Downs,
that quaint little race track on the Canadian prairies, a track that
regularly cards castoff horses from Portland Meadows, Turf Paradise and
other U.S. tracks, had just four--that's correct, just four--horses
break down through its entire 70-day race season last year. While some major tracks on the
continent have installed, or are wrestling with a notion of installing,
synthetic tracks "for the good of the horses," Assiniboia is
doing what it has been doing throughout its 50 proud years: providing a
well-groomed dirt track.
And trainers and veterinarians deserve kudos, of course, for
keeping unsound horses from getting into the starting gate in the first
place. Food for thought for the
big tracks agonizing over the welfare of horses, don't you think? That's why I led today's column with
that stat--this column reaches most of them.
Now into the
meat:
• What time is it?
It's BIG 10 countdown time: 10 weeks to the
Kentucky Derby,
10 weeks to the opening of live racing with 50th
anniversary games and giveaways,
10 weeks to a "knock your socks off"
50th anniversary announcement and 10 weeks
to a draw that can send you to the Breeders' Cup in the
fall. How can you maximize
your fun during the countdown? That story follows.
• Reg Pluchinske is the king of Double Play. Will he score a hat trick this
Saturday--or will you be there to thwart his ambitions?
• Racing world mourns filly’s death but a rose
will carry her “Winning Colors”
• Why did leading jockey Garrett Gomez refuse
to ride on Santa's newly-resurfaced
track? Will it happen again?
• How can you spot contenders in the most
difficult race in North
America? See
"Tip o' the Week" below.
Now, to a
backdrop of 50-year-old
nostalgia--a 1958 Edsel purring in the
driveway, Sweet Little Sixteen playing on the
radio--let's begin the Big 10 countdown. By the way, did you know NASA--the
U.S. space agency--was also "born" in 1958, as was Perkins family
restaurants and Schriemer's Home and Garden
Showplace, the greenhouse that provided the waterfall and pond
accessories in the Clubhouse?
Assiniboia Downs certainly was in good company in its formative
year. Oh yes, the Daytona 500 car race also turned 50 this year.
LAST FILLY TO WIN KENTUCKY DERBY DIES
Winning Colors euthanized at 23
The racing world this week is
mourning and honouring the last filly--and
one of only three fillies--to have won the Kentucky
Derby. Winning Colors
was buried at age 23 at Gainesway Farm near
Lexington, Kentucky, after she was euthanized Feb. 17 because of
complications from colic, an abnormal painful condition of the
bowels common to horses. The Hall of Fame roan
filly won the Derby in 1988 with Gary
Stevens aboard and also had beaten the boys in the
Santa Anita Derby, accomplishments that got her inducted into the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 2000. Her record was 8-3-1 from 19 starts and she earned $1.5 million. "Winning Colors was always a
champion," said Gainesway
president Antony Beck. "She had great physical prowess and
athleticism. She was one of my fathers' (Graham Beck) favourite horses,
and everyone at Gainesway is saddened by her
passing."
There's an interesting local
twist to this great horse's achievement. Rose breeder Jerry Twomey,
an award-winning rose breeder who co-founded the T & T Seeds
catalogue in Winnipeg 63 years ago and now lives in San Diego, had honoured the filly's
accomplishment by releasing a new rose in her name, Winning
Colors, the year following the filly's Derby win. His nephew, T & T Seeds
manager Kevin Twomey, said Winning
Colors has been a popular variety among rose
fanciers, So the filly's memory will live on--in beautiful shades
of orange--in gardens everywhere.
10-WEEK COUNTDOWN
How to maximize your fun on the way to live racing &
Derby
With 10 weeks to
live racing, the Kentucky Derby, Breeders' Cup trip giveaway, a
breathtaking announcement and much more, here's how to get the most out
of the countdown weeks:
• Pay
attention to big race days--the
Derbies, the Handicaps, the special races for
3-year-olds. Knowing
the horses will add to your enjoyment when push comes to
shove in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness
and the Belmont Stakes.
• Come out
on designated big days (listed on your Tour d' Champs card). Each
time you get your card stamped, you earn an extra chance to
win a trip for two to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita next
fall. If you don't yet have a
card, get one free this
Sunday at the kiosk next to the Race Book.
• Enter
the Triple Crown Challenge. Look over the list of 3-year-olds and
pick
three you think will emerge as prime contenders in the
Triple Crown. You could
win $500--but even the fun of watching the progress of your
horses is worth the
$5 entry fee. You have until the end of February to
enter. Follow your horses on the
giant Road to the Triple Crown board on the north wall of
the Clubhouse.
