OTB News:
OTB News
2/2/12 ___________________________________________
IT’S ALL ABOUT NY THIS WEEKEND… BIG RACING, BIG BRANCH CONTESTS & THE BIG GAME!
Before you get settled in for the big game there’s a whole weekend ahead to enjoy at OTB and interbets.com. There’s plenty of action for New Yorkers everywhere! The weekend kicks off early because Aqueduct just added a $150,000 guarantee to the Late Pick 4 all Fridays! There’s big racing at Aqueduct with three big stakes Saturday including the grade 3 $200,000 WITHERS, grade 3 $150,000 TOBOGGAN, and the $100,000 CORRECTION. There’s plenty of racing action elsewhere too. Tampa offers the grade 3 $250,000 SAM F DAVIS STAKES. Santa Anita offers the grade 2 $200,000 STRUB STAKES, grade 2 $200,000 ROBERT B LEWIS STAKES, and the grade 2 $150,000 ARCADIA STAKES. Keep in mind The Withers, Sam F. Davis, Robert B. Lewis, and even the WEBN Stakes from Turfway Park are all Triple Crown prep races running this Saturday!
Everyone will be so excited in NY on Sunday, so we decided to have even more fun! Sunday is the kickoff to The WINTER WINNERLAND HANDICAPPING CONTEST! It’s FREE TO ENTER and you could WIN A $50 BET! Simply pick the winners of Aqueduct’s races 2 – 8. You have to enter the contest by post time of race 2 at Aqueduct so get here early enough to enter the contest! For the next five Sundays various OTB branches will host a Winter Winnerland Handicapping Contest. The complete contest schedule is posted at interbets.com in the OTB News tab. Some tracks will race early on Sunday, February 5. Santa Anita and Oaklawn both have a 2:00pm post time. Golden Gate’s post time will be 2:15pm. All OTB branches will close by 5:30pm so there’s plenty of time to get to your favorite spot to watch the Big Game after the day’s races. Now you have the game plan for this Sunday:
First, Go to OTB… If you go to one of the lucky 5 branches holding a contest
then enter the contest by Aqueduct Race 2 at OTBs in
Haverstraw, Nanuet, Port Jervis, Pawling, or New Paltz.
Second, Enjoy a day of great Aqueduct racing, betting & contest fun at OTB
Third, Get home just in time to root for your favorite team (from NY) in the Big Game!!!
A look ahead to next week and it’s already time for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, Pool 1 Friday, February 10. Betting opens at 12 noon and continues through Sunday, February 12 at 6:00pm. More good news… Be ready for a year filled with more handicapping contests, more “OTB Bettor Days” free bets popping out of betting windows anywhere, and more fun in general at an OTB near you! A further look ahead, and a friendly reminder that all OTB bet tickets purchased in 2011 must be cashed by March 31, 2012.
1/26/12 ___________________________________________
SATURDAY’S SUNSHINE MILLIONS NEW FORMAT… JUST GULFSTREAM, BUT WAIT!
SANTA ANITA’S “LUCK PICK 6” OFFERS LEGS FROM GULFSTREAM TOO!
Gulfstream’s Sunshine Millions Day is definitely the focus of horseracing fans this Saturday. This year’s Sunshine will not include Santa Anita sort of… The two tracks are running their own big cards on Saturday chock full of high stakes. The tracks will offer one combined wager of interest. Santa Anita will host the HBO/LUCK PICK 6 with a guaranteed pool of $250,000 on a separate card. Post time is 4:10pm. Three of the legs are from Gulfstream beginning with Leg 1, Gulfstream (race 8). Go to the “Upcoming Stakes” page for more details on this wager and all of the big races this weekend. Let’s face it, even with a mild winter so far, isn’t it better to focus on sunny Florida and Southern California, for a while anyway?
The SUNSHINE MILLIONS Card includes the $400,000 Sunshine Millions Classic featuring Mucho Macho Man in post six. The $300,000 Distaff features Awesome Feather who is trying for win nine of nine! Awesome Feather is in post four and runs against 5 other contenders, 2:35pm post time. Four more stakes at Gulfstream brings the six races to $1.3 million. Santa Anita features the $ 300,000 grade 1 SANTA MONICA with four additional $100,000 races. Go to the “Upcoming Stakes” page for more details on these races. Meadowlands keeps the excitement going into the evening Saturday with FINALS for the PRESIDENTIAL, COMPLEX & CLYDE HIRT.
The next Triple Crown Prep Race is this Sunday, January 29 at Gulfstream Park of all places. Don’t miss Gulfstream’s grade 3 $400,000 HOLY BULL STAKES in addition to the grade 2 $200,000 Forward Gal. Looking ahead now, Aqueduct continues to gain momentum this season and will introduce a $150,000 guaranteed Late Pick 4 on all Fridays beginning next week, Friday, February 3rd in addition to the $250,000 Late Pick 4 already offered on Saturdays. Sunday, February 5 is of course a big day in the non-horseracing world. Several tracks will offer early posts so you can have the best of both worlds. Aqueduct post is still 12:20pm and Santa Anita will be 2:00pm on the 5th. Join us at OTB and at interbets.com before the big game!
Let’s get back to racing… IT’S A BOY! Just four days ago on Sunday, January 22 RACHEL ALEXANDRA, 2009 Horse of the Year, gave birth to a CURLIN colt. Curlin was the 2007 and 2008 Horse of the Year. We know it’s a boy, but will he be a HOY? Only time will tell. The Rachel Alexandra camp is already considering her next pairing to Bernardini. ZENYATTA was bred to BERNARDINI in 2011 around the same time as the proud new parents. Zenyatta is due in April.
1/19/12 ___________________________________________
IT’S KICKOFF TIME… “THE ROAD TO THE DERBY” STARTS SATURDAY & HOY CONGRATS!
The Eclipse Awards have been decided. It’s all over the media so why not here too?! Let’s start with sincere CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL 2011 ECLIPSE AWARD WINNERS! Special congrats to Horse-of-the-Year and Older Female winner Havre de Grace! No question that this settles it for most… no such luck for Blind Luck. It was not exactly awesome for Awesome Maria either. Still, getting the nomination for Older Female is truly an accomplishment for both of these deserving fillies. This makes three consecutive years that the ladies take the HOY title. Acclamation took the honor as Older Male. Another lady highlighting the awards was Royal Delta winning 3-year-old Filly. Royal Delta may be pointed toward the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31 at Meydan Racecourse. Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom wins for 3-year-old Male in a close vote edging out Caleb’s Posse. Hansen wins 2-year-old Male, and My Miss Aurelia wins 2-year-old Female. As promised (NY Hot List guru) Bob Ehalt’s ability to identify the cream of the crop was tops in class! Bob nailed it with his votes for HOY, Older Female, 3yof, the sprinters, 2yof and colt, and more. Need I say more? Okay I will. If you haven’t started using Bob Ehalt & Shawn Rychling’s NY Hot List system yet you’re missing out! Interbets Account holders get the full “Hot List” experience. Bob & Shawn tweet too… who knew?! It pays to follow the NY Hot List.
It’s never too early to start talking about the Kentucky Derby, and just after the Eclipse Awards is a nice time to start. Let’s get started. “The Road” starts way down south. Fair Grounds is the place to be this Saturday. Yes it could be because it’s warm down south in New Orleans, but this Saturday it’s also because The Road to the Kentucky Derby begins at Fair Grounds Race Track. Six notable Fair Grounds stakes include the grade 3 $175,000 Lecomte Stakes, $125,000 Silverbulletday, grade 3 $100,000 Col. E.R, Bradley Handicap, and three others. Santa Anita offers the grade 2 $150,000 Palos Verdes Stakes Saturday. Sam Houston starts Friday and offers their first big Saturday stakes right away with the $100,000 Star of Texas. Focus your “Harness Eye” on Woodbine this Saturday evening featuring the $100,000 Willowdale Final. Gulfstream gets rolling with two $100,000 stakes, one on Saturday and one Sunday, for your betting pleasure.
Fair Grounds offers a 6:00pm evening post time this Friday, January 20 and a special early post time 1:10pm this Saturday for The Road to the Derby kickoff. Sam Houston opens this Friday evening with an 8:00pm eastern post time. With just one week to go in January, little in the way of snow to cause almost any cancellations and Springtime Derby speculation already in the air I’d say it’s a good winter.
1/12/12 ___________________________________________
EXCITING WEEKEND AHEAD FOR JANUARY & I DON’T MEAN FOOTBALL!
It’s a long three day weekend ahead for most of us with the observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, January 16. For racing fans we also get to enjoy Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Laurel, Oaklawn, and Santa Anita racing on a Monday! In Beverly Hills, California it is also the day that Horse of the Year and all other Eclipse Winners will be announced at the 41st annual Eclipse Awards! Those eligible to vote for finalists have weighed in. The Interbets NY Hot List guru, Bob Ehalt, is part of that distinguished group. We’ll have to see how Bob’s choices do on Monday. I’ll keep you posted on the result next week. At this point some of the horses you may have expected to be there (at least in the finals) aren’t. No, Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice didn’t make the list, neither did Travers winner Stay Thirsty. Animal Kingdom, Shackleford, and Caleb’s Posse are the three finalists for 3 year-old male. The race between Blind Luck and Havre de Grace continues! They are both finalists for Older Female along with Awesome Maria. Best wishes to all!
