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Flashback . . .
50 years ago today
Tequila
The Champs
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Clear your
Saturday calendar! Pyro's back! Here's a race you don’t want to miss. The horse many of you have picked to win the Kentucky Derby in two months, Pyro,
will be making his second start of the year Saturday afternoon in the $600,000
Louisiana Derby
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Pryo wins Risen Star, last-to-first
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at the Fair
Grounds. Pyro caused jaws to
drop a few weeks ago when he swept from last-to-first in late stretch
in the Risen Star Stakes despite a slow early pace by the
front-runners. The
highly-regarded Majestic Warrior and Tale of Ekati, who
finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, are among eight ready to
take him on. And that isn't the
only important prep race on Saturday. The unbeaten New York-bred Giant
Moon will attempt to take a giant step to another level by winning
the $250,000 Gotham Stakes from Aqueduct. These stakes races mean that
Saturday is a Tour d' Champs
day. Don't forget to bring your
cards to be stamped for another chance to win a trip to the Breeders'
Cup.
In other news . .
.
• Off come
the gloves! A slug fest between Stretch and me
begins the first day of
spring. Predict the winner and win $50.
• Having trouble keeping up with all the
games, giveaways and
special race
days? A new feature that starts today--a
mini-calendar--should help.
• Who's
the young poker upstart who crushed Friday regulars and scooped the
doubled-up prize of $200?
• Is there a lucky seat in the Race Book that helps its occupant win at the
game
called Double Play?
Maybe. When one hat-trick
winner left, another took the same
seat and won.
• Is there a funny side to Funny Cide, the almost-Triple Crown winner? The horse's
owner will be speaking at the Downs soon.
FIRST TIME LUCKY
Pizza delivery guy outwits poker regulars
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Newbie Derek Lariviere celebrates
win;
Glen Miller was second.
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Derek Lariviere, a recent high school graduate who now delivers pizza, was enjoying
a new-found interest playing the horses with a bunch of friends in the
Race Book on Leap Year Friday when he heard about adding his name to a
draw to get into that night's free poker game. He not only got his name drawn into
the 10-person Texas hold 'em match, but he played with the quiet
confidence of his poker idol, Phil Ivey, and pocketed $200 in
betting vouchers (double the usual prize because of Leap Year day) and
won a seat in the $1,000 cash finale in three weeks. The turning point? "Getting pocket Jacks when the
lady (sitting across from him) went 'all in' with a Queen high," he said. He was back at the track the next day
with more friends in tow including one who had never been to the track before.
They watched him make some shrewd $30 place and show bets on
Meadowlands harness and Mountaineer, turning his Friday betting
vouchers into even more money. "This
is a lot more fun than playing VLTs," his friends
enthused. Finishing second at
poker and also earning a seat in the poker finale was veteran horse
groom Glen Miller. Poker
continues tomorrow.
OFF COME THE GLOVES
Predict winner in Stretch vs Bigg slug fest
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Stretch vs Bigg. Who'll win?
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For some twisted demented
reason--maybe it's pre-spring fever--I've volunteered to get into a
horsepicking match with the same guy who assailed me at every turn when
we engaged in a bankroll-building challenge last summer (which I
won). That person, of course, is
Stretch, of Bettor's Blogger fame. Starting on spring
day, March 21, in a match I've
dubbed The Great Spring Slug Fest,
each of us will make 20 plays within 20 days with real money--all
posted for you to see beforehand on his blog sight.
Who will win and by how
much? Email your prediction now
to contests@assiniboiadowns.com (Example: "Bigg by
$132.") A prize of $50
will be awarded to the person whose prediction comes closest to the
actual amount. Stretch and I
will start with $400 and make 20 bets of $20 (win, place or show) which
can be increased to five per
cent of our bankrolls when the amount goes above $400. The biggest winner in all of this
should be you--because you'll be able to see our bets each morning on
the Bettor's Blog and use that info to your advantage.
What are our strengths and
weaknesses? Here's my take on
them. Stretch, of course, will
list his own interpretation today in his Bettor's
Blog.
Stretch's
strengths: Ploddingly analytical,
watches replays, remembers to add horses to "watch" lists,
carefully studies jockeys and trainers stats, specializes in tracks
(Hawthorne and Bay Meadows)
Stretch's
weaknesses: Usually plays within narrow odds
range; doesn't consider "value" of some horses when playing;
over-reliant on statistics and therefore misses worthwhile plays.
My strengths: Good race visualization--sense amount
of energy horses will put out based on pace and speed figures printed
in programs; more confident playing horses with a good angle--off a
claim, going up in claiming after a poor race at a lower level,
equipment changes such as blinkers off, etc.; more willing to bet
horses at long odds (horses don't know their odds).
