URGENT DEADLINE!  You have until 8:30 p.m. tonight to email me your predictions for a few races at Charles Town that could reward you with $80 in wagering vouchers.  (1)  Predict the winner of Race 7.  Correct predictions go into a draw Friday at 9 p.m.  Winner gets $20 in wagering vouchers plus $20 more if the winner is present at the draw.  (2) Predict the pick-3 (races 7, 8 and 9) for the same prizes. Email your predictions in the subject line to theinsider@assiniboiadowns.com.  WINNER!  WINNER!  WINNER!  Last week's pick-3 carryover of $100 was won!  See winner under Contest Corner below.

NEW MEET BEGINS TONIGHT:  Lone Star opens in Texas.

                        Live piano music and surf 'n' turf hit the spot
Three for da Money Thursday, which started last week to rave reviews, continues tonight and every Thursday in April in the Terrace Dining Room. Menu. Reserve at 885-3330.

ON THE RACING FRONT:  Breathtaking moves by I Want Revenge in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct last Saturday portends a Kentucky Derby that could be the most exciting in years.

ON THE CONTEST FRONT:  A poker player Friday night was dealt the elusive one-eyed jack and king, a hand that was eligible for a $650 payoff!  Who got the cards and what happened?  That story follows below, too, under Contest Corner.

ON THE BUSINESS FRONT:  A long tradition is coming to an end.  For the first time in its 135-year history, Churchill Downs has scheduled night racing--three nights of it using rented lighting equipment--at the end of its spring meet to help boost player interest.  Churchill is also implementing tough measures to ensure racing is safer than ever.  See below.

ON THE PERSONAL FRONT:  Even after a zillion years of playing the races, I cashed a ticket on April Fool's Day that left me stunned.  Good thing it wasn't a joke.  That's below, too.

And what was your memorable moment of the past week?  Wasn't Saturday racing amazing?  The Santa Anita Derby and the Wood Memorial headlined a day of many thrilling races at many tracks that could easily have been spread over three days instead of one afternoon.  The horseplayer tourney pulsed with interest, too, as entrants nailed longshot after longshot in a fierce battle that saw a previous Insider hero, accountant Alan Hampton, emerge victorious by more than tripling his bankroll.

And this weekend is special, of course, because it's Easter and the last two important prep races will be featured Saturday: the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park (with Old Fashioned out to make amends) and the Blue Grass at Keeneland.

"WOOD" WAS VERY SPECIAL

I Want Revenge shows explosive moves

I had never seen quite anything like it--little awesome blasts of power coming from I Want Revenge in the Wood Memorial Stakes last Saturday, a major prep race on the shortened

I Want Revenge Breathtaking moves

road to the Kentucky Derby three weeks from this Saturday.  I didn't know quite what to make of it.  He looked like a normal race horse--then he seemed to click briefly into overdrive--then was back to normal racing.  As he made one such explosive move in the turn to get into contention after a really terrible break, players around me in the Race Book were saying "wow." Then he made two more in late stretch as he pulled away from the field.  It looked like he had more power than he knew he had or knew what to do with.  All I can say is:  If he can adapt those power moves into a smoother acceleration as he matures, he could become one of the most exciting horses to watch in a long time.  I hope it's in time for the Derby on May 2.   It may be premature to say this but he has the makings of a superhorse.

CHURCHILL GETS STRICT

Low-impact whips, no steroids, outsiders to inspect track

The outcry surrounding the breakdown last year of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby has prompted Churchill Downs to enact far-reaching measures to make racing as safe as possible.  When its spring meet opens Saturday, April 25, all winners will be subjected to the most intensive testing ever for 100 drugs, steroid use will be banned, third parties will be invited to inspect the track regularly to ensure superior maintenance, all parts of the starting gate will be coated with foam at least 3/8th inches thick, new low-impact whips must be used by riders and race horse injuries and deaths will come under the closest possible analysis and scrutiny. For other rules this historic track has put into place go to www.churchilldowns.com.  The track must be commended for being so pro-active in dealing with public concerns about racing.