• Enter
the monthly horseplayer tournaments. The top
three winners each
month win cash and get into the exciting winner-take-all
$1,000 Tournament of Champions in May.
• Play
show parlay challenge on Friday nights. That's your
key to evening poker
and getting into the $1,000 finale March 28.
SANTA SAGA CONTINUES
Gomez refused to ride
You never know
what's going to happen at Santa Anita since it has been toying with its
synthetic surface, now a mixture of Cushion Track elements and
Australian-inspired Pro-Ride ingredients. Last Wednesday, jockeys refused to
ride after the first three races, claiming the track was "like
cement" and "unsafe."
A horse broke down in the third race--something that's supposed
to happen less frequently on synthetic tracks. Racing was interrupted for an hour
while the maintenance crew "power-harrowed" the track, a term
that followers of Woodbine racing are used to hearing.
However, leading
jockey Garrett Gomez still refused to ride, saying he wasn't
going to take his life into his hands as a "test pilot" on
the altered surface. He has
ridden since then but that episode showed the track is still struggling
day to day with its synthetic mix, something akin to Woodbine's
Polytrack. Three horses were
scratched from the featured race that day including Declan's
Moon, the 2-year-old male champion of 2004, . Payoffs have been erratic and
sometimes huge, including a $165 win price. The average payout in the first four
days of the new surface was $16.25, excluding the $165 horse. The race winner seems to be dependent
on how deeply the maintenance crew works the surface, similar again to
the Woodbine situation. It would
be wise for players to note how speed is holding in the first couple of
races and adjust their play accordingly--and hope the deep-harrowing
equipment isn't brought out in mid-card to change it.
"MY MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT"
Here's one for the
record books!
He's been training horses for
43 years and obviously has lots of memories, including winning his
first stakes race, the $50,000 Klondike in Edmonton, with Black is
Beautiful in 1982, a horse purchased in New York for $3,200. But it was a sloppy day in June of 1969
that carries the most rivetting memory
for Carl Anderson,
leading trainer in Saskatchewan 10 times and leading money earner at Assiniboia
three times. And no wonder. Get this: "I saddled four winning horses that day,
all on the mud, all horses owned and bred by Max Freed, all ridden by Dickie Armstrong and (here's the kicker, folks) ALL SIRED BY THE SAME HORSE, Joe Wilson." His
horses won the double that day and the personable
trainer still recalls that jockey Ray Correa "blew the turn" to allow
his 2-year-old to win another race. He recalled three of the
horses as being Tiny Will,
Guardian F and Hal S. Can anyone top
that memory?
CONCENTRATE BETTER (and live longer)
Sip green
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Lately, I've been
chillin' in my carrell
in the Race Book sipping green tea with a touch of honey and
cream. Besides taking the chill
out of winter, the drink also puts me in the right frame of mind for
poring over racing programs. Now
I read that I'm getting far more benefits than just a soothing feeling.
"Tea is full of
powerful antioxidants that improve concentration, gently boost energy
and make people happier," Dr. Mao states on his health
website. And, he adds, it also
can help you live longer. "The
free radical-inhibiting property of tea is more potent than that of
vitamin E and tea is a proven preventive and treatment for
atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). The polyphenols
in tea, especially the catechins, are
powerful antioxidants that help ward off diabetes and cancer." How can something this delicious also
be THAT good for you? You might
want to try it and see if you don't agree. For added "warmth"
ask the bartender to add a dash of amaretto and Grand Marnier, a drink
improbably called "blueberry tea."
WHO WON? Reg is king of Double Play;
hat trick looms
Saturday's new Double Play game, where
a player picks both a show horse and correctly predicts the total of the
top three finishers, has been a pushover for Reg
Pluchinske. In the last Insider, I ran his
picture showing he had picked up $100 in the inaugural edition of the
game. He again dominates payoff
news. He was the only one to
predict all six show horses, three from Sam Houston, three from
Meadowlands, which netted him $50 and he was among three (including Norman
Allard and Grant Buckoski) who
received $15 each for scoring a Double Play at Sam Houston. Congrats
also to Roy Hunchak who picked up $50.
You can bet Reg is looking for a hat trick
this Saturday when the carryover
will be $75. That means $250 in free bets will be waiting to be
won! Can you de-throne
the king?
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Marshall
PosnerBarbara DebreuilBruce GreenhillAllan Gray.