Before we can even get to Monday we have a whole weekend to enjoy the races. Saturday offers two $1oo,ooo grade 3 races at Gulfstream, the grade 2 $150,000 San Fernando Stakes at Santa Anita, (welcome back) Meadowlands $40,000 Presidential, and much more Saturday. Sunday is highlighted by Santa Anita’s grade 2 $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes. You can go to the “Upcoming Weekend Stakes” page for a complete weekend stakes list.
Last week I filled you in on the good news about Rapid Redux winning race 22 and the special Eclipse Award. Well now Rapid Redux has won the 2011 Secretariat Vox Populi (Voice of the People) Award. The winner is determined by three groups: online voters, the Vox Populi Committee, and Mrs. Penny Chenery. This was no small feat. Rapid Redux beat out Goldikova, Havre de Grace, and Uncle Mo. Congrats again to Rapid Redux!
Now for some notes to know… Oaklawn was mentioned above so obviously their meet begins this Friday the 13th. Yonkers also starts up again this Friday the 13th. Good thing horseplayers aren’t superstitious?! Turfway Park has changed to an earlier 1: 10pm post time every Saturday starting on the 14th. Remember Dover Downs went to an early 1:00pm post time on Sundays. As I mentioned above Monday is a live Aqueduct race day, 12:20pm post!
1/5/12 ___________________________________________
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! 2012 IS ALREADY LOOKING UP FOR NY!
The most recent Interbets OTB News post offered a review of note worthy happenings in 2011 and some bragging about all that was good about 2011, but wait, there’s more! The NY HOT LIST team did it again and gave us all another a reason to celebrate then end of the year. On Wednesday, December 28 they came back strong from the break with three winners out of three races at Aqueduct. On Thursday, December 29 they had a $209.20 boxed exacta at Gulfstream and a $17.80 boxed exacta at Aqueduct. On Friday, December 30 they had a $23.60 boxed exacta at Gulfstream. The Hot List Team continued their winning streak Saturday, December 31 by hitting a $118.50 boxed exacta at Aqueduct. I really hope you’re following Interbets’ NY Hot List team in the Handicapper’s Corner on the website each day! With better racing anticipated for AQUEDUCT in 2012 and the NY Hot List this could be a WINNING YEAR!
YONKERS Raceway may be beefing up their Driver Colony in 2012. The December 16, 2011 issue of the harnessracingupdates.com features an article by Bill Finley entitled “Sears No Sure Thing to Stick It Out at Meadowlands”. I think the headline says it all… I wonder where he may go? Another Driver you may know, GEORGE BRENNAN, made the move from Meadowlands to Yonkers more than a year ago. Speaking of Brennan and Yonkers, congratulations are overdue to GEORGE BRENNAN, Yonkers’ lead Driver, who was recently voted 2011’s Driver of the Year by the U.S. Harness Writers Association (USHWA). This is the second consecutive season Brennan has earned this honor. Brennan’s 2011 wins include the Hambletonian, Hambletonian Oaks, George Morton Levy Memorial Pacing Searies, William Haughton Memorial, American-National, and many others according to a Yonkers Raceway press release 12/20/11. MEADOWLANDS opens tomorrow, Friday, January 6 with a new banked racing surface that was getting some good reviews during qualifying races. The good news for harness fans is Yonkers and Meadowlands are both undergoing changes and that has to be a good thing.
Continuing with the upbeat pace of today’s post congratulations are in order for RAPID REDUX for making it win 22 in Race six at Laurel yesterday, Wednesday, January 4. This win comes on the same day it was announced that Rapid Redux will be honored with a special Eclipse Award honoring extraordinary service, individual achievements in or contributions to the sport of Thoroughbred racing. The Awards will be held January 16 in Beverly Hills, California.
Along with Gulfstream’s new schedule the track introduced the $100,000 Gulfstream Park Derby on January 1st. This race is now the first derby of 2012 offering the newly turned 3 year olds a two-turn race at 1 1/16th miles. The inaugural running is now officially part of racing history with it’s first recorded winner, REVERON… with more congratulations from Interbets and all of course! Casual Trick finished second and King Kid came in third. Have we seen the future Kentucky Derby this day perhaps?!
Here’s a quick list of some of the more prominent races to watch and wager this weekend… $150,000 Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct, the grade 3 $100,000 Marshua’s River Stakes at Gulfstream, and two from Santa Anita include the grade 2 $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes, and the grade 3 $100,000 Sham stakes. Santa Anita continues to offer quality racing on Sunday with the grade 3 $100,000 Daytona Handicap.
12/29/11 ___________________________________________
NEW YEAR’S EVE, December 31: There’s a full schedule and a few changes!
All OTB branches WILL BE OPEN at 11:45am. There’s an early closing by 7:30pm at the branches that usually
close later on a Saturday. There are quite a few tracks racing Saturday evening. You may want to place your
wagers early before the branch and phone center closes. Remember you can also wager online at interbets.com,
and by IVR automated touchtone phone wagering with your Interbets Account.
To start your Saturday off well… AQUEDUCT is racing with the regular 12:20pm post. See the calendar for a
complete schedule. HAWTHORNE just announced an early post at 2:25pm! Some tracks racing after closing time
changed posts as well. Balmoral post is now 7:30pm, and Cal Expo is 8:00pm. Los Alamitos finishes off 2011 and
rings in the New Year with their regular 10:00pm post.
The NY Hot List Team will not post the regular blog again this week. There’s one posted for sure, but the regular team
posts we’ve all enjoyed in 2011 will be back posting next week, promise. In the meantime,
The NY Hot List Daily Review Sheet for Saturday, December 17th will be posted free for all as another gift from Interbets!
You’ll get one more glimpse of what you’re missing if you don’t already have an Interbets Account. Get motivated to
start the New Year with fun and the excitement of winning by opening an Interbets Account!!!
What a good year 2011 has been for Interbets thanks to you! Let’s reflect… It was the first full year of INTERBETS Account
Wagering online with LIVE VIDEO STREAMING, race replays, handicapping tools, and more. It was also the first full year
of the “Interbets” FACEBOOK page that provides followers with updates from day-to-day news items, carryover alerts,
links to pages you may want to know about, etc. Did you “Like” us yet? We like you so check us out. In 2011 Interbets also
proudly introduced THE NY HOT LIST with Bob Ehalt and Shawn Rychling! Their success has been quite valuable and
appreciated by all! You can follow Interbets and The NY Hot List Team on TWITTER too!
INTERBETS GOES MOBILE! The most recent feature just launched by Interbets is the all new ability to bet with
Interbets Account through your mobile device including cell phone, iPhone and iPad.
GULFSTREAM ADDED RACING MONDAY, JANUARY 2 with the regular 12:35pm post. Remember, Aqueduct also races
Monday at 12:20pm. Gulfstream dropped their race card Wednesday, January 4. No worries for the 4th with plenty of
racing still scheduled that day from Tampa, Fair Grounds, Laurel, Monticello, and The Meadows during the day! Racing
continues Wednesday throughout the evening as well.
12/22/11 _______________________________________________________________________________
CHRISTMAS EVE, December 24: GULFSTREAM early post 12:00pm & PARX RACING post 12:25pm.
Most OTB branches WILL BE OPEN 11:45am – 3:45pm with the exception of the following branches:
Closed Please visit…
Elmira OTB Johnson City OTB
Pawling Brewster
Port Jervis Middletown
New Paltz Kingston
Suffern Park Avenue Teletheater (Free Admission today!)
Remember you can also wager online at interbets.com, and by phone with your Interbets Account.
Hey Last Minute Shopper! You know who you are… Get your holiday shopping done at OTB. OTB Gift Vouchers & NYS lottery tickets make great gifts! Stuff a stocking! Slip some in a card!
Christmas Day: No horserace wagering permitted in New York State.
New Year’s Eve: OTB branches are OPEN and will close by 7:30pm or earlier, if scheduled.
We really do mean to brag when we tell you Interbets has proven to be a great place win. The NY Hot List Team has posted a six-win day December 4 and three-win days on December 10, 14, and 15. Wow, four Hot List selections combined for a $980 trifecta and a $246 exacta! See more on the NYHL success in blog archive, dated December 15. The NY Hot List Team gets a few days rest while Aqueduct takes a short break. Some of the horses are elsewhere so today we posted some Gulfstream Picks in the Handicappers Corner.
The Hot List Team will not post a new blog this week. In its place the original blog will be posted explaining what the Hot List is all about with a little holiday gift for you. The NY Hot List Daily Review Sheet for Saturday, December 3rd will be posted free for all! The NYHL Team creates Review Sheets of the NYRA races. These informative Review Sheets are provided for free exclusively to Interbets Account Holders so that they may build their own personal stables of horses to watch. The Review Sheet for Saturday, December 3 will be posted as a little gift in place of this week’s regular post in our public blog spot. You’ll get to glimpse some of what you’re missing by not having an Interbets Account. Let us know when you decide to open an account!!!
