URGENT!  GET YOUR PICK 'EM ENTRIES IN!  Email me the winner of Race 7 tonight at Delta Downs and you could win $40 in betting vouchers.  And, if you predict the winner of Race 7 & 8, it could be worth $40!  Send your picks (in the subject line) to theinsider@assiniboiadowns.com by 8:30 p.m.  Be sure to include your name and address.  Ratchet up the fun by betting your picks and watch the races at 8:45 p.m. on Shaw 87 or MTS 179-180.  (See full rules and last week's winners below.)

Psst!   As a Valentine's Eve treat tomorrow night, there's a sneaky cash bonus available for someone at the poker table. The first player who wins a hand with a heart flush gets $50 cash. That's in addition to $100 in betting vouchers for the game winner and $250 in cash to the first player to win a hand with a one-eyed jack and king.  And it's free to enter!  Whatcha waiting for?

Louis Riel Day is Super Simulcast Fun Day

So, is your heart aflutter?

You should also be tickled by the plethora of fun and games on this long weekend.  Register now for the free $1,000 Show Me the Roses contest which begins this Saturday afternoon.  The prize money will be nice but, more importantly I think, it will add to the fun of following the weekly progress of horses trying to qualify to get into the Kentucky Derby.  Speaking of which--you can future-bet a Derby horse today through Sunday.  Look for free programs and the Daily Racing Form listing the horses. There are 401 of them!

And there will be an encore edition on holiday Monday of a game you told me you loved--Show Me the Money—a tournament in which you pick show horses for real money and get to keep the real money you make in addition to prize money you may win.  Sign up today and get a discount to enter.  Oaklawn Park merchandise will be given away in afternoon draws, too.   So …. what a wonderful weekend to break loose!  My heartfelt wishes for a happy and profitable one!

Flash! Santa Anita braces for snow this Sunday. Really! Tons of it. Watch the races Sunday afternoon to see.

TONIGHT'S PICK 'EM CONTEST

How to double your prize.  Congrats to last week's winner.

Congratulations to Jeff Sargent who won last Thursday's pick 'em contest to predict a winner at Delta Downs.  $20 in betting vouchers is waiting for you at the VLT cage anytime between 9 a.m. and 2 a.m., Jeff.  He would have won $40 if he had been present when his name was drawn on Friday in the Clubhouse from the three entrants with the correct answer. The two consolation winners, Brian Billeck and Donny Allard, can pick up a free racing program in the VLT lounge by identifying themselves as a prize winner. No one predicted the other part of the contest, the winner of BOTH race 7 & 8, so that prize didn't go.

$80 is up for grabs tonight:  By correctly predicting the winner of Race 7 at Delta Downs you're eligible for $40 and, if you correctly predict the winners of Race 7 & 8, you're eligible for another $40. Email your answers by 8:30 p.m. to theinsider@assiniboiadowns.com  Here's how it works:  A draw will be made  in the Clubhouse about 9 p.m. Friday from among entries with the correct answers.  The winners of both parts of the contest will have $20 in betting vouchers set aside for them and announced in the next Insider.  However, if the winner(s) is present at the draw, the prize will be doubled to $40 and given to the winner on the spot!

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING:  To identify horses with the best chance of winning tonight’s races at Delta, examine pace and speed numbers in the program pages supplied to you when you click on the contest races above. Often the horse with the biggest pace number will be the winner, especially in short sprint races.  Not sure what "pace" and "speed" are all about?  This video featuring track announcer Darren Dunn will give you a quick, dramatic primer.  You can also learn handicapping secrets here.

Horseplayer contest winners: Jerry White (left) soared from last to first. Kathy Phelps and Bruce Greenhill were runners-up.		New poker king: Rod Zaretsky crushed his rivals with aces and 2's.

