HorseRacing Central June 15, 2007

SRIXON HOLE-IN-ONE

Members of our Hastings Racecourse staff with golfing talent (yes, there are a few but not many) went through some practice drills at the Srixon Golf & Hastings Father’s Day $118,000 Hole-In-One Drive to Win competition site earlier this week.

Jeff Strickland, Human Resources Manager, landed a couple of shots on the green and was upset to learn that Hastings Racecourse employees have been declared ineligible for the Father’s Day promotion.

But 20 Hastings racing patrons, who must be 19 years and older, will be in the running for the $118,000 hole-in-one prize with 10 competitors on Saturday (June 16th) and 10 more on Sunday (June 17th). Each will be allowed one shot at the hole that sits 160 yards away from the Srixon tee box located on the Hastings Racecourse infield in front of the tote board.

The competition will take place after the third and sixth races on each day. Should two or more golfers score a hole-in-one; the $118,000 will be divided equally. In the event none of the 20 participants is successful in holing his tee shot, a closest-to-the-pin winner will be awarded $1,000 in wagering vouchers. All 20 players will receive a $50 wagering voucher from Hastings Racecourse.

Customers have until 1:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday to enter their names in our Hastings ballot boxes to become eligible. Five of Sunday’s participants qualified in a contest running this week on CKNW.

WIN A TRIP TO WOODBINE

Three lucky Fraser Downs patrons will be heading to Woodbine in Toronto in November as winners of our qualifying event for the TROT National Handicapping Championships.

But time is running out! Your $50 registration fee has to be recorded with our Fraser Downs organizers no later than Saturday, June 30th. All participants will gather at Fraser Downs on Saturday, July 7th for dinner, at which time they will be given complimentary programs for the four tracks included in the contest. The point structure will be based on a $2 Win/Place bet capped at 20-1 for the Win or $42.00 and 10-1 for the Place or $22.00. The contest will consist of six mandatory harness races and four of the participant’s choice.


SLOTS TOURNAMENT BIG HIT

With Hastings Racecourse announcer Dan Jukich proving once again his talents from behind a microphone, the Slots Tournament at Fraser Downs Racetrack & Casino earlier this week was a huge success. “We had so much fun we’re already planning another one later this summer,” says Fraser Downs Casino Manager Brett Lawrence. “We think Dan might have discovered a whole new career. He was awesome.”

A total of 56 slots players participated with the winner walking away with the top prize of $800. Second place was worth $425; third place netted $260 and the fourth through eighth finishers received $145.

SALUTE TO THE NOW GROUP

It is the NOW Newspaper Appreciation Night at Fraser Downs this Friday and will be a virtual who’s who from the community, including Surrey Mayor Diane Watts and several City Council members. “We will have over 300 guests including several of Surrey’s leading business people,” said GM Scott Sinclair. “Naturally, our feature race is the Mayor’s Pace. Our entire staff is thrilled to host such an elite gathering.”

ASK THE HANDICAPPER

In each edition of HorseRacing Central we invite readers to email one of our resident expert analysts with a race-related question. The person who submits the question we publish wins lunch for two at Hastings Racecourse or Fraser Downs Racetrack & Casino. Our winner in this issue is Les Shubert, who asked Dan Jukich: “Is it possible for a standardbred horse and a thoroughbred to have the same name?”

DAN’S ANSWER:

Yes it is. Although both have restrictions as to how many letters a name can have, there is no restriction on names being crossed-used. Each racing industry is run independently.

STRAWBERRY MORN STAKES

The Strawberry Morn Stakes to be run on June 23rd at Hastings Racecourse is named after one of the all-time greats in British Columbia’s racing history. She was bred by her owners in B.C. by Aubrey and Jenny Roberts of Campbell River and started her amazing run in 1995 by winning her first of 14 stakes victories.

Strawberry Morn was named Horse of the Year in 1996, the season she won the inaugural race at Emerald Downs, when the track opened near Seattle. Perhaps her best performance came in her lone defeat that year in the B.C. Derby when she led until deep into the stretch and lost in a photo, finishing an impressive third behind Newdigs and Timely Stitch. Strawberry Morn was stakes placed on 20 occasions and ended her career with over $500,000 in total earnings.

THE CROWN CHALLENGE

Richmond’s Kevin Liang is the overall winner of the free online handicapping series Road to the Crown Challenge after scoring a point total of 455.9 under the username jazzman01.

A $500 winner, jazzman01 swept Segment One and went wire-to-wire with Edward Symonds of Coquitlam finishing second at 411.1 points for a $250 prize. David Porter ($150), Pam Spiers ($125) and Sharon Nesbitt ($100) were the others to hit the winner’s circle.

We’d like to thank the many competitors who took part in the Challenge and thank them for their favourable feedback. Watch for future handicapping contests!