Aqueduct has many changes in store for 2012. Along with the casino comes higher purses on many races and thirteen stakes which are anticipated to yield bigger fields and better racing over the winter. Bigger stakes filled cards are slated for the first Saturdays in February, March, and April. The guaranteed $250,000 Late Pick 4 continues every Saturday. The early 12:20pm post will also continue through February 2012.
12/15/11 ______________________________________________________________________________
The weekend kicks off on Friday evening, December 16, with something rare… The Fastest Race on Turf! Evangeline Downs presents the first ever turf race for Quarter Horses in Louisiana. Quarter Horses on the turf is new for Louisiana and rare anywhere else! The AU REVOIR STAKES is for three years old and older at a distance of 870 yards and is set as the 8th race Friday evening with approximate post of 9:35pm eastern. Slinkys Fortune is the 5-2 morning line favorite. Closing night at Evangeline is this Saturday, December 17 with a final night feature, The EVANGELINE FUTURITY with a purse over $100,000.
Hollywood’s $750,000 CASHCALL FUTURITY is the clear favorite as main event on Saturday’s line up of twenty-eight tracks offered at interbets.com and OTB. Fair Grounds Santa Super Saturday is worth a wager as well. Quarter horse players will have Evangeline’s Futurity and Los Alamitos’ $200,000 Southern California Derby for their wagering pleasure on Saturday as well. Gulfstream offers the big event Sunday with the $100,000 Dania Beach. Gulfstream is just one of the sixteen tracks to wager on this Sunday at Interbets.com and at OTB branches.
A look ahead to next week and Christmas Eve… GULFSTREAM EARLY POST IS 12 NOON! UPDATE YOUR OTB CALENDAR NOW! PARX RACING post is still 12:25pm (so far). Many OTB branches WILL BE OPEN. Check back here & at your local branch for an update on special hours and closings. Hey here’s an idea… Get your holiday shopping done at OTB this weekend and on Christmas Eve for you last minute shoppers. OTB gift vouchers and NYS lottery tickets make great gifts! Stuff a stocking or slip some in a card!
Congratulations are in order for Parx Racing! The Cotillion Stakes has been made a Grade I stakes race and the purse has been increased to $1 million dollars. This will be the first grade 1 race in Pennsylvania. The Cotillion has featured some of the top fillies in the country. The most recent installment was won in 2011 by PLUM PRETTY, and a year earlier by HAVRE DE GRACE (2010 winner). BLIND LUCK also raced in 2010 making for a very excited Cotillion indeed and adding fuel to her rivalry with Havre de Grace. The ladies continue to make headlines in the horseracing world on the harness side as well. SEE YOU AT PEELERS may be making a comeback in 2012 according to her trainer.
Reminders: Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24 Parx Racing and Gulfstream are both racing. It may be a busy day for you so remember to use your Interbets Account if you can’t come to OTB. Christmas Day there is no horserace wagering permitted in New York State. New Year’s Eve branches will close by 7:30pm or earlier, if scheduled. New Year’s Day watch for closing time updates as we get closer.
12/8/11 _______________________________________________________________________________
Interbets continues to offer a full menu of racing and wagering as the holidays roll around with 27 big noteworthy stakes listed on the Upcoming Stakes page! Aqueduct’s meet is shaping up and continues to offer the $250,000 guaranteed Late Pick 4. The big news this Saturday is the Fair Grounds $1.1 Million Dollar LOUISIANA CHAMPIONS DAY (that’s 11 stakes races) December 10 with a special early post 1:10pm. Hollywood offers the grade 1 $250,000 HOLLYWOOD STARLET. Los Alamitos features the $750,000 CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS. Northfield Park offers the $150,000 CLEVELAND CLASSIC.
Finger Lakes has closed for the year and with their closing six-time leading jockey, John Grabowski, announced his retirement. You won’t have to look hard for Grabowski though as he plans to be a trainer at Finger Lakes in 2012. Congrats and best wishes on your future endeavor!
As mentioned in the December 2nd news post Gulfstream has opened with a $9,000,000 stakes schedule. This meet features five additional stakes races worth $300,000. If you haven’t noticed by now the track installed a second finish line allowing for 1 1/16th mile races including The $400,000 Fountain of Youth schedule for February 26, 2012. The Florida Derby is scheduled for Saturday, March 31st, 2012. Once again Gulfstream Park will offer the “Rainbow 6” jackpot wager. Remember this wager pays out the jackpot only when there is just one unique ten cent winning ticket. If multiple tickets win (even if only one person owns all winning tickets) then only 60% is paid out and 40% is carried over to the jackpot pool. If you want to win the jackpot, and you buy multiple tickets, make sure that each ticket has different numbers. The final jackpot pool mandatory payout is Saturday, April 7, one day before closing day, so that New Yorkers may participate. Thanks for thinking of your New York fans Gulfstream!
Fair Grounds offers a similar wager to the Rainbow 6 at Gulfstream. Fair Grounds introduced the “Black Gold 5” jackpot wager that is currently offered at OTB and Interbets.com. Only one unique fifty cent ticket wins the jackpot, otherwise, multiple winning tickets share 50% payout with 50% carryover. Fair Grounds final jackpot pool mandatory payout is unfortunately Sunday, April 1, Palm Sunday. OTB & Interbets will not participate in the wager since NYS law prohibits wagering that day. We will offer the wager until at least February and monitor the frequency of jackpot pool winnings to determine when this wager will be discontinued in NY. The rules are very specific so really pay attention when you place these bets!
Tampa Bay Downs began its 86th live thoroughbred season last Saturday along with Gulfstream. According to Tampa’s press release November 8, 2011, the track has introduced a big upgrade this season with the new Trakus system for our simulcasting pleasure. The Trakus system is an electronic tracking system which displays the exact position and location of each horse during the entire race. The system allows betters to evaluate horses’ running styles and progress. Thanks for thinking of your simulcast fans Tampa!
Reminders: Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24 Parx Racing and Gulfstream are both racing. It may be a busy day for you so remember to use your Interbets Account if you can’t come to OTB. Christmas Day there is no horserace wagering permitted in New York State. New Year’s Eve branches will close by 7:30pm or earlier, if scheduled. New Year’s Day watch for closing time updates as we get closer.
12/2/11 ___________________________________________
The Fair Grounds meet has begun. The CLAIMING CROWN is Saturday, December 3 with a special early post at 1:10pm. This marks the first time The Claiming Crown XIII will be hosted by Fair Grounds. Woodbine (thoroughbreds) offers the $150,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes, Aqueduct continues to offer a $250,000 guaranteed Late Pick 4, and this is a big weekend at Zia Park as well. Zia Park offers the $150,000 Zia Park Derby Saturday and Sunday is even bigger with the $200,000 Zia Park Distance Championship, $120,000 New Mexico Eddy County, and The grade 1 $150,000 Quarter Horse Championship. Remember today, Friday, December 2 is closing day at Calder before the Florida action moves over to Tampa Bay Downs and Gulfstream Park. Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs both open on Saturday. Back to Fair Grounds, remember that LOUISIANA CHAMPIONS DAY is a week from Saturday, again with a special early post 1:10pm.
Looking ahead to next week remember that Finger Lakes has added racing on Monday, December 5, post time 12:15pm. It is December so let’s go over some of the monthly highlights. Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24 Parx Racing and Gulfstream are both racing. It may be a busy day for you so remember to use your Interbets Account if you can’t come to OTB. Christmas Day there is no horserace wagering permitted in New York State. New Year’s Eve branches will close by 7:30pm or earlier, if scheduled. New Year’s Day watch for closing time updates as we get closer.
Speaking of the New Year… There’s some more Good News. Many familiar “faces” will continue racing into the new year including Acclamation, Game On Dude, Stay Thirsty, Animal Kingdom, Havre de Grace, Mucho Macho Man, Ruler On Ice, To Honor and Serve, Flat Out, Shackleford, and many others. The word is that Calvin Borel, Javier Castellano, and John Velazquez amongst many other successful jockeys will race out of Gulfstream Park.
11/23/11 ________________________________________________________________________________
Thanksgiving Day OTB branches will open at 10:45am (through 3:30pm) and the wagering continues with your Interbets Wagering Account online, by phone, and with IVR touchtone wagering system after 3:30pm. Thanksgiving Day wagering is available from Calder 11:00am, Laurel 11:05am, Aqueduct 11:25am, Churchill 11:30am, and more. The Fair Grounds meet opens Thanksgiving Day, special post twelve noon! Check the race calendar now at interbets.com for the complete schedule. Three branches will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Port Jervis customers please visit Middletown OTB. New Paltz customers please visit Kingston or Newburgh OTBs. Norwich customers please visit the Norwich2 branch at Fred’s Inn. It’s also a great day to bet with your online Interbets.com Account!
