Episode 1 - January
10
Twelve ordinary people will have the chance for
something considerably better than money. They will not
only win $250,000...but their own stable of eight
thoroughbred racehorses to own, train and breed into
world-class champions! For these dozen people, it's a
dream of a lifetime. Hence why this is called the
AMERICAN DREAM DERBY!
It starts with the twelve players meeting at the
Winner's Circle at the famous Santa Anita racetrack in
California. Let's meet the folks vying for the cash and
the trotters:
SUSAN BOSSO - Hotel Sales Manager from North Palm Beach,
FL
ERIC CHILDERS - Pro bull rider and student from
Springfield, MO
DEANNA MANFREDI - Marketing consultant (and daughter of
horse trainer) from Philadelphia, PA
DAVID MALATESTA - Graphic designer from Los Angeles, CA
SARA SLAVIN - Model from West Milford, NJ
CHRIS BLACK - Pharmaceutical Salesman from Ft. Worth, TX
TARA CLARK - Ranch owner and stunt woman from Pioche, NV
AARON COEN - Horse groomer and student from Newark, DE
DEAN PELLEGRIN - Pharmicist from Houma, LA
JEWEL SAVAGE - Correctional officer from Baltimore, MD
LEVAR THOMAS - Music producer from the Bronx, NY
TARA WALDEN - Massage therapist from Los Angeles
Your host is Steve Santagati (the host of that gad-awful
"Bachelorettes In Alaska" FOX show some years ago.) He
explains that the 12 will call Santa Anita home and
learn the business of horse training from the ground up.
When he announces the prize at the end, everybody
cheers.
How will the winner be decided? Well, each task
performed well will earn them money. And the one with
the MOST money gets to first choose their horse to run
in the LIVE Dream Derby on February 21st. The one whose
horse wins the Derby gets the money and the stable.
It's time for the first Owner's Challenge.
They are to take $1000 each and bet it on the third race
at Santa Anita using their own knowledge and the Daily
Racing Form (the daily bible of horse race
handicapping). The won who makes the most money on this
race becomes the first Owner, which will have its
advantages. The top three odds for the race are #5
Silver Dawn (5-2), #4 Apology Accepted (3-1) and #1
Gee's Bend (7-2).
Levar's never bet on a horse race before (not to many
racetracks in "da hood". David split his grand on two
horses, each to win. Chris gets info from others to make
his bets. Deanna and Dean both are experienced with
handicapping but not on such short notice. Sara asked
someone ELSE at the track named Tony what HE would do.
Aaron went for colors of silks (jockey uniform) to place
HIS bets. Jewel doesn't have clue one on what to do and
asks Susan for help. Tara W. has troubles with colors,
thinking there are pink horses.
It is NOW Post Time! Here are the horses bet on:
DAVID - #4 & #5 to WIN |
CHRIS - #3 to SHOW, #1 to PLACE |
DEANNA - #3 to SHOW, #1 to PLACE |
DEAN - #5 to WIN, #1 to SHOW |
SARA - #3, #4 and #5 to SHOW |
AARON - #7 and #8 to WIN |
JEWEL - #8 to WIN, #3 & #4 to SHOW
|
SUSAN - #4 to WIN, #1 to PLACE |
ERIC - #3 to PLACE, #5 to SHOW |
TARA C - #1 to WIN, #7 to SHOW |
TARA W - #5 & #9 to WIN |
LEVAR - #5 to WIN, #3 to SHOW |
(For those not in the
know, a WIN bet means you think the horse will come in
first, a PLACE bet means 1st OR 2nd and a SHOW bet means
one of the top three horses. Bets are put in separate
"pools" for WIN, PLACE and SHOW, which are then divided
among all the winning bets.)
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd there off! And it's #7 Queen of the
Night out of the gate in front, Gee's Bend in a close
second and #9 Julie's Emerald in third. Around the first
turn, Gee's Bend pulls out on the outside with Silver
Dawn pulling into second, but Apology Accepted pulls in
nose-to-nose with the favorite. Heading into the
backstretch, Apology Accepted forges ahead (making
Deanna, David and Susan happy) and Gee's Bend starts to
fade as Silver Dawn goes into second. And DOWN THE
STRETCH THEY COME! It's Apology Accepted with Gee's Bend
hot on the heels...and Apology Accepted pulls
away....and it's #4 APOLOGY ACCEPTED with the WIN by a
whopping SEVEN lengths! #1 Gee's Bend takes PLACE
and...in t a photo-finish #3 Firey Malek edges out #5
Silver Dawn for SHOW by a nose!
