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 What
a coup! Joe Montana to visit Sunland Park
By Ray Sanchez
Sunland Park, NM - Dec. 5, 2011 - Wow! Joe Montana coming to an event in the El
Paso area? Yes! He’ll be the guest speaker at the annual Sunland Derby Gala on
March 24 at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino.
Some people thought they’d never see the day.
Joe Montana is ranked by many as the greatest quarterback in the history of the
National Football League. He’s also ranked as one of the hardest speakers in the
country to get for an event. It’s not just that he’s expensive. He just doesn’t
like to do too many speaking engagements.
So how did Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino manage to get him to speak at its
annual Sunday Derby Gala on March 24?
“It wasn’t easy,” Sunland general manager Harold Payne. “But we kept trying and
trying and even enlisted some outside help.”
Whatever, the announcement of Montana coming to Sunland Park and El Paso is
enough to throw any real sports fan into a frenzy.
The Gala at which he will speak will be held the night before the $800,000 Grade
III Sunland Derby, a race which has produced horses that have made national
headlines and raised the track’s prestige to new heights. The Sunland Derby is
scheduled for March 25.
Montana, as any true NFL fan knows, started in four Super Bowls for the San
Francisco 49ers and won all four of them.
Dallas Cowboys fans especially remember him for his performance in 1981. He
brought the 49ers from behind to beat the Cowboys in the fourth quarter to win
the NFC championship and keep Dallas from going to the Super Bowl. It broke a
lot of Dallas hearts but didn’t diminish their admiration for “Comeback Joe,” as
he was to be known after that game.
Montana’s appearance at the Gala was announced at a press luncheon last
Thursday, which also included details about the upcoming live horse racing
season, which will begin Tuesday, Dec. 6, and run through April 17. Live racing
will be held on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as a rule. The only
exception will be on Christmas week, which will include live racing Tuesday
through Friday but not on Saturday, Dec. 24, and Sunday, Dec. 25.
First post time each race day will be 12.25 p.m.
A new betting wager called The Solo Six is expected to spice up the Sunland
season. Here’s how it works:
Fans will be asked to pick the winners of the last six races each race day.
Unless there is a single winner, 40 percent of the pot will be paid to those who
pick the most winners and sixty percent will be carried over to the next racing
day. The 60 percent will continue to be carried over until there is a single
winner. If there happens to be a single winner, the pot will start to build
again.
On the final day of the live season, the entire pot will be distributed to those
who pick the most winners, regardless of whether there is one or more.
Carryover pots have built to huge amounts where the wager has been held at other
tracks.
Here’s another interesting part: Fans can bet as little as 10 cents.
Theoretically, one fan can win thousands of dollars on a 10-cent bet, although,
of course, most fans bet several combinations.
Live racing on opening day on Tuesday will consist of three quarter horse and
eight thoroughbred races. Then, the first weekend will highlight three stakes
races with a guaranteed purse of $110,000 or more and another stakes race with a
guaranteed purse of $50,000. They are:
The 15th running of the $111,000 Jess Burner Memorial Handicap at 400 yards for
three year old and older quarter horses on Saturday, Dec. 10.
The $50,000 KLAQ Handicap at 5 ˝ furlongs for three year old and older
thoroughbreds on Saturday, Dec. 10.
The $11,000 Johnie L. Jamison Stakes at 6 ˝ furlongs for three year and older
thoroughbreds on Sunday Dec. 11.
The 12th running of the $110,000 New Mexico State Racing Commission Handicap at
six furlongs for three year old and older thoroughbreds on Sunday, Dec. 11.
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