Churchill offers some excitement on Friday with the 137th running of the grade 1 $500,000 CLARK HANDICAP. Keep in mind that potential runners RULER ON ICE, FLAT OUT, AND PRAYER FOR RELIEF may be in this one… Aqueduct offers four graded stakes this Saturday including the grade 1 $250,000 CIGAR MILE HANDICAP and GAZELLE, and the grade 2 $200,000 REMSEN and DEMOISELLE. Remember Aqueduct has an early twelve noon post on Friday and Saturday. Hollywood Park is topping off the month with the grade 2 $250,000 CITATION HANDICAP. Western Fair Harness Track features the $300,000 FOREST CITY on Saturday. Sunday offers some grade 1 races as well with Hollywood’s $250,000 HOLLYWOOD DERBY and the $200,000 SOUTHWEST JUVENILE CHAMPIONSHIP at Zia Park. Dover Downs Harness features the $190,000 MATRON SERIES FINALS this Sunday.
The Fair Grounds meet opens Thanksgiving Day with a special twelve noon post. The regular post for this meet is 1:40pm. Fair Grounds is trying something new this meet by offering a Wednesday – Sunday race week. The feature events of the meet include The CLAIMING CROWN December 3 (special early post 1:10pm), LOUISIANA CHAMPIONS DAY December 10 (special early post 1:10pm), and SANTA SUPER SATURDAY December 17. This marks the first time The Claiming Crown will be hosted by Fair Grounds.
Look for the new “BLACK GOLD 5” jackpot style Pick 5 at Fair Grounds. This .50 cent minimum wager requires a single ticket winner in order to payout the jackpot with a 50% carryover and paying out 50% in consolation tickets. Pompano Park is considering the same type of jackpot style wager with some differences. Pompano’s jackpot wager is the “MEGA-9”. That’s right Pompano plans to offer this new Pick 9 with a ten cent minimum starting this Saturday.
Happy Thanksgiving! Thanks for betting with us at Interbets.com & at OTB branches!
11/17/11 ___________________________________________
Seven figure racing for next year’s hopefuls with the grade 3 $1,000,000 DELTA DOWNS JACKPOT coming up this Saturday, November 19. Delta Downs has an early 2:15pm post time (eastern) and seven more stakes races worth an additional million dollars including the $500,000 DELTA DOWNS PRINCESS. There is a $100,000 Pick 4 in races 4-7. Hollywood offers the GRADE 1 $250,000 HOLLYWOOD TURF CUP. On Sunday Hollywood offers the $100,000 MOCCASIN and Woodbine offers the grade 3 $150,000 BESSARABIAN. On the harness side, this Friday, November 18 is the last stop on the GRAND CIRCUIT at Maywood Park in Melrose, Illinois.
The 2011 Breeders’ Cup is over the year is winding down so what’s next? The 2012 Breeders’ Cup will be at Santa Anita in California once again. Belmont remains hopeful that it will be host of the 2013 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. What else is next? According to Daily Racing Form UNCLE MO has been retired and will stand stud as previously reported. ANIMAL KINGDOM is supposed to continue racing for now. Royal Delta was sold at auction for $8.5 million. Havre de Grace plans to continue racing… girl power. Mucho Macho Man (worth mentioning again) is back racing in New York! Stay Thirsty… still racing! Caleb’s Posse is headed to Oaklawn. Gio Ponti will also retire and will stand stud. On the harness side, Roll With Joe has been retired. ‘Joe’ goes out on a high note winning last Saturday’s $400,000 Messenger Stakes (final jewel in the Pacing Triple Crown) at Yonkers. Congrats to you ‘Joe’ and happy retirement in New York.
Here are some important notes about the upcoming schedule for November. Churchill has a late afternoon post time at 4:30pm this Friday, November 18 and Hollywood Park special late post at 10:05pm. Monmouth added race days, Friday, November 18, Saturday, November 19, and will end their meet after a final card on Sunday, November 20 with a 12:15pm post. Remember the early 2:15pm post at Delta Downs Saturday too! OTB branches will open at 11:45am on Sundays in November beginning this Sunday, November 20, (Aqueduct post is 12:20pm, Monmouth post is 12:15pm).
Next week, Parx Racing has cancelled their race card on Wednesday, November 23. Woodbine harness wagering has been added to the Thanksgiving schedule. OTB branches will open at 10:45am and close by 3:30pm, but the wagering continues with your Interbets Wagering Account online, phone, and IVR touchtone wagering system. Thanksgiving Day wagering is available from Calder 11:00am, Laurel 11:05am, Aqueduct 11:25am, Churchill 11:30am, Fair Grounds, Woodbine thoroughbreds, Hollywood, Golden Gate, and Woodbine Harness. A few branches will be closed on Thanksgiving Day including Port Jervis, New Paltz, and Norwich. Please visit another branch or bet with your Interbets Account. Aqueduct has a noon post time on Friday, November 25 and Saturday, November 26. Update your calendar now.
11/10/11 ___________________________________________
Congratulations to all of the Breeders’ Cup winners including Ladies Classic winner Royal Delta & Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Drosselmeyer! Congrats to Handicapper Toby Callet for offering his long shot selection of Drosselmeyer that day! I hope you all followed his advice on that one! Callet also just pick the $1 exacta in the Oak Tree Derby at Santa Anita on October 15 which paid out $323.50. OTB branches offer Callet’s Picks every day on many tracks: Santa Anita (now Hollywood), Churchill, Calder, etc. Interbets Account Holders only are sent Callet’s Picks along with their exclusive NY Hot List Review Sheets. Isn’t it about time you joined? Sign up online now!
This weekend features Aqueduct’s first $250,000 guaranteed late Pick 4 which will be offered every Saturday through the end of the year! Saturday is Calder’s FLORIDA MILLION (eight races). Aqueduct, Churchill, and Woodbine feature graded stakes Saturday as well. As if this isn’t enough it’s also a BIG HARNESS WEEKEND! This Saturday Yonkers features the final leg of the PACING TRIPLE CROWN, the $450,000 MESSENGER PACE FINAL, approximate post time 8:50pm. Roll With Joe is the early favorite in the Messenger Stakes. Does he look like a winner to you?
- 11-5-11RollWithJoe-farm-MikeLizziphoto
Woodbine features the eight races of the $2,400,000 OSS SUPER FINALS. Dover Downs features the four race $570,000 MATRON SERIES. Balmoral features the $1,045,000 AMERICAN NATIONAL FINALS (six races). November 12 is the final day of GRAND CIRCUIT RACING at Balmoral. The final day for the Grand Circuit this year is November 18 at Maywood Park.
This Sunday offers the NY Stallion Series at Aqueduct, the $150,000 Glorious Song Stakes at Woodbine thoroughbreds, and $100,000 Sharp Cat Stakes at Hollywood. More on the Harness side as well. Chester Downs features $2,190,000 in Finals including the $650,000 GOVERNOR’S CUP! Dover Downs offers another three races in the MATRON SERIES totaling $460,000 in purses.
Monmouth just added race days to their meet beginning tomorrow, Friday, November 11! Post time tomorrow and all six added days is 12:15pm, November 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20. Update your calendar now.
Hollywood Park just opened their meet today with a 3:30pm post time eastern. Three special posts this meet include the first two Friday evening cards November 11 and 18 at 10:05pm and 2:00pm on Thanksgiving. The 26 day meet features five Grade I races and the Autumn Turf Festival on Thanksgiving weekend. This meet’s Pick 5 will still offer a carryover, but no consolation payoff.
For those who follow Uncle Mo the word is that he has been retired and will enter stud in 2012 at Ashford Stud in Kentucky. Some good news came to Aqueduct when Mucho Macho Man got back in the race there this past week and he was mucho macho!
11/3/11 ___________________________________________
The $25,000,000 2011 BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS is here!
Tomorrow, Friday, November 4 is the first Breeders’ Cup Day so many tracks have special post times Friday and Saturday. Churchill Downs is this year’s host track and has a 2:00pm post time Friday. There’s a special Breeders’ Cup two-day Classics Double and Advance wagering Friday for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Races as well. Friday’s $8.5 million dollar Breeders’ Cup card features the grade 1 $2,000,000 BREEDERS’ CUP LADIES CLASSIC race 10 at 7:30pm. OTB & Interbets will offer the $750,000 Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6 which will carry over to Saturday’s card if necessary. The Pick 6 is a $2 minimum. Dime Superfectas and 50-cent Trifectas, Pick 3s, Pick 4s, and Pick 5s will be offered on all races too! New this year is the Juvenile Sprint!
Saturday’s $16.5 million dollar Breeders’ Cup card features the grade 1 $5,000,000 BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC race 11 at 7:00pm. OTB & Interbets will offer the $2,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick 6 which has a mandatory payout! Why not tell all of your lottery playing friends to get in on this one too! Churchill’s first race post time is 12 noon. OTB branches open at 11:00am. The Classic already has a change to note. Prayer for Relief post position 1 has withdrawn from the race leaving a field of 12. Uncle Mo in post position 12 is the favorite at 5-2.
Some of the big names from 2011 will not be in the Classic. Shackleford is entered in the grade 1 $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Goldikova and Gio Ponti are entered in the grade 1 $2,000,000 Breeders’ Cup (Turf) Mile. Now for some news for some upstate New Yorkers… Finger Lakes based 4 year old, Tamarind Hall, is entered in the $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
Click for Breeders Cup TV/Video coverage & race information now!