Forlorn king: Blair Miller had one-eyed royalty worth a possible $650 . . .		. . . but Jim Roberts fluked the role of spoiler.

CONTEST CORNER

Shed a tear for trainer Blair Miller.  He won, but lost.

FRIDAY POKER:   Pity Blair Miller.  The local savvy horse trainer won last Friday's poker game which gave him $100 in wagering vouchers and the title of king.  But he lost the most critical hand of all--the one in which he was dealt the one-eyed jack and king, the two prop pool cards that had eluded players for 13 weeks.  Winning with those cards would have made Miller $650 richer.  But, in a total fluke, last week's king, Jim Roberts, played the spoiler.

It happened this way:  Miller's last rival at the table, Roberts, had very few chips left so he just pushed them all into the centre of the table and declared "all in" without even looking at his cards which happened to be a 6 and a 10.  Which should have been easy pickin's for Miller's jack and king.  But they weren't.  Roberts paired up, not once but twice!  Miller wilted in disbelief. "I'm sorry," Roberts said.  But he was locked into his winning hand, whether he wanted it or not. If Roberts had had more chips, he would have looked at his cards, would never have declared "all in" and Miller would have pocketed the $650.  

But look at it this way:  King Blair's agony is your possible gain.  Another $50 is added to the prop pool so tomorrow $700 is on the line for the first player to WIN a hand with a one-eyed jack and king.  You can play free simply by entering a draw or playing a new game called King of the Hill--which gives you a better chance of getting in because it depends on your ability to pick horses in four races.  And, if you get into the game, give King Blair a little respect, will ya?  His majesty bears the scars of that terrible tangle with last week's king.

NEW KING OF THE HILL GAME (before poker):  No one correctly predicted all four races so $100 cash will be added to tomorrow night's $100, making the pot $200. 

PICK 'EM CONTEST:  Hooray for Kenora resident and former horseowner David Blake who was the only entrant who correctly predicted 1-10-3 as the pick-3 in last Thursday's pick 'em contest of Charles Town races 7, 8 and 9.  He has $100 in wagering vouchers waiting for him in the VLT lounge.  In the other half of the contest, four people (including Blake, of course) correctly identified the winner of race 7 and their names were entered into a draw Friday at 9 p.m.  Jim Cretney was drawn as the winner of $20 in wagering vouchers and the others will be given free program vouchers when they identify themselves in the VLT lounge: Olympia Stopera, Ron Palka.  Good playing!  Enter tonight's contest for $80!  See top of column.

Top tourney winners (from left): John Whitehill (3rd), Tanis Atras (2nd) and Alan Hampton (1st).

HORSEPLAYER CONTEST:  High calibre playing prevailed Saturday in the final Players' Choice horseplayer tournament leading up the Tournament of Champions finale on Saturday, April 18.  Entrants selected longshot after longshot including the 24-1 bomber that beat the 3-5 favourite in a race at Keeneland (see Tip o' the Week below).  This kind of playing would earn them high rankings at any Las Vegas tournament, too.  Congrats to all!  Emerging victorious were: accountant Alan Hampton, a previous Insider hero who increased his mythical $48 backroll to an incredible $152.  He won $450.  Finishing second, and also no stranger to Insider readers, was bank teller Tanis Atras whose bankroll grew to $123.  She received $100 in prize money.  Bricklayer John Whitehill was third. Bankroll $121; prize money: $75.   All will be among 12 players at the winner-takes-all tournament on April 18.

DEATH BY GOLDEN GATE:  Caretaker Roger Nolin was last person standing and received $100 cash.

