Monday recap...

Through the night, I received several requests from folks wanting me to talk about an incident in the 7th at Grand River last night. I've given it much thought and just feel like my own interests and the industry as a whole are better served by letting the cards fall where they will without getting involved. Mistakes happen, everyone's human. I'm sure the powers that be will take the steps necessary to both manage public perception and ensure that such never happens again. I know that doesn't do much for the customer that would've taken down the entire Pick Four pool had A Step Above been placed 1st, but there isn't much any of us can do about that now. Onto happier news...

THE PETE SHEETS added four new subscribers to the mailing list yesterday. Tom Curtis, Dave Gilders, Jim Mills and Santo Vena. Welcome to the the team, lads, and thanks for the support.

Many of you will recognize Dave's name as he worked in the Race Office at Mohawk for 426 years and in his present fossilized state, is plying his trade at Kawartha Downs. The latter gentleman's name is familiar to fans of Canadian harness racing as well -- Santo is the owner of Open trotter, Sakic Seelster.

It's such a small world, isn't it? Tom Curtis is a person from my past that I hadn't seen or talked to in years (like 18, maybe) until the other night at Georgian Downs. Tom was one of my teachers in high school! St. Thomas More in Hamilton! I can remember Tom being very involved with highschool sports, but the class that I most remember him teaching was Religion. Don't ask me what the (place where the Devil resides) a religion teacher is doing at the track, but we'll take whichever fans we can get at this point! Anyway, Tom is neighbours with one of Haul Away's owners and as I stood watching them all celebrate the other night, this familiar face walked up and shook my hand and, at the risk of sounding corny (one of my new favourite words thanks to Simon Cowell), it brought back a lot of good memories and really made my night. He followed up with me yesterday and now he's been added to the mailing list. Good times.

Anyway, enough with the emotional crap. Last night, THE PETE SHEETS once again proved to be the most informative and accurate product of its kind. At Grand River, the 5th's predicted exactor of Suzys Solitaire and Big Changes paid $15.10 and the triactor and superfecta pays were healty, too, returning $274.70 and $1380.10 respectively. Not only did THE PETE SHEETS beat the heavily-favoured Boss Outlaw in the 6th, but gave you the 5-1 winner of the race, Winbak Fund. The two combined for a near-$60 exactor!

For me, the highlight of the night at Mohawk was Competition Cam's finishing up the track in the 2nd. While the Horseplayer's Journal and the track's other experts were busy touting the short-priced phony, THE PETE SHEETS had him figured out to a tee:

Here's the night's first Overbet Alert: 4-COMPETITION CAM. Did he race alright last week? Yes. Did he race super? No. Can he win tonight? I suppose. Is he the kind of horse that you should be anxious to take a greatly-reduced price on? Absolutely not!

He was dismissed at 21-1 last week and as a result of his dressed up, 3rd-place finish, he's going to be 7-2 or less tonight and the often unpredictable Mohawk masses just might make him the favourite. No thanks. He gapped the gate last week and then never moved off the rail until the top of the stretch, after which he did make up some ground, but there are plenty of horses that can do that with such a trip. The information that the past performance line doesn't give you is that he was bearing in repeatedly while making his mild, late move, so much so that MacArthur had to correct him a few times. His previous start at Flamboro, too, is dressed up in nature -- the line looks good, but the reality is that he was outfinished by runner-up, Harnessnitencanada, a horse that would be 20-1 in this race.

Listen -- this is a relatively weak maiden field and so I suppose he can win, but I wouldn't be betting on it at tonight's appreciably shorter price. He impresses me as the kind of horse that'll eventually break his maiden at one of the "B" tracks. Time will tell. All in all, this seems like one of those deep and contentious "trap" races that anyone serious about making money at the track is supposed to pass.

This is the kind of information that one gets when s/he chooses THE PETE SHEETS, information that is arrived at through hours and hours of watching replays, doing research and other homework.

Hear that, Mr. Curtis -- homework!

Georgian Downs and Mohawk are the two tracks featured in tonight's versions of THE PETE SHEETS. Do yourself a favour and request that you be added to the mailing list by sending an email to thepetesheets@hotmail.com! It's absolutely free.

Until tomorrow...