Aqueduct opens tomorrow, Friday, November 4 with a special post time of 1:15pm. Aqueduct will race five days per week, Wednesday through Sunday, with a 12:20pm post time. Post time is 12:20pm on Saturday, November 5. After the Breeders’ Cup… next Saturday, November 12 Aqueduct will offer a $250,000 guaranteed late Pick 4 all Saturdays.
Awesome Feather will skip Churchill for the time being and is likely to wait for the Gazelle at Aqueduct as a next race. Mucho Macho Man has skipped Belmont racing and is likely to be seen racing at Aqueduct soon.
Updates:
So many tracks have special post times during the Breeders’ Cup especially Saturday! Check the calendar now!
Sunday, November 6: Daylight Savings Times Ends. Fall back one hour!
10/27/11 ___________________________________________
Happy Halloween! This is Belmont’s last weekend coming up so get in on the $300.000 guaranteed late Pick 4 while you still can. It’s also Keeneland’s last weekend so enjoy! Santa Anita has California Cup Day this Saturday too. With that said there’s something for every horseplayer this weekend. Harness Players this is your weekend with The BREEDERS’ CROWN FINALS from Woodbine on Saturday featuring $6,250,000 in 12 Finals races with a special early 6:30pm post time. Woodbine will offer two $100,000 guaranteed Pick 4s on Saturday as well! Quarter Horse Players stay for Los Alamitos, post time 10pm, featuring The Challenge Championships, that’s six races worth over $1,000,000! Sunday is no slouch with the New Mexico Classic Cup Day from Zia Park with eight races worth just about another $1,000,000!
More good news from Woodbine, Interbets.com & OTB worth a mention is the new low 20-cent Pick 4 and Superfecta bet minimums on Woodbine thoroughbreds, harness, and Mohawk cards which was effective the first weekend in October and is just in time for the Breeders’ Crown races this Saturday as well. Once the Grand Circuit raps up at Woodbine it will head on over to Balmoral Park November 5 – 12 then it finishes this year’s schedule with a final day, November 18, at Maywood. The harness tracks are all doing something lately it seems even Cal Expo is offering a $10,000 late Pick 4 every Thursday and Saturday effective today, Thursday, October 27!
With just one week till the Breeders’ Cup Races there’s much going on. Breederscup.com provides ample information on the two day event, Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5. Interbets.com and OTB will of course offer the full card from Churchill these days including all Breeders’ Cup Races. All OTB branches will be open for all Breeders’ Cup Races. Branches that usually close earlier will stay open for these races, approximately 7:45pm Friday and 7:15pm Saturday. Saturday, November 5 you can bet early with an special early opening at 11:00am. Friday’s Ladies Classic post time is approximately 7:30pm and Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic is approximately 7:00pm. Check out the results of all Breeders’ Cup challenge races here!
OTB had a fun-filled weekend with the Belmont NY Showcase Day last Saturday, October 22. A few branches added to the excitement with some branch events. Middletown OTB bettors had the opportunity to meet Bob Ehalt & Shawn Rychling, creators of The NY Hot List and Interbets Bloggers. The Hot List Team conducted a Belmont Handicapping Seminar. Thanks guys! There were free OTB thoroughbred books, free snacks, and it was even an OTB Bettor Day. “What’s that?” you say. An OTB Bettor Day is a day when the betting machines just decide to randomly give out free bets to customers! You never know when it may happen to you. Before your horse crosses the finish-line you could already be a winner on an OTB Bettor Day! Congratulations to Benny M. winner of the $25 Bet at Middletown OTB on Saturday!
Johnson City and Nimmonsburg OTBs combined celebrations on Saturday when the local hockey team, The Binghamton Senators, shared their league victory bringing their Calder Cup Trophy to both branches. There were drawings for lots of cool prizes: two 4-packs of hockey tickets, hockey fan packs with hats, shirts, a puck, and even a cowbell, and of course the $25 Bet prize was a big hit. Everyone enjoyed taking pictures with the trophy as well. It was an OTB Bettor Day at both of those branches as well. A fun time was had by all!
A quick look ahead: Churchill Downs begins their Fall meet Sunday, October 30 with a 12:40pm post time. Aqueduct opens on Friday, November 4 with a special post time of 1:15pm. That’s the first Breeders’ Cup Day so many tracks have special post times that Friday and Saturday. Churchill has a 12 noon post time November 4 and there’s a special Breeders’ Cup Classics Double offered that day. You will be able to Advance Bet Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup that Friday too! The November calendar will be posted online by the evening of Friday, October 28 with all of the special posts.
10/20/11 ___________________________________________
Belmont’s New York Showcase is upon us this Saturday, October 22 and Woodbine Harness BREEDERS’ CROWN Elimination Races too! Let’s begin with Belmont. There are seven big races for NY breds with purses from 100,000 up to $200,000 featuring the best of NY. Interbets will take advantage of the opportunity to showcase our own NY event. You can meet Interbets Bloggers and Handicappers Bob Ehalt & Shawn Rychling this Saturday, October 22 at Middletown OTB in Middletown, N.Y. just off Route 211 and Galleria Drive. The New York Hot List Team will present a Belmont seminar. Since introducing their unique handicapping system with the start of Saratoga the team has had much success showing a flat-bet profit for the Saratoga meet! The Belmont meet has produced some success thus far for the NY Hot List as well. It should be a good day for betting Belmont at any OTB and a fun day to bet at Middletown with our handicappers on hand for a free seminar, free thoroughbred booklets to the first 20 customers, a drawing, and some other goodies! See you there!
Grand Circuit Racing has found it’s way to Woodbine October 21 – October 29. The 2011 Breeders’ Crown Finals will be held at Woodbine Harness Saturday, October 29, but before that can happen Woodbine will feature eight $200,000 BREEDERS’ CROWN ELIMINATION RACES this Saturday, October 22. One of the many talented Drivers racing in the Breeders’ Crown Eliminations deserve a shout out, George Brennan. Brennan has much to celebrate with career win 7,000 at Yonkers Raceway this past Tuesday, October 18.
If that’s not enough going on this weekend then let me remind you (as if you didn’t know) Keeneland is racing and it’s Hawthorne’s $750,000 Illinois Festival of Racing Saturday. Indiana Downs Harness features eight Indiana Sire Stakes as well. Sunday offers stakes races from Hoosier, Woodbine thoroughbreds, and Keeneland.
With just two weeks till the BREEDERS CUP at Churchill Downs it looks like UNCLE MO is the early favorite for some in The Classic slightly beating out HAVRE DE GRACE. Both horses are possibly entering other Breeders’ Cup races just as a backup plan at this point with Uncle Mo considering the Dirt Mile and Havre de Grace considering the Ladies’ Classic. According to a Daily Racing Form article October 19 Zazu will not run in the Ladies’ Classic due to shoulder inflammation. Check out the results of all Breeders’ Cup challenge races!
Just a quick look ahead includes the following: Chester Downs Harness has added racing Thursday, October 27, post time 12:40pm. As mentioned above The Breeders’ Crown Races are at Woodbine on Saturday, October 29 with a special early evening post time of 6:30pm. Let’s also remember that Churchill Downs actually begins their Fall meet this month on Sunday, October 30 with a 12:40pm post time. A week before the Breeders’ Cup Races are there.
10/13/11 ___________________________________________
There is much happening as we are another weekend closer to the Breeders’ Cup and a chance to see the best of the best the first weekend in November! In the meantime there’s plenty of racing coming up this weekend including 2 year old races. This Saturday, October 15 Calder features two $300,000 2yo races, the In Reality Stakes and My Dear Girl, in addition to Woodbine, Delaware, Thistledown, Retama, and Keeneland. Keeneland’s two year old race is being raced in celebration of their 75th Anniversary. Happy 75 years Keeneland, lookin’ good! There some real action up in Canada this weekend. On Saturday night Woodbine Harness offers two $130,000 OSS Gold Finals. On Sunday Woodbine thoroughbred offers the $1,500,000 Pattison Canadian International Stakes, the $1,000,000 E.P. Taylor Stakes, and the $500,000 Nearctic Stakes. All three Woodbine races are the very last races in the “Win & You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge Races.
Looking ahead to next weekend’s highlights we have Belmont’s New York Showcase Day and Woodbine Harness Breeders’ Crown Elimination Races! The 2011 BREEDERS’ CROWN FINALS will be held at Woodbine Harness Saturday, October 29. There will be twelve events worth $6,550,000! The Harness Breeders’ Crown Finals will be followed one week later on November 4th and 5th by thoroughbred racing’s The 2011 BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Churchill Downs.
