Without being able to view stables or having a timestamp like they do at TVG Fantasy .... it would be incredibly easy for a person with keys (an admin) to cheat. and win under friends names.

Whoever Vinery paid to do the admin of that contest ... I hope they're either the worlds most honest person or people or just plain dumb beyond belief ... because they have the power to change things after the fact with 100% deniability.

Great point... right now I'm glad I only paid for 1 entry until they work out the kinks. Could be a fun contest but I'm skeptical at the moment for the reasons I stated before.

Thanks for posting this and writing to them. I'm still skeptical of the points earned by the leaders to date. There's only been a few eligible horses to even race... as for Sightseek's point about referrals, the maximum per period is 250 points which still doesn't make up for the difference.

I bought 8 entries .. I might have bought 40 or 50 if I wasn't highly skeptical about a lot of things.

I can tell you this ... if I had keys and Vinery made me one of the admins .. I think I could win the contest 36 times in 36 months with only a single different entry each month ... and do so in such a subtle fashion that wrong doing would never be detected.

My biggest worry would have been that I don't have a combined total of 36 different friends and family memebers that share a different last name.

They should have copied TVG's fantasy contest and used time stamps and made all stables visable. The beauty of TVG's is that once the game starts - you know every entry is on a level playing field and it's 100% legit.

TVG took convincing to bring their fantasy contest back as it appeared they had funding issues since it was a free contest. I have wrote to them about making their contest pay to play. Let's hope they see the Derbydreamer concept and how many entries were purchased and decide to make it pay to play. I think all of us who experienced the TVG Fantasy contest like their format and programming of their contest so much better.

If the Derbydreamer contest does not go off well and people are skeptical in its first month, they will be hard pressed to get people to buy stables for future months. And you will have to buy stables in future months to have a chance at winning, especially when they start adding horses to the available draft pool and the Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Triple Crown races start up. Their selling point featured in their commercials about a $1 per month is a joke and I can't imagine any stable purchased now having a chance come May (unless maybe if you are one of the admins).

Maybe Steve Byk can try to get someone from Vinery on ATR to discuss the game and ease everyone's skepticism. There have to be a number of DT handicappers who bought Derbydreamer stables -- of course, the cost of purchasing a Derbydreamer stable is nothing compared to what some of us wager in a week.

I am about 2,000 points behind the leader. I still have Christina Daae, D'Funnybone, Eskendereya and/or Rule, Tuscan Evening, and Zenyatta left to run in March (assuming they all stay healthy and Christina Daae runs on 3/20 or 3/27). I wonder how many stables in front of me have both Eskendereya and Rule and whether Pletcher's decision of who runs in the Florida Derby will determine who wins the March contest. DrugS looks like he is about 1,000 ahead of me since he probably had Jeranimo (good call on his 4th place finish in a 14-horse Grade 1 field).

Looks like there are some identical stables out there among the leaders where Referral points may make a difference. Also, many of the leaders have multiple stables at the top of the standings -- probably would not be in the best interest of the game if the same person won more than one prize.

I couldn't pull the trigger on Crisp in my TVG Fantasy stable, so I am well behind the leaders there. I guess I just did not see Blind Luck losing and Crisp having a shot at 60 points.

I'm still not convinced this contest is kosher. Everything has scored for me OK, but that's not the issue. The leader currently has 10,672 points- which sounded awfully high to me given that a fair number of horses aren't even available for selection (for example, the top two finishers in the Kilroe.) I looked at the stakes today to determine the maximum available points to date (assuming that allowance/claiming results are really irrelevant given the point structure):

Big Cap- G1
misremembered 2500
jeranimo 1000

SA Oaks- G1
crisp 2500
blind luck 1500
cozie rosie 500

Sham- G3
alphies 500
setsuko 400
the program 300

Palm Beach- G3
paddy 500
dean's 400
asphalt 200
bim bam 100

Herecomesthebride- G3
---

Gotham- G3
awesome act 500
nacho friend 300
turf melody 200
shrimp dancer 100

Toboggan- G3
custom for carlos 400

Azeri- G3
---

Razorback- G3
gone astray 300

Cappy
golden ghost 225

Pasadena
mmfm 375
macias 300
alfarabi 225
runaway bandido 75

gentilly
heavenville 300

So given these results, the MAXIMUM point value for 12 horses today would have been 10,575-
Misremembered 2500
Crisp 2500
Blind Luck 1500
Jeranimo 1000
Alphies 500
Awesome Act 500
Cozie Rosie 500
Paddy O' 500
Setsuko 400
Dean's Kitten 400
Custom for Carlos 400
Make Music for Me 375

In essence, he would have had to use ALL of his horses today, and not only that but select the absolute best possible outcome (or very close to it, given the maximum jockey points to date is about 300.) It seems statistically unlikely that someone would (a) actually use all of their horses on the first day, and (b) have the correct outcome with it.

