Your passport to racing fun is:  WEDFRISAT.

Yes, the Free Press gave it away last week, as some of you may have seen.  Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night is the new regular live race schedule.  Say WEDFRISAT at the Guest Services counter when you come to the races on opening day this Sunday and, who knows, you may receive a gift (in addition to the free fridge magnet worth $$ in weekly draws)!

NEW BUFFET BEGINS TONIGHT:   May Medley begins tonight in the Terrace Dining Room.  It's an all-you-can-eat buffet from 5 to 8 p.m. to the accompaniment of a grand piano followed by racing and VLT perks for $13.95.  Reserve at 885-3330 or just show up.  As the name suggests, May Medley happens every Thursday in May.

TEST YOUR HANDICAPPING SKILLS TONIGHT at Lone Star Park.  Here are races 6 to 9 to view and play.

They're off! Sort of. This was a training race demo at last Sunday's open house. The real deal begins this Sunday at 1 p.m.

Stop the presses!  Did you know local trainer Aaron Sayler was a hair away from buying the horse that went on to win the Kentucky Derby last week?  As he recounted it yesterday, he bid $9,000 for Mine That Bird at a Keeneland yearling auction

Aaron Sayler Derby horse was almost his

in October, 2007, but gave up when Woodbine horseman Dave Cotey bid $9,500.  This was the fifth-last horse at the auction that day and "I was running out of money," Sayler said, so he stopped bidding. If he had gone to about $1,100, he said, he probably could have bought him and the horse would have been racing at Assiniboia, not Woodbine, last year.  At Woodbine, the horse won four stakes races and the Toronto owner sold him for $400,000 to a horseman and veterinarian in New Mexico who then entered him into the Derby--which, as you know, he won at 50-1.

Funny how fate works, eh?  More on the Derby later--including a big local winner that day--but, first, these four headlines will quickly bring you up to speed on everything you need to know if your reading time is limited:

(1) The live cam cometh! I've been excited about this for some time and today was the day it was activated. Go here right now or first thing tomorrow morning to watch workouts while you're sipping your coffee. Assiniboia Downs appears to be only the second racetrack to offer a webcam besides Santa Anita.

(2) Live racing begins this Sunday, Mother's Day, with a revolutionary change in race days, a snappy red and white look, a new contest to test your horseplayer smarts and a bunch of new jockeys out to topple three-time leading rider Alan Cuthbertson from his high horse. This is shaping up to be a better year than even last year's 50th!

(3) The Open House last Sunday was--wow! Nobody expected THAT many people (close to 2,000) and that they would be so enthusiastic in their praise of the day. The pictures in this column tell the story. Look for open house to become an annual event.

(4)  The Kentucky Derby was a shocker but yet was a fitting conclusion to a weird spring in which many great horses fell by the wayside including I Want Revenge on Derby Day morning.  But, for patriotic Canadians, it was a great day at the betting window, as I'll explain below.  

All right, if you've got a little more time, let's fly .....

Edna Schellenberg displays her Derby winning tickets as husband Wally watches.		Her $11 in bets made her $1,200.

KENTUCKY DERBY

Quirky result stuns most; patriotic Canadian happy

The Churchill clocker called his workout "uninspiring," Stretch in the Bettor's Blog "guaranteed" he couldn't win (see "quote of the week" below) but there he was, the only gelding in the Kentucky Derby, #8 Mine That Bird, charging up the inside to vanquish the field of 19 by almost seven lengths at odds of 50-1 to capture the top prize for 3-year-olds.   The Race Book in the Clubhouse was as quiet as it was last year when Big Brown was pulled up in the Belmont Stakes.  But, because Mine That Bird had a Canadian connection (was named male 2-year-old of the year at Woodbine last year), a couple Canadian patriots cheered the result, especially courier driver Edna Schellenberg who bet $3 across the board on the horse and won the exactor by correctly predicting that one of the favoured horses, Pioneerof the Nile, would finish second.  "I always bet the Canadian horses," she enthused as she collected more than $1,200 for her $11 investment, husband Wally watching proudly.

So what to make of the race?  Attribute the win to a thoughtful jockey strategy.  Calvin Borel used the same technique when he won the Kentucky Derby two years ago on Street Sense.  Take the horse to the back of the pack, save ground and see if you can get room near the rail for the stretch drive.  Brilliant.  Yes, the result was quirky but what hadn't been offbeat in the run up to the Derby?  I've never seen so many contenders bite the dust because of injuries: Quality Road, The Pamplemousse, Old Fashioned, Beethoven, Square Eddie, I Want Revenge.  It may be argued in some circles that such a bizarre result does nothing to promote racing as a logical sport.  But some races, especially a 19-horse field of youngsters on a sloppy track negotiating 1 1/4 miles for the first time in their lives, call for a different, "anything can happen" kind of logic.  The horseplayer sitting next to me in the Race Book used this logic to bet a $1 exactor box on all horses in the field for $342.  He almost tripled his money.