Since we’re on the subject of the Breeders’ Cup already let me share some more information to help prepare you for the 28th running of Breeders’ Cup World Championships. There will be fifteen races this year. Friday, November 4th post time is 2:00pm eastern highlighted by the Ladies Classic tentatively scheduled as Race 10 at 7:30pm. There will be an all Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick Six with a guaranteed gross pool of $750,000. This pool carries over into Saturday. Saturday, November 5th post time is 12:05pm eastern highlighted by the Classic tentatively scheduled as Race 11 at 7:00pm. There will be another all Breeders’ Cup Ultra Pick Six offered this time with a guaranteed gross pool of $2 million dollars! There is a mandatory payout on Saturday. The official order of races for both days will be finalized on Wednesday, October 26. Stay tuned for more details in next week’s Interbets newsletter.
10/6/11 ___________________________________________
This Friday, October 7th is opening day for both Keeneland and Chester Downs. Chester Downs will have a late 6:30pm post on opening day and a regular 12:40pm post Sunday through Wednesday. Keeneland’s Fall Meet is highlighted by the $200,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4 this Friday, October 7 and next Friday, October 14. Saturday, October 8th offers a $250,000 Guaranteed All Stakes Pick 4. It’s also Keeneland’s 75th Anniversary celebration coming up a week from Saturday.
A great three day weekend is in store for us all with Belmont’s Saturday card offering the grade 1 $300,000 CHAMPAGNE and the grade 1 $300,000 FRIZETTE in addition to the $250,000 JAMAICA. Look for MSG+ televisionBelmont coverage from 4:30pm – 5:30pm eastern. Remember there is a $300,000 guaranteed Late Pick 4 every Saturday at Belmont as well. This is also opening weekend at KEENELAND offering five graded stakes races worth $1.65 million highlighted by the grade 1 $600,000 SHADWELL TURF MILE! Hawthorne will feature the grade 2 $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup and Santa Anita will feature the grade 1 $250,000 Ancient Title Stakes. Monday, October 10th, Columbus Day, Belmont is racing, post time 1:00pm.
The harness world does a fine job of keeping up with their thoroughbred counterparts this weekend. Grand Circuit racing continues at The Red Mile through Sunday and features the $400,000 INTERNATIONAL and the $350,000 GARNSEY (Tattersalls). Yonkers Raceway will hold The $400,000 FALL HARVEST SERIES this Saturday with eight $50,000 events for New York-breds.The series is comprised of 2 and 3 year olds, both sexes, both gates, who were not eligible to compete in the NY Night of Champions. Red Mile continues with the high stakes on Sunday offering two $200,000 Bluegrass races. Interbets.com account holders will appreciate the harness action continuing into Sunday evening with the $130,000 OSS Gold Final from Windsor and the $100,000 Lincoln Land from Balmoral.
With the Breeders’ Cup just four weeks away Keeneland gets into the Breeders’ Cup Challenge with two Challenge races Friday, October 7, three Challenge races Saturday, one Challenger race on Sunday, and the last Challenge race being run in The States next Wednesday, October 12th will be at Keeneland. Belmont’s CHAMPAGNE & FRIZETTE are “Win & You’re In” Breeders’ Cup Challenge races this Saturday as well as Santa Anita’s ANCIENT TITLE STAKES. The latest word on the Breeders’ Cup horse stars says that Blind Luck will not be racing, Coil will be given a rest this fall and plans to go to Santa Anita for the 2011-2012 winter-spring meet instead. Probable runners in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at this point include Flat Out winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup last Saturday at Belmont, Stay Thirsty with stable mate Uncle Mo, Tizway, and Havre de Grace among others.
9/29/11 ___________________________________________
Saturday, October 1st may be Super Saturday at Belmont, and I think it goes for the whole day’s racing from around the country! It may be easier to tell you which tracks don’t have quality high stakes races this weekend, but I won’t do that of course! Let’s start with New York’s own Belmont. Saturday’s Belmont card begins early with a 12:30pm post, offering an eleven race card including the $750,000 JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP, $500,000 FLOWER BOWL INVITATIONAL and much more. The are five grade 1 races, and a grade 2, a $500,000 guaranteed All Stakes Pick 4 (races 7-10 post 3:57pm), and ESPN Classic coverage 4:30-7:30pm. Further south down at Laurel it is MARYLAND MILLION DAY with an all stakes eleven race card and over $1,000,000 in purses. There is so much more that you won’t want to miss. Select the Upcoming Stakes List on the left side of this page for a complete listing of stakes events for Saturday and Sunday.
This Saturday is the big Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In” races including the last two chances to get in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Santa Anita’s Goodwood Handicap, and Belmont’s Jockey Club Gold Cup. In addition Santa Anita features three more stakes races that will get three more equines into Breeders’ Cup World Championship races. Belmont features five more stakes in the Breeders’ Cup “Win & You’re In” program. Santa Anita continues on Sunday with the Oak Leaf Stakes that will get some Juvenile Filly into the Breeders’ Cup races.
New York harness fans will all want to bet Saratoga Raceway as this premier harness track presents the
$1.4 million New York Sire Stakes “NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS” featuring leading drivers Tim Tetrick, George Brennan, Jason Bartlett, Stephane Bouchard, and Jeff Gregory. Down in Lexington, Kentucky the Red Mile Harness Track will host Grand Circuit Racing today (September 29) through October 9.
For those of you who follow certain horses this is the weekend for star gazing! Preakness winner SHACKLEFORD is running in the grade 2 $500,000 INDIANA DERBY at Hoosier along with CALEB’S POSSE, winner of the King’s Bishop over Uncle Mo. Travers winner STAY THIRSTY is running in the JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP. UNCLE MO is running in the KELSO. Haskell winner COIL is running in the GOODWOOD. HAVRE DE GRACE – BELDAME at Belmont, BLIND LUCK – LADY’S SECRET at Santa Anita. There are too many to list them all here. Needless to say a weekend well worth coming out to an OTB near you or another chance to enjoy the live video stream at home on your PC with your Interbets.com wagering account.
9/22/11 ___________________________________________
On the last day of summer let’s all shout, Bring on the Fall Racing Season! There’s much happening beginning with Belmont featuring two $100,000+ stakes this weekend, Gallant Bloom Handicap and the John Hettinger for NY Breds.
Over at Parx Racing this Saturday, September 24 is the 32nd edition of the grade 2 $1,000,000 PENNSYLVANIA DERBY. If that purse isn’t enough to peak your interest let’s look at the field of nine… RULER ON ICE (1) – Belmont Stakes winner, 3rd in The Haskell, 4th in The Travers, RATTLESNAKE BRIDGE (9) – 2nd in The Travers, JW BLUE (8) – 3rd in The Travers, ARTHUR’S TALE (2), PENDER HARBOUR (3), NORMAN ASBJORNSON (4), RUSH NOW (5), ISN’T HE PERFECT (6), and TO HONOR AND SERVE (7). There’s an early 12:05pm post at Parx Racing Saturday. The PA DERBY is race 11 at approximately 5:45pm.
The KENTUCKY CUP DAY OF CHAMPIONS will be held this Saturday at Turfway Park thanks to a generous WinStar Farm’s Sponsorship that saved the day and making it the WINSTAR KENTUCKY CUP now. The Day of Champions was inaugurated in 1994 and has since prepped the winners of seven Breeders’ Cup races… not too shabby. This year they are races six through ten on the card. Race 6 post is approximately 3:45 and Race 10, The WinStar Kentucky Cup, post is approximately 6:05pm.
On the harness side of life, it’s time for the LITTLE BROWN JUG, to be raced later today at the Delaware County Fair in Ohio. The Jug is the second leg of the Pacing Triple Crown and the harness highlight of the year for many as well as being part of Grand Circuit racing. The Grand Circuit moves over to Lexington, Kentucky and The Red Mile September 29 through October 9. Some Harness Congratulations are in order for ROCKLAMATION winner of yesterday’s JUGETTE FINAL. Over in Yonkers Raceway on Tuesday, September 20 Driver Jim Morrill Jr. earned career win 5,000! Congrats!
Looking ahead, the biggest set of Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win & Your In” races, state side, will be held on October 1 at Belmont and Santa Anita including the last two Breeders’ Cup Classic spots. There will be much more on these races next week. Mark your calendar now. This year’s Breeders Cup World Championships will be held at Churchill Downs on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5. Churchill’s meet begins on October 30.
9/15/11 ___________________________________________
Already the third weekend at Belmont? No time to miss Saratoga when Belmont keeps the NY momentum going with a guaranteed $300,000 Late Pick 4 every Saturday for your betting pleasure! Belmont features the grade 1 $250,000 GARDEN CITY (turf) Saturday with TV coverage on MSG+ 5:00-5:30pm. Belmont’s feature on Sunday is the grade 3 $100,000 NOBLE DAMSEL (turf).
Saturday is Festival Preview Day at Calder, “The Race For The Ribbon” day at Charles Town featuring the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks, $1,000,000+ Super Night at Balmoral harness track, both graded stakes races at Woodbine (SUMMER STAKES & NATALMA STAKES) are Breeders’ Cup Challenge Races and it’s a big harness night at Mohawk featuring the $1,000,000 CANADIAN TROTTING CLASSIC FINAL and much more. That was a mouth full… so-to-speak. Check out the Upcoming Stakes link on the left side of the OTB News page to see the complete list of featured stakes races for both Saturday & Sunday.