HOW'S THIS FOR A PAYOFF?   No April Fool joke.   As the six horses were loading into the starting gate for the first race at Gosford race track in Australia last Wednesday, April 1, I noticed that #7, Our Card, was cutting back to 5f after showing speed in longer races, though tiring badly in the late stages. Maybe the cutback

This ticket paid $405 as noted on the bottom

in distance is just what the doctor ordered, I thought, so I plunked down a quick $5 win/place not knowing what the odds were.  Sure enough, Our Card went to the lead and cruised to the wire.  "Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get 4-1 or 5-1 odds," I thought.  When the odds popped up, my jaw dropped and I squinted because I thought I was seeing things.  60-1.  Sixty to one! An April Fool joke?  Something's not right, I thought, especially since this was a mere six-horse field. But then I noticed another horse had been bet down to 1-5.  That horse, as it turned out, didn't even finish in the money.  He had chased my horse during the race, couldn't keep up, then faded.  So what return did I get for my $10?  $405.  Regardless how long you've played this game, there are still days that truly amaze. (You'll note that my ticket shows #7 but it was still a six-horse field because a horse had been scratched.)

TRIVIA TEASER:  In the 134-year history of the Kentucky Derby, how many horses have suffered a life-ending breakdown?  (a)  1  (b)  2  (c)  5  (d)  7.  See answer at end of column.

QUICK BITS:  Poor Pample, poor fans

The Pamplemousse is out:  The Pamplemousse won't make it to the Kentucky Derby and could be sidelined for a year after suffering a lesion on a leg tendon before he was to have raced in the Santa Anita Derby last Saturday.  Yes, I feel for those of you who put him in your future wagers. Them's the breaks.

Boo-hoo-hoo:  My favourite track of late, Turfway Park, ended its winter meet last week, a closing made even more regretful after I cashed all three of my prime win bets on closing day ($7, $15, $8).  Can we skip summer, please, and head directly to fall when the track reopens?

Like father, almost like son:  Only one letter separates the name of a 4-year-old gelding racing at Hawthorne from the name of his father.  The son's name:  Littlebutlively.  Daddy:  Littlebitlively.  Cute.  A  player initially thought they both had the same names and asked me how this was possible.

Local training on hold:  The Assiniboia Downs training track had to be closed for two days because freezing/thawing made it impossible to keep the track pliable for proper footing for the horses.  It's a good thing the racing season starts a week later than past years--on May 10, Mother's Day.

Local jock riding at Woodbine:  You may have noticed that local jock Kirk Johnson is riding at Woodbine where he finished a decent third in a race on opening day last Saturday.  You may recall that Johnson was not happy last year when he was cited by the stewards for not trying with his horse, a decision that was overturned by the Manitoba Horse Racing Commission which noted the horse bobbled before Johnson pulled him up.

TIP O' THE WEEK:   What would YOU do?

Faced with a match-up between these two types of horses, what horse would you bet?  (1) A horse that's unbeaten in five starts but always charges from the back of the pack.  Her odds are 3-5.  (2)  A  horse beaten by a head in her previous race by the 3-5 horse, but a horse that likes to be on the pace or close to the pace.  Odds:  24-1.  If you opted for horse #2, you would have done what two players in Saturday's Player's Choice horseplayer tournament did in the $400,000 Ashland Stakes for 3-year-old fillies from Keeneland, a shrewd selection that catapulted them to the top of the leader board.  Stardom Bound was the 3-5 horse, very vulnerable because of her late-closing style (she finished third) and Hooh Why, #8, racing close to the pace, won the race at 24-1.  See the program page here and use it as a tutorial for future comparisons.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  Will Old Fashioned atone for his loss?

Old Fashioned, the grey horse that was the early favourite for the Kentucky Derby until he was beaten in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn on March 14, has a chance to make amends in the $1 million Arkansas Derby this Saturday.  It's also your Show Me the Roses contest race.  Latest standings.  The other important prep race is the $750,000 Blue Grass on Keeneland's Polytrack where upset horses have been ruling the race the last couple of years.