MORE WINNERS

"Miracle" helps contestant leap from last to first

You could hear the yelling Saturday afternoon on the plaza in the Clubhouse when a 40-1 horse, appropriately named Miracleinthemaking, was leading a race at the Fair Grounds and Jockey James Graham was doing everything he could to keep him going to the wire. Which he did.  And, just like that, in dramatic fashion, recycling worker Jerry White's mythical bankroll soared from worst to first ($67.60) in his final contest play of the monthly Player's Choice horseplayer tournament, giving him the $400 cash first prize.  Picking that longshot wasn't just a stab in the dark, he said.  He said he liked the horse because it had returned to easier company where it belonged.  Nice going, Jerry!  You

New player Esther Schmieder Finished in top 10

added an exciting finish to the contest!  The runners up were Kathy Phelps ($61.60 bankroll) who won $100 and Bruce Greenhill ($55.70) who picked up $75.  They had started with mythical bankrolls of $48.

Gotta give special mention, too, to a total neophyte in the world of race handicapping:  city employee Esther Schmieder who finished a remarkable ninth among the 26 entrants.  It was her first-ever simulcast racing contest—and her first-ever perusal of the Daily Racing Form--since winning a live racing tournament she entered as a lark last summer.  Saturday’s effort was a practice round of sorts for her since she’s on her way to Las Vegas to compete in the $1 million Horseplayer World Series along with five other local winners of summer’s monthly tournament.  That three-day event begins a week from today.  Well done, Esther, and good luck in Vegas!

Valentine's Eve bonus: First heart flush gets $50

FRIDAY NIGHT POKER:  Prop pool now $250 cash!  Inventory worker Rod Zaretsky nailed a 2-card on the river to give him a pair of 2’s to add to his pair of aces, beating groom Glen Miller who had aces and a queen, to win the regular Friday night game.  He received $100 in betting vouchers and his first-ever title of Poker King.  The previous week's two-time king, Fred Breunger, was unceremoniously dethroned at the beginning of the game in an all-in gambit that didn't work for him.  Get into the draw tomorrow!  Remember the side pool of $250 cash for the first person to win a hand with a one-eyed jack and king!  And, in a tribute to Valentine's Day, you will pocket $50 cash if you’re the first to win a hand with a heart flush.

NEW "21" GAME:  This spicy new game, which assigns 10-points for a horse's win, 5-points for a second-place finish and 1-point for third, proved to be a player-pleaser Friday night.  The idea is to get to "21" in points by picking horses in four consecutive races. Groom Glen Miller and caretaker Roger Nolin made it happen for themselves in the very first week of the contest, splitting $100 in prize money.  The game will resume tomorrow night.  The top three players also get a seat at the poker table.

HEAD-TO-HEAD:  Drill press operator Zaldy Baulto picked up $100 for picking the winning horse at Fair Grounds in a Saturday afternoon game that involves merely throwing non-winning tickets into a drum.  Play it this Saturday yourself!

 QUOTE OF THE WEEK:  "People feel like we're forcing them (horses) but they love to run, run, run." -- Jockey Chantal Sutherland in a new docu-drama series on jockeys on the Animal Planet channel Saturday nights at 8 p.m.  This rare intimate look at jockeys is full of exciting behind-the-scenes action well worth watching, folks!  Get MTS or Shaw to activate that channel on your TV.  There are 11 more episodes.

TIP O' THE WEEK:   What goes into a big win?

UPCOMING EVENTS:  Six local players head to Vegas

Cross your fingers for six local players who are heading to Las Vegas to play in the three-day $1 million Horseplayer World Series in Las Vegas that starts a week from today. They earned the trip and a seat in this lucrative contest last year by winning a monthly tournament during live racing (which you'll have a chance of doing monthly starting in May).  Follow their daily progress on the Assiniboia Downs website. Watch for a picture of the tourney players in the next Insider.

HUGE STAKES WEEKEND:  This Saturday, Sunday and holiday Monday will be sizzling with stakes action from many racetracks.  Especially important to those who register for Show Me the Roses are these two races from which registrants must pick a show horse (1) the $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday afternoon (Don't worry, you'll be able to peruse the horses in a free program page supplied to you online and at the track and at OTB sites.)  (2)  Monday's $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, the race in which the highly-regarded Old Fashioned will be running.

VALENTINE'S FEAST SATURDAY NIGHT:   In the ambiance-rich Terrace Dining Room.  Two can dine for $39.99.  Amazing menu.  Reserve now at 885-3330.