Fantasy Racing
Welcome to the Weekly Fantasy Racing Challenge. Where do we start. We are all saddened by the tragedy that befell Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby. At the same time it hard not to be impressed by the great winning race by Big Brown. He even has a terrific name for a horse whose name might be in the record books for many great moments, if his feet don't interfere. We have seen the opening of racing at Arlington and this week will welcome back Monmouth Park to our simulcast programs. There have been a bunch of good pick-six carryover pools, including the one this week at Churchill Downs, following on the Derby Day card. For horse playhers it represents quite a smorgasbord of opportunities and we all seem to enjoy the many options. Hopefully those areas which have been adversely impacted by horsemen's disputes can get things worked out so that the signals from all track can be accessed by players from coast-to-coast. We will also see racing go through the microscope of public opinion in the aftermath of Eight Belles' accident and the sport will have to endure considerable controversy for a while. But through it all we at the Weekly Fantasy Racing Challenge will continue to offer you the chance to have the best-possible racing experience on the Internet. Kentucky racing fans will get a two-day weekend, which will mean that racing will return to something more normal and we'll be offering Kentucky jockeys and trainers with that in mind. The Spring racing in Kentucky is still fun, even without a Derby Day to anticipate, so we intend to enjoy it as much as we can.So get ready for the rest of 2008 to be a lot of fun and, hopefully, it will mean prizes and some bragging rights for you. The entries you make this week are for Saturday-Sunday, May 10-11.
Remember that, since we are operating with a new website, if you have not already done so, you'll need to go through the registration process again. Click here to register. But this does remain the best FREE horse racing contest on the Internet, so you will not be asked for any money to play. In the meantime, don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have. For the Simulcast Season you will be selecting four jockeys and four trainers from tracks we are simulcasting. All of the jockeys and trainers will be of equal (one point) value. They will get 5 points for a win, 3 points for a second and 1 point for a third. The Simulcast Season version of the Weekly Fantasy Racing Challege continues with the races of this Saturday-Sunday, May 10-11.
For the month of May we are again offer a full set of framable pictures of the four major winners of the Racing Festival of the South, Zenyatta (Apple Blossom Handicap), Tiago (Oaklawn Handicap), Eight Belles (Fantasy) and Gayego (Arkansas Derby), along with programs from all four races autographed by all the participating jockeys. Each weekly winner will win an Oaklawn cap.
For the opening weekend of the Simulcast Season contest we did manage to get one winner, Mike Lunny of Union, New Jersey. Mike managed to win by four points over George Moncrief of Maud, Texasc, with Edwin Mitchell of Dacula, Georgia, one point further behind.
Mike's winning team combined jockeys Rajiv Maragh (22 points), Cliff Berry (33 points), Ronnie Allen, Jr. (35 points) and Dan Centeno (30 points), along with the best-possible trainer team of Wayne Catalano (29 points), Steve Asmussen (20 points), Cody Autrey (17 points) and Scott Lake (25 points) for a grand total of 211 points for the weekend. George used the team of jockeys Berry, Allen, Centeno and Chris Emigh (18 points), along with the same trainers Mike used, Catalano, Asmussen, Autrey and Lake, giving him 207 points. Edwin used the same trainers, Catalano, Asmussen, Autrey and Lake, but combined them with jockeys Berry, Allen, Centeno and Horacio Karamanos (17 points), for his 206 points.the best-possible score for the weekend would have been 214 points and included jockeys Berry, Allen, Centeno and Alan Garcia (25 points), along with trainers Catalano, Asmussen, Autrey and Lake. For his great work Mike will be receiving an Oaklawn cap and takes the lead in the monthly contest. Of course we can expect plenty of lead changes in the monthly competition before it's complete, so make sure you dig down this weekend and see if you can't get a spot up there on the leader board for next week. Do your homework. Remember you're picking jockeys and trainers for Saturday-Sunday, May 10-11.
Good Luck
The Commissioner's Office
If you have any questions regarding this Contest, please contact Oaklawn via email at commissioner@oaklawn.com.
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