Sunday is another big day in Canada worth mentioning here, this time on the thoroughbred side. Woodbine features the group 1 $1,000,000 WOODBINE MILE, yet another Breeders’ Cup Challenge race!
When you plan out your betting day take a moment to check out which tracks have a carryover pool listed in the “CARRYOVER” tab on the front page at interbets.com. Carryovers get posted as a scrolling message at the top of the interbets.com site as well. Carryovers and other race day alerts are also posted on our Facebook wall at interbets. “LIKE” us today and get updates as they are posted.
A look ahead to a few big Belmont weekends. The first red letter Belmont day is Saturday, October 1st, its SUPER SATURDAY featuring six graded stakes races including the $750,000 JOCKEY CLUB GOLD CUP. So far the word is that Travers winner STAY THIRSTY is headed for that race! All six races are also Breeders’ Cup Challenge races so don’t miss it. Another “bigger” of the many big Belmont weekends to mark on your calendar is Saturday, October 22 – It’s NY SHOWCASE DAY!
9/8/11 ___________________________________________
Another week over and still the weather is a factor. Just today The Meadows, Penn National, and Tioga have all cancelled due to flooding. Tioga has already decided to cancel racing the next two days as well which are the last two days of their meet September 9 & 10. The fate of Saturday’s $300,000 Cane Pace and two other big races scheduled at Tioga are unknown at this time. On the up side, Evangeline has been added to this evening’s menu.
Friday, September 9 is Laurel’s first day of their meet. Happy 100th Birthday to Laurel!!!
Saturday, September 10 is opening day at Belmont Park. Belmont kicks off the meet with the grade 2 $150,000 Bowling Green Handicap. Saturday is also SUPER DERBY DAY at Louisiana Downs featuring the grade 2 $500,000 Super Derby in addition to 5 more stakes races. The Super Derby is scheduled a little earlier this year and has resulted in a full field of nine including Travers starter Malibu Glow from New York. Other starters are shipping in from Illinois, Kentucky, and Southern California. There’s also a $100,000 Pick 4 in races 9-12. The Super Derby is race 11, approximate post time 6:21pm.
Turfway Park opens their meet today with all five Kentucky Cup Stakes races planned for Kentucky Cup Day of Champions September 24 so save the date! Saturdays September 10 & 17 will feature a combined Turfway Park / Kentucky Downs card. This Saturday September 10 will offer a 17 race card! The first seven are actually from Kentucky Downs. Races 8 – 17 are at Turfway Park.
Hey Harness Fans! Friday, September 9 continues the New York Sire Stakes races at Yonkers Raceway with the $250,000 Frank Becerra Pace for 2yos fillies. This is a good way to kick off a weekend with many high stakes harness races to bet on! Mohawk features Grand Circuit Racing through today and the $460,000 Champlain Stakes (2 races) and $240,000 Simcoe, Indiana Downs offers over the Indiana Championship Night with $2 million in purses including 10 INSS Finals on a 14 race card, Pocono offers $600,000 PASS Championship (4 races) and $200,000 consolations (4 races). The Grand Circuit heads to Delaware, Ohio for the County Fair September 18 – 22. This of course is the Little Brown Jug Meet.
Once again congratulations go to the Interbets Handicappers Bob Ehalt & Shawn Rychling for picking the $44 Monteagle in the 5th race at Saratoga on Thursday, September 1st. It was their biggest winner of the meet. The Wednesday before they picked five winners for the day, August 31st. Let me say “Thanks guys” from all of us for your an impressive job handicapping your first NYRA meet using your all new system The New York Hot List. Nice return! The NY Hot List really works!
9/1/11 ___________________________________________
Another week over and still the weather is a factor. Just today The Meadows, Penn National, and Tioga have all cancelled due to flooding. Tioga has already decided to cancel racing the next two days as well which are the last two days of their meet September 9 & 10. The fate of Saturday’s $300,000 Cane Pace and two other big races scheduled at Tioga are unknown at this time. On the up side, Evangeline has been added to this evening’s menu.
Friday, September 9 is Laurel’s first day of their meet. Happy 100th Birthday to Laurel!!!
Saturday, September 10 is opening day at Belmont Park. Belmont kicks off the meet with the grade 2 $150,000 Bowling Green Handicap. Saturday is also SUPER DERBY DAY at Louisiana Downs featuring the grade 2 $500,000 Super Derby in addition to 5 more stakes races. The Super Derby is scheduled a little earlier this year and has resulted in a full field of nine including Travers starter Malibu Glow from New York. Other starters are shipping in from Illinois, Kentucky, and Southern California. There’s also a $100,000 Pick 4 in races 9-12. The Super Derby is race 11, approximate post time 6:21pm.
Turfway Park opens their meet today with all five Kentucky Cup Stakes races planned for Kentucky Cup Day of Champions September 24 so save the date! Saturdays September 10 & 17 will feature a combined Turfway Park / Kentucky Downs card. This Saturday September 10 will offer a 17 race card! The first seven are actually from Kentucky Downs. Races 8 – 17 are at Turfway Park.
What a difference a week makes! Earthquake, tornadoes, hurricane, Uncle Mo is number 2, and See You At Peelers comes in sixth ending her unblemished winning streak of 22 wins of 22 starts?! It’s been a hard week all around. On the bright side congrats are in order to the big winners of the last week or so… A big Travers Stakes congrats goes to Stay Thirsty, Pacific Classic winner Acclamation, King’s Bishop – Caleb’s Posse, and last but not least The Nadia Lobell was won by Idyllic. Congrats to OTB & Interbets as well. We made it through the weather just fine… I am sure you were wondering about that. We were all grateful to have interbets.com account wagering “at the ready” for all of our customers.
A look ahead… Stay Thirsty may be headed to the grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont October 1st. Uncle Mo may be headed to the grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont also on Oct 1 or the grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on September 24th.
The long Labor Day weekend is upon us! It’s Saratoga’s closing weekend featuring the grade 1 $750,000 Woodward, Personal Ensign, and Forego Saturday. The grade 1 $250,000 Spinaway and Saranac are on Sunday. The grade 1 $250,000 Hopeful and Glens Falls are on closing day, Monday. Belmont opens next Saturday, September 10. There’s so much more happening over the three day weekend including $3 million dollars in purses at Mohawk harness track on Saturday… You have to just check out the complete list on the Upcoming Stakes page on the website.
In case you still don’t have an account now is a good time to sign up… before the Breeders’ Cup races and before the next weather challenge! It’s easy to fund your account from home as well. Of course you can deposit cash at a branch, but as last week demonstrated, that is not always the best option. If you’re a “planner” you can also mail in a check or money order ahead of time. The next few deposit options are also available and very convenient:
ACH electronic transfer online, fee only $1 – I hear our internet account holders “love” this option! Account holders may transfer monies directly from their checking account into their wagering account. The initial set up takes a few days to clear, but thereafter, transfers take a matter of minutes! The fee is only $1.oo no matter what amount is transfered, from $10 to $1,000… now that’s a deal!
OTBPAY – immediate deposits of up to $1,000 from a checking account by registering with OTBPay. There is a fee of $4.50 and up. OTBPay is available to all account holders including PHONE accounts!
CREDIT – Some banks allow credit card deposits. Recent federal legislation has limited this option.
Customer service can answer any questions or provide further information.
8/25/11 ___________________________________________
Time flies when it’s summer at Saratoga and the 142nd TRAVERS STAKES is this Saturday, August 27. There’s an early 11:35am post time at Saratoga with a thirteen race card. Start your handicapping now for the $1,000,000 All Graded Stakes PICK 4 starting in Race 8 – The grade 3 $100,000 Victory Ride with a 4:03pm post time. Final leg of the Pick 4 is the grade 1 $1,000,000 Travers Stakes. The best of the best 3 year olds will be racing in the Travers with STAY THIRSTY as the morning line odds favorite, COIL, SHACKLEFORD, RULER ON ICE and six others. As if the Travers isn’t enough to pack’em in at The Spa, Saturday is also highlighted by the return of NY’s own UNCLE MO after overcoming his health issues that sidelined him for several months he’s back! UNCLE MO will race in Race 11 the grade 1 $250,000 KING’S BISHOP post time 5:12pm. Watching the Travers Live will be easy! The Live simulcast is, of course, available at all Catskill OTB location in New York. Interbets.com Account Holders will have access to the Live Videostream as usual, and NBC-TV will offer live coverage from 5:00pm – 6:00pm which means you’ll also get to see the King’s Bishop and Uncle Mo! The forecast is calling for possible scattered thunder storms Saturday as Hurricane Irene approaches the northeast, so here’s hoping that bad girl stays off shore!
NYRA was kind enough to provide Travers Stakes Draw Quotes on Wednesday. Here are some excerpts from the Trainers included in those quotes:
TODD PLETCHER – Stay Thirsty – “We’re really happy with where we are and we feel like we’re coming up to it (the Travers) in good shape.”
BOB BAFFERT – Coil – “I think he has to break better than he did in the Haskell. The main concern is that we were dealing with an eye situation a few days ago… It seems like we have it under control, he worked very well yesterday.”