It is hoped now that some of the big name high-quality horses, especially Quality Road, overcome their problems to race in either of the next two Triple Crown races, the Preakness at Pimlico in 10 days or the Belmont Stakes three weeks after that. If they do make it in, I could guarantee Mine That Bird will not win either of those races.  But "guaranteeing" is not my thing; I'll leave that to the Bettor's Blog.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  "I guarantee that no 50-1 morning line horse wins the Kentucky Derby (8, 9, 14, 17, 18, 20)." -- Bettor's Blog  (#8 won)

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                    Pictorial: Last Sunday's open house

"All my money--play money, that is--on #1	The starting gate is so--red. Exactly. Designed to catch the attention of potential new bettors at race tracks across North America.
Excited crowds make the trek to the stables, the highlight of the open house.	Piper Thomson, 22 months, safely in the arms of her father, Ken, gets her first greet-and-sniff in Clayton Gray's barn.

LIVE RACING BEGINS SUNDAY

A different look, a different direction

The opening of live racing Sunday will be as fresh as the dramatic coats of red paint covering the starting gate.  Assiniboia Downs has become ASD, flanked by two maple leaves.  Bright, fresh, vivid--an invitation to players watching ASD racing for the first time in places as disparate as Arkansas, Florida, Oregon, Illinois, Philadelphia and lots more.  There's no mistaking the clarity of the image or the clarity of purpose:  To coax players to bet ASD races so pools grow to the level they once were before the government went into the lottery business and opened casinos.

You should notice a spike in pools especially on Wednesdays, a day many racetracks said they would carry. 

Look for a more competitive jockey colony and trainers with a renewed purpose to see Ardell Sayler's stranglehold on the trainer title come to an end.  The economic malaise in the U.S. has meant local horsemen have picked up good stock down south at bargain prices--which will produce classier races.

Be sure to get a fridge magnet, each of which has a unique number.  If that number appears in a weekly posting on the website, you win cash.  Also, look for an exciting replacement for "show parlay challenge."  It's a game called Triple Q Challenge where you predict the top two finishers in three consecutive races.  Half the $100 daily prize is distributed to the best player(s), the other half is added to a pool that grows until won.

Darren Dunn

Swine flu hits the Downs? Well, sort of.  New jockey Jorge Guzman, Sam Houston leading jock a year ago, is a Mexican citizen and last month had to return to Mexico City to finish visa papers before coming to Winnipeg. Unfortunately, he is now stuck there waiting for medical clearance (a long wait I am told) and cannot make the trip until that is completed. He indicates he is still committed to coming.

Rocco "The Jocko" Bowen dodged a bullet when he was "planted" on to the main track Monday morning by his mount. Initial reports of a broken collarbone and ribs were, fortunately, inaccurate when x-rays at the hospital revealed no breaks.

How many "Baze's" does it take to screw in a light bulb ---er, I mean win a leading rider title?  Well, their combined win total should be quite high. I say "combined" because if the stars align as I think they will, we will also see Vicky Baze in the jock's room this year. Not only is she the wife of new "all-star" jock Gary Baze, she is actually the fourth all-time win leader for female jockeys in North America. Her career victories exceed 1,800...

Hi Louis:  Interesting thoughts and thanks for paying attention.  We're all looking for reasons when a 50-1 horse wins.  My usual logic about class rises, though, would not apply this time because the Derby is a special event just to get into, regardless how good a trainer feels the horse's chances are.  And this trainer's record is 1 for 34 this year. Having said that, maybe the Sunland strip was a good conditioner for Mine That Bird because, as you may notice, a horse that raced with Bird at Sunland (Advice) won the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland at 15-1.  Maybe THAT was the sneaky tipoff that Bird also was due for a big one.  Since most racing commentators don't know Sunland, they may simply have been missing an important piece of the puzzle.  

CONTEST CORNER:  Prop pool grows to $900

Congrats to poker king postal carrier Murray Chaban and to King of the Hill winner, caretaker Roger Nolin.  Murray picked up $100 in betting vouchers and gets an automatic seat at tomorrow's game.  Tomorrow's prop pool--winning a game with a one-eyed jack and king--has grown to $900.  A week from tomorrow, the first Friday of live racing, 30 seats will be available at the poker tables and the prize money increases to $175.  The side pools will continue.  Nolin won $350 by correctly predicting a show horse, two place horses and a winner Friday night in King of the Hill, which has now ended.

TIP O' THE WEEK:  Get a good start

Now is the time to make up your mind to pay close attention to horses OTHER THAN THE HORSES YOU BET while watching live racing this Sunday.  Watch for horses that get into a big pace duel and tire late.  They will be great bets next time in a race devoid of other speedy types.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  After Sunday live, it's Friday live

Note that the first day of live racing is Sunday (1st post 1:00 p.m.) but the second day is Friday, May 15, then Saturday, May 16.  That's when WEDFRISAT kicks in. That is, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday evening racing with a 1st post time of 7:00 p.m.

See ya at the new buffet tonight!