My weaknesses: Inclined to hurry selections without
methodically weighing every angle; don't take time to watch many
replays; bet way too many tracks and too many races.
The x-factor: Stretch, who will be
emailing in his bets from Las Vegas in early April, could win by
lucking into some inside info on a first-time starter that ends up
winning at huge odds. I could
win by mistakenly emailing Stretch the wrong horse number and the horse
wins at 50-1.
Email your prediction to contests@assiniboiadowns.com. Deadline for your entries is midnight
Thursday, March 20.
A MAIDEN IS A MAIDEN IS A MAIDEN
Winners no longer eligible for maiden races
Just like you can't be
"slightly" pregnant, Manitoba horsemen and the Manitoba Jockey
Club have decided a horse that has won a race can't be "slightly" called a maiden. A maiden, of course, is a horse that
has never won a race. Last year, some horses that had broken their maiden status were still able to enter maiden races
here because they had been racing for smaller purse money at the other
tracks. No more. A horse is either a maiden or it's
not. For other updates on what
Manitoba horsemen are doing, visit their new website at www.hbpamanitoba.ca There are some great
photos posted there, too.
WHO WON? Drabing defies "Death." Lucky seat?
Defies
death--again: For the second week in a row, Mark
Drabing showed he has a knack for predicting winners at Bay Meadows
and picked up another $100 in betting vouchers by outliving 26 other
entrants Saturday afternoon in Death by Bay Meadows . The free
game continues every Saturday and switches to Stampede Park in Calgary
in two weeks.
Lucky seat? Reg Pluchinske, the king of the new popular Saturday night game
called Double Play, mercifully went to the Moose hockey game last Saturday, leaving
$200 in prize money for others to compete over. And wouldn't you know it? Veteran player Barrie Outar
sat in Reg's seat in the Race Book and, ta-dah!, became only one of two
players last Saturday to win at the game. He split $75 with horse groom Glen
Miller by correctly predicting both the show horse and the total of
the top three finishers at the Meadowlands.
Reg will likely reclaim his lucky seat this Saturday, just in
time to go after $300, which includes a $125 carryover from last
Saturday. It's free money waiting to be won, folks! Get involved--programs are free!
Friday's show
parlay challenge: Trainer Carl Anderson won $50
in betting vouchers for increasing his imaginary $10 to $78.30 in three
races at Sam Houston.
Draw for Santa
Anita merchandise: Sammy the Russian, Sharlene
Urbanski and Dave Champion had their
names drawn and were awarded a classy Santa Anita pullover and
vintage cap. Next draw is this Saturday shortly after 4
p.m. Get into the draw by
bringing your Tour d' Champs card to the
Race Book kiosk to be stamped.
If you don't have a card, they're available free at the kiosk.
TIP O' THE
WEEK: Look for regular workouts
Three or four workouts in a
row spaced out in a regular sequence of every week or 10 days is a good
sign a first-time starter is ready to put in a good effort. This kind of horse was winning or
finishing second or third all last weekend--usually at long odds. Add this to your handicapping
arsenal.
SOUP'S ON! And ready to be savoured by you. If you've
tasted the
Downs' homemade soups, you
know what I mean when I say they're so delicious, you'll want seconds
and thirds. The cooks have a
special knack for making soups so-o-o satisfyingly good that eating
them is a high point of the day.
I don't know if you've noticed but now each day you can choose
from a cream-based or broth-based soup, depending on your mood. Or enjoy both! And you can't do any better than
digging into the $5.99 and $7.99 daily specials which includes your
choice of soup. Making you
hungry? Then, also, how about this:
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Cabbage rolls
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POPULAR UKRAINIAN
FARE is featured at tonight's
all-you-can-eat buffet in the Terrace Dining Room between 5 and 8 p.m.
for only $14.95. Menu. Next Thursday's theme: Irish, heralding St. Patrick's Day, which follows five
days later. Bunny time: Yes, reserve now for a super-special
Easter brunch on Sunday, March 23.
Menu. Phone 885-3330.
UPCOMING
EVENTS: Funny Cide owner to speak here
Get the funny
side of Funny Cide, the gutsy gelding that won the Kentucky
Derby and the Preakness stakes five years ago! His owner, Jackson W. Knowlton,
will be the keynote speaker Saturday, March 29 at the horsemen's awards
banquet at the Downs and you're invited. Tickets are $50 and available to be purchased by everyone. You'll see the best
of last season's horses, trainers, owners and jockeys being honoured.
For tickets, call the HBPA office at 832-4949 or the CTHS office at
832-1702. Tickets will soon be
available at the Downs general office, too.
Get ready for Pyro power on Saturday!
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