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Players' Choice
horseplayer tourney: Forget about
it! An 11-1 longshot named At the Buda Bing roared to the
lead at Bay Meadows and wired the field in the closing minutes of
Saturday's monthly horseplayer tournament in the Clubhouse, catapulting
veteran horseplayer Bruce Greenhill into first place and a $500
prize. Playing that race and early-speed types on Oaklawn's
slop helped Bruce more than double his $48 bankroll to $103.80,
defeating 38 entrants. Barbara Debreuil
finished second and picked up $250 with a bankroll of $91.70, just $1
more than third-place finisher Marshall Posner who received
$100. The trio
now get to compete against nine others in a Tournament of Champions in May for
a winner-takes-all $1,000 cash. Next monthly tournament: Saturday, March 15.
Friday poker: Bill Bartlett picked up
$100. Turning point: Getting a flush in the last five
hands. Second: Murray Chaban. Both advance to $1,000 finale in
March. Show parlay challenge: Ray Munroe picked up $25. Death by Bay Meadows: Two friends left standing among 44
entrants were tied in race eight Saturday, bringing the tie-breaker
rule into effect. In it, Carol Barkwell
edged out Barbara Debreuil (who had
finished second in the horseplayer tourney anyway). Carol received $100 in betting
vouchers.
SATURDAY'S
SEMINAR: Hot Plays show
profit, pick-5 gets 4
A group ticket on the Magna
Pick-5 selected at a horseplay seminar in the Finish Line last Saturday
was agonizingly close. The
ticket had 4 of 5 correct, with the first leg losing to a horse that
made a quick move up the rail in the turn to hold off the group's horse
moving on the outside. Winning
tickets paid $15,000. Overall, a
very good handicapping process by the group, led by Everett Shade. It's only a matter of time before
one hits.
My hot plays: I had suggested three plays on the
afternoon. The first play, Fireball Jack, at Turfway Park, won,
paying $15.80 and $8.60. The
second play from Tampa Bay, a longshot that needed to get the lead
inside; didn't clear and went backwards. My third play, Mountain Stag at
Oaklawn, finished second, paying $4.60. A $2 win/place bet on the three
would have cost $12 and a player would have collected $29, giving him a
nice profit. Next seminar: Saturday, March 1 at 11 a.m.
TIP O' THE
WEEK: Look for mile speedsters in trickiest race
Bar none, Santa Anita's
signature race--6 1/2 furlongs on the turf down the hill--is the
trickiest race in North America to handicap. The average payout in a study I did a
few years ago was $20.60. That
means lots of longshots win that race. But the race has gotten a lot easier
with my discovery of this pattern:
horses that have shown early speed in longer turf races are
prime contenders. Using this
angle, this kind of horse was my first suggestion for our group Magna
Pick-5 ticket on Saturday (it won and paid $10). The "obvious" horses in
that race weren't even close.
The same kind of horse, which paid $56, was the undoing of most
pick-6 tickets on Sunday and led to a $1 million carryover. Here are the past performance lines of the winner of that race, Cheroot,
#11 in the ninth race last Sunday.
Notice how the horse loved to show speed at route distances:
PUT DOWN THE CAN
OPENER and head out to an
all-you-can-eat
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Sweet and
sour chicken balls
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Beef and broccoli
stir fry
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Chinese buffet in the Terrace
Dining Room tonight from 5 to 8 p.m. featuring sweet and sour chicken
balls, seafood chow mein, beef and broccoli,
wonton soup, crunchy Thai salad and much more. Add to that a salad bar
and tantalizing dessert table including melt-in-your-mouth almond cookies.
Top off with live-forever green tea (see above). Only $14.95. Next Thursday's theme: Italian. Reserve at 885-3330.
UPCOMING EVENTS: War Pass races Sunday Be sure to bring your Tour d' Champs card to be
stamped this Sunday afternoon from noon to 4 p.m. The featured race is another Kentucky Derby prep race, the $350,000
1 1/8 mile Fountain of Youth stakes from Gulfstream.
It will be the first start of the year for wire-to-wire Breeders' Cup
Juvenile winner War Pass.
But the talk of the town horse is Monba,
a two-time winner as a 2-year-old. Despite a lazy disposition, he
impressed handlers in a recent morning workout. Should be a
great race!
Want big weekend
plays? Visit the Bettor's
Blog after 11:30 a.m. Saturday and
Sunday. Twenty-one finalists in a horse-picking contest will
be posting their best plays on the site each of those days before the
races begin.
NEXT INSIDER: Leaping lizards! Free birthday gifts for
everyone born on February 29! Also, double prize money available to
everyone playing poker or show parlay challenge on Leap Year Friday.
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