Not only that .... but Crisp was added to a stable right after her Gr 1 win .. yet no other horse on page #1 of the most commonly selected horses saw a +1 bump.

If you remember that a new stable must add 18 horses ...That is as shady as hell. Even if someone added Crisp after her win .. don't they have to take 17 other horses with her?

You saw this for sure? That doesn't add any confidence. Email them that and let them know.

I was very happy with my three starters/results today (3rd with Blind Luck, 3rd with Battle of Hastings, and 1st with Misremembered, so in essence 3 of the top 4 possible point earners) but when I saw the leaderboard I was somewhat dismayed. I understand working out the bugs- but this seems really fishy.

How did you do?

Yep. Who Pletcher runs in the Fla Derby will pretty much have a huge impact on things.

I had Crisp in 7 of 8 stables - and she was only used in 127 stables before the race and 128 after the race. I had Misremembered in 7 different stables and he was used on just 245.

If a horse like Ice Box (in just 39 stables) or Pulsion (in just 41) somehow wins the Fla Derby ... and I don't finish in the top 3 ... I will feel like I spent $86 betting on a WWF wrestling match.

I'm not even going to bother with that lady they have answering the E-mails.

She's hopeless.

I wish I would have done a screen capture of all the pages... but right before the start - I did one of Blind Luck, Crisp, and Cozi Rosie because I wanted to see if they would be added into any stables after the race was over.

This was going into the gate:



This was after the race was offical:



Blind Luck stayed at 680 after the race ... and to the best of my memory no other horse on the entire page one got bumped up +1.

The thing is, even if Phil and Drugs is right, which I'm not disputing, it would seem pretty stupid to create an entry like this via cheating, especially as there are still races left to be run.

They simply have to make stables public once the month starts.

Maybe I'll rally with Odyssus, Sidney's Candy, Looking at Lucky and Zenyatta.

How's everyone doing?

My two stables are in 4th and 12th, but I don't see how I can possibly win.

Nice job!

I have no hope.

I am in 64th place, about 2,600 points behind the leader. I still have Christina Daae, D'Funnybone, Eskendereya, Rule, & Tuscan Evening left to run. Rule is either going in the Florida Derby or the Louisiana Derby the following week per Elliott Walden's comments in a Bloodhorse article.

I took John Velazquez instead of Mike Smith but Mike Smith has earned a lot of points this month with 2 Grade 1 wins and a Grade 1 second. I would have liked to have been able to pick Neko Bay, Proviso, Radiohead, and Fluke in the Grade 1s if they were available.

I think there are too many stables at the top of the leaderboard with the same horses and they need to add horses for the April scoring period to create diversity among the stables and add more skill to the game.

Whoever finishes in the Top 5 spots of the Florida Derby will likely determine the winner.

Well if you guys win the tickets, just remember, the crowds are just terrible and the drinks are expensive so being the nice girl I am, I'd be happy to take them off your hands. :D

I agree with you here. Nobody earned points on the GPH today because none of the top finishers were available... which is kind of dumb.

I'm in 83rd place. I have D'Funnybone, Discreetly Mine, Dry Martini (whom I thought was going in the GPH... wrong), General Quarters, and Rule left. Which means I have virtually no chance.

IC, who do you have left? Where is Drugs' stables ranked right now?

DrugS has "IC Rocks" as his stable name. He has a number of stables in the Top 50 of the leaderboard. He posted that he has Ice Box and Pulsion in a couple of his stables -- I believe he has a chance if they finish in the money in the Florida Derby.

I just have Esk and Rule left. Unless, of course, Cassidy changes his mind and runs the Usual QT later this month in the USA!

Which is why I think I have no hope. I assume everyone in front of me has those two.

My entry in 12th place also has Tuscan Evening. Besides the whole point thing, I would have liked her much more in the Kilroe however.

JRV has been a cancer to both of my stables.