Columnist Ralph Siraco: Players kept busy with expo, contests, big races

Ralph Siraco

Monday, March 1, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

Horseplayers were treated to a wide array of racing delicacies recently. There was the Horseplayers EXPO at the Paris Las Vegas, a record payoff in the Magna Pick Five wager, a carryover in the Pick Six pool at Santa Anita and an extension to the popular weekday handicapping contests at Coast Casinos race books giving local race players a chance at $2,000 per day for free.

Add to that some Derby Watch horses, a showdown of the older horse division in Bayou Country and updates on two missing Southern California jockeys as well as heading into Big Cap week.

It was really the week that was. And, the week that is about to be.

The Paris Las Vegas Hotel Casino hosted the Horseplayers EXPO last week. The four-day event, which started Thursday, featured industry experts from all over the country covering a multitude of subjects designed to inform and educate racing fans in an effort to make every one of them better horseplayers.

On Sunday, attendees got to put what they learned to practice with a $10,000 handicapping contest based on Gulfstream Park and Aqueduct races.

Coast Casinos announced an extension to its popular "free" weekday handicapping contests based on the first five races at Santa Anita during its weekday cards. The contest features a $2,000 per day prize fund and will now run through April 16.

The largest horse race handicapping tournament in the world will renew on March 24-26 and will pre-empt the local daily contests that week. The Championship at The Orleans features the best tournament handicappers in the country going for an estimated $400,000 prize fund -- based on 700 entries.

There were some big pools for this weekend's multirace wagers. On Saturday, the Magna Pick Five -- a five-race bet covering three Magna Entertainment race tracks -- provided a windfall for two lucky ticket holders.Each winning ticket was worth $205,703.

The Magna Pick Five is available through Las Vegas pari-mutuel race books on Saturdays

The Pick Six wager is the most popular in Southern California. Traditionally, the circuit generates the biggest Pick Six pools. And, when the bet -- picking six consecutive winners on the final six races of the day -- doesn't hit on a single day's handle, the pool escalates exponentially. No one won over the weekend, so when racing resumes on Wednesday at Santa Anita, there will be a three-day Pick Six carryover pool of more than $1.4 million sitting in the coffers in addition to the expected multimillion wagerers chasing the big payoff.

While this week officially marks "Big Cap" week in Southern California, there won't be many big names in the older horse division left to go after the $1 million purse of the Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday. The 1 1/4-mile Grade I is headed by Breeders' Cup Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect.

The marquee horses in that division converged on the Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans on Sunday. The New Orleans Handicap pitted three Triple Crown participants at 1 1/8 miles. The Grade II race had last year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Funny Cide, Derby show horse Peace Rules and Travers Stakes winner Ten Most Wanted among the eight assembled for the $500,000 purse. It promised to be a memorable renewal. And, it was. Peace Rules, under Jerry Bailey, held off a tenacious Saint Liam and two separate inquiries to finally get the official victory. Funny Cide finished third and Ten Most Wanted finished off the board.

Azeri, the 2002 Horse of the Year, may return to the races by April. Briefly retired last fall before a resumption of training in December, Azeri is being pointed for a return to racing in either the April 3 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone continues to wait for a return to the saddle. Krone suffered two fractured ribs in a spill at Hollywood Park in December.

Jockey Patrick Valenzuela, who hasn't ridden since Jan. 19 at Santa Anita, is preparing a case for reinstatement to the saddle.

Finally, several Kentucky Derby hopefuls that were sitting on the bubble are heading one way or another after performances this weekend. Of those who won and are continuing on the Derby trail, Eddington won an allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, Silver Minister won the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park and Smarty Jones took the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park to keep their hopes alive.

One promising runner jumping off the Derby trail -- or should be -- is Capac. He failed to fire as the heavy favorite in the Miracle Wood at Laurel Park on Saturday causing huge show payoffs when he finished last. The San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita, the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate and the Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds are pivotal Kentucky Derby prep races to be run next weekend.