DALE ROMANS – Shackleford – “The race at a mile and a quarter is a little different than when you’re running a mile and an eighth. I don’t think there is anybody quick enough to get in front of us if they want the lead. From the 10-hole, we may have to go, open up a couple and see what happens.”
KELLY BREEN – Ruler On Ice – “It’s a good post (4) for me. I just hope we’re in front at the wire. That’s all that matters.”
Sunday will keep the exciting riding high with the grade 1 $1,000,000 PACIFIC CLASSIC at Del Mar. It looks very likely that BLIND LUCK will be up against the boys in this one. Whenever Blind Luck is mentioned everyone wants to know the whereabouts of Havre de Grace. The latest is that HAVRE DE GRACE is going to face a separate bunch of boys in the grade 1 $750,000 Woodward Stakes on September 3 at Saratoga. Even on separate coasts they seem to be competing with each other. More on Havre de Grace as it comes in.
Harness Fans have some celebrating to do this weekend. Tioga will feature a big NY Harness day this Sunday with the $420,000 ZWEIG MEMORIAL TROT for 3 year olds as well as their 2011 Drivers’ Championship. Congrats to SEE YOU AT PEELERS for winning number 22 of 22 with her win in the $350,000 VALLEY FORGE at Chester Downs. Peelers next likely start is next Monday, August 29 at The Meadows in the $200,000 Nadia Lobell Pace. Watch it and bet it with Interbets.com. Grand Circuit Racing continues through Saturday, August 27 at Chester Downs and at Indiana Downs. Next stop for the Circuit will be Mohawk September 3 – 10.
Wow, there’s so much more happening this weekend so check out the Upcoming Stakes section on the website for a complete listing of stakes races for Saturday and Sunday.
There’s still time to open an internet wagering account before the Travers Stakes!
8/16/11 ___________________________________________
Harness Fans! Let’s start with a quick mention for this Thursday, August 18. Yonkers features the $250,000 NYSS LEW BARASCH TROT for 2-year-old colts and geldings. There are 6 NYSS races total. Three are before post time and three more races are on the card beginning in race 4.
It’s BBQ season and there are sizzling summer stakes all around! This weekend is no exception. This upcoming Saturday, August 20 features Saratoga’s $500,000 grade 1 ALABAMA, $250,000 grade 1 DEL MAR OAKS, Monmouth’s $250,000 grade 3 PHILIP H ISELIN, and it’s the $570,000 LOUISIANA CUP DAY (8 races) at Louisiana Downs. The ALABAMA simulcast is available simulcast live at OTB branches, online via live video streaming at interbets.com to all account holders, and for phone account holders (and the rest of you who need to still open an account) it will be on NBC-TV from 5:00-6:00pm. The actual race post time is approximately 5:45pm. On the harness side of racing the Meadowlands offers the $600,000 WR HAUGHTON, $475,000 WOODROW WILSON, $400,000 SWEETHEART & $260,000 GOLDEN GIRLS. Yes those are just the major events on Saturday. There’s much more happening all around. Check back often for updates right here at interbets.com
Sunday is another good day at Saratoga. Let’s be real… they are all good days at Saratoga. After all its Saratoga! Sunday’s feature race is the $150,000 grade 2 WOODFORD RESERVE LAKE PLACID. Harness Racing’s Grand Circuit once again takes center stage, this time at Chester Downs August 21-27. Chester is definitely the harness “place-to-be” Sunday featuring the $500,000 BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE, $500,000 COLONIAL TROT, and $350,000 VALLEY FORGE.
Hey New Yorkers, a look ahead to next Wednesday, August 24 brings us right back to Saratoga featuring the $100,000 ALBANY for NY breds. The Albany is the last leg of The Big Apple Triple.
Interbets has been boasting about our featured handicappers Bob Ehalt, Shawn Rychling, and Toby Callet recently so that you’ll know what you’re missing if you don’t already have an account or don’t take advantage of the information that’s available to you. This time let’s reflect on the wagering what else Interbets offers… a darn good wagering site! Interbets members can check the number of starts, wins and the percentage ROI for each horse, jockey and trainer, horse information… lasix, blinkers, track information… dir t, turf (and more!) for each race on a given day. The oddsboard provides information on current odds, probables, and Will Pay data.
Tell all your friends and open an account now before the Travers Stakes!
8/11/11 ___________________________________________
It’s Arlington’s Festival of Racing this Saturday, August 13 featuring the grade 1 ARLINGTON MILLION, the grade 1 $750,000 BEVERLY D. STAKES and the grade 1 $400,000 SECRETARIAT STAKES. They even have another stakes race to make for a nice ALL STAKES PICK 4 with a $200,000 guaranteed Pick 4 pool. Top that off with a $100,000 guaranteed Pick 5. Big purses and guaranteed pools are the makings of a fun Saturday! The Arlington Million and The Beverly D Stakes turf races are also Breeders’ Cup Challenge Races. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held November 4 and 5 at Churchill Downs.
While the Arlington Million is this weekend’s big news let’s not forget the grade 1 $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational will run at Saratoga and that Saratoga offers a $500,000 PICK 4 EVERY Saturday. Del Mar offers the grade 2 $150,000 La Jolla Handicap Saturday and the grade 2 $250,000 John C. Mabee Stakes on Sunday. Saratoga offers the grade 2 $150,000 Adirondack on Sunday as well.
Harness fans in the Northeast have much to consider this weekend as well with the Meadowlands $800,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes (4 races), the $200,000 NY State Fair Stakes at Tioga, and the $200,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at Pocono Downs. Tioga keeps it going on Sunday with another $200,000 NY State Fair Stakes. The still undefeated SEE YOU AT PEELERS will be at Tioga for this one as she attempts win 22 of 22! You go girl!
You’ve read a lot here about the NY Hot List already, and it hasn’t stopped them from getting hotter! Listed below are the most recent NY Hot List winning results:
Monday, August 1 = In Monday’s 7th race we had Siggi the Alien at $28.40
Thursday, August 4 = We also went 3-for-3 with Thursday picks.
Saturday, August 6 = Saturday, we had Tizway ($10.20) and gave out the cold $47 exacta in the Whitney.
Sunday, August 7 = In Sunday’s 4th race we had Beautifulnightmare at $25.20
As if that wasn’t enough let’s take a moment to consider our nationally recognized public handicapper TOBY CALLET. Toby’s Calder and Del Mar Key Plays are available at all Catskill OTB branches for FREE. This season we are also making Toby’s Calder Key Plays available in the Handicapper’s Corner. Here’s the best part. Interbets account holders exclusively receive the NY Hot List Saratoga Review Sheets and analysis in a “members only” email. Toby Callet’s Key Plays (currently for CALDER and DEL MAR) are included as a bonus whenever available. I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes. Yes, Toby Callet’s DEL MAR Key Plays can be sent to you if you are an Interbets Account Holder. Sometimes Callet sends us Key Plays for additional tracks such as Parx, Delaware, and even Saratoga! Listed below are the latest winning results from Toby Callet’s Key Plays:
Monday, August 1 = Saratoga, Race 7, Kid Kate $13.00 & an exacta key that returned $186.00 for a $6 “investment”.
Sunday, August 7 = Del Mar, Race 2, Champions Gate $17.20 and a cold exacta, trifecta, and superfecta which returned $43.80/$125.80/$570.80 respectively for a mere $2 wager on each!
8/4/11 ___________________________________________
This Friday Yonkers welcomes back Drivers Ryan Anderson and Jason Bartlett both racing in the third race of the evening. Anderson is back after being involved in a racing accident at Yonkers in March when he broke his right ankle. Bartlett has been out since a car accident on July 4th.
Another early start at OTB and Interbets.com this weekend. Saturday betting starts at 11:15am with Meadowlands 1st race post time of 11:30am. It is the $1,500,000 HAMBLETONIAN Day. Bet & watch the Hambletonian & all of the Meadowlands races live at OTB branches and at interbets.com. Even phone bettors can catch the big race on NBC-TV 3:00-4:00pm. Meadowlands is also hosting Grand Circuit racing over the next three days August 4-6. After traveling to some fairs in Illinois and Indiana the Grand Circuit will be headed to Chester Downs in Pennsylvania. Yonkers will offer a $180,000 NYSS on Saturday as well.
Saturday is also a big Saratoga day with the grade 1 $750,000 WHITNEY HANDICAP and the grade 1 $250,000 TEST. Bet & watch at OTB, interbets.com, and watch it on cable TV station Versus 5:00-6:00pm. Remember to get in on the $500,000 guaranteed late Pick 4 every Saturday at Saratoga.
According to several reports there’s more good news out of Saratoga from trainer Todd Pletcher. After UNCLE MO’s workout yesterday Pletcher believes that Uncle Mo is “on target” to race in the King’s Bishop at Saratoga on August 27th.
Another big race is scheduled for Saturday, the grade 2 $750,000 West Virginia Derby from Mountaineer in addition to eight more stakes! Let’s add to that the grade 1 $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch from Del Mar out on the west coast. Get the complete list of Upcoming Stakes for this weekend by clicking the link on the left of this page now!