Steven tells them the players the bad news first. As a
group, they went from $12,000....to a mere $8700! He
reminds them that the winner becomes an Owner, which
means $1000 goes into his/her American Dream Debry Cash
Card (along with the money earned in the bets) AND they
get to live in a mansion for the duration! Everybody
ELSE are Stablehands and will rough it out in the Santa
Anita stables. It was a mere $3.80 difference,
but...Susan is the first Owner! She goes to the Owner's
Mansion with $2240 on her card! PLUS, in a very
Survivor-esque style, she must choose three
Stablehands to upgrade to Owners (and get $500 added
each of THEIR Cash Cards). Susan chooses David for
coming so close to winning, Tara W. because "she's
pretty, I guess" (much to Sara' chagrin) and Aaron just
to even things out.
CURRENT STANDINGS
|
1
|
SUSAN
|
$2240
|
2
|
DAVID
|
$1736
|
3
|
DEANNA
|
$1060
|
4
|
TARA W
|
$880
|
5
|
JEWEL
|
$800
|
6
|
LEVAR
|
$800
|
7
|
SARA
|
$800
|
8
|
ERIC
|
$737
|
9
|
CHRIS
|
$722
|
10
|
AARON
|
$690
|
11
|
DEAN
|
$624
|
12
|
TARA C
|
$80
|
The Owners gawk at the
mansion and all its anemities...while the Stablehands
gawk at THEIR sleeping arrangements: cots IN the stables
themselves! Dean's not TOO concenred, since his WIFE
said he could sleep soundly even WITH horses. Deanna may
not know horse betting but she knows horses. The Owners
get plush bathrooms... while the Stablehands have to use
the nasty public restroom. The Owners get a gourmet
meal... and the Stablehands get box lunches in 'feeder
bags'.
But it's not ALL fun and games for the Owners. Susan has
another job to do. See, tomorrow is the first
Guts Match between Owners and Stablehands. One
of each will get one horse in a head-to-head sprint. The
winner gets $5000 added to their cash card... but the
LOSER is eliminated! Susan has to decide as Lead Owner
which of the four to force into the Match. She'll have a
special Racing Form about the horses in the stables and
has all night to think about it. Oh, and the Owners
shouldn't get comfy. They can only stay in the mansion
until the next Owner's Challenge. To say that killed the
mood...well, it's an insult to Death Row murderers
everywhere.
Of course, the Stablehands don't have it too good,
either. Aside from sleeping out in the cold, they're
awakened at the crack of dawn by thoroughbred trainer
Alex Hassinger in order to feed and train the horses.
They go to Clocker's Corner where the Owners arrive in
the limo. They're here to WATCH the horses train in
order to help them decide who'd be best in a Guts Match
(plus the Racing Form didn't hurt). It looks like the
Owners are stuck together.
And now it's time to introduce the horses that they get
to choose from:
1
|
Regal Cruiser
|
10
|
Nigel No Mates
|
2
|
Sharp As A Fox
|
11
|
Shoot Yeah
|
3
|
Archie's Dream
|
12
|
Crafty Value
|
4
|
Free To Please
|
13
|
Big Wagner
|
5
|
Ready To Flirt
|
14
|
R Champ
|
6
|
Avenue of Knowledge
|
15
|
Lauren's Halo
|
7
|
Kool Smoke
|
|
|
Tara C watch the horses
intently to find the right horse. And there's a lot of
jockeying (pardon the pun) for position and possible
alliances.
Later, the Owners and Stablehands meet Steve in the
stable and the Stablehands are give the rules of the
Guts Match for the first time. Susan will choose a horse
for the Owners...but the Stablehands will decide who
choose THEIR horse with a Stablehand Challenge.
They're in a "receiving barn" where horses are inspected
before and after races. The Stablehands' job will be to
"muck out" the stables (or clean the "road apples"
inside it, in other words). There are red wheelbarrows
next to each stable... but their locked and chained up.
And the keys are - you guessed it - in the muck! There's
a flag near where the key is located so that should make
it easier. The Stablehands have five minutes to get as
much muck into their containers as possible. And the one
who rakes in the most muck gets to be Lead Stablehand
and choose who's on the chopping block. As an added
bonus for the Owners, they can bet up to $500 on who
they think will win.
And they're off (in more ways than one) and gather,
two-by-two, to dig and find the keys. But...nobody finds
it. So they dig...and dig...and dig some more. Three
minutes pass and no one has even an ounce of muck in
their bucket because they're concentrating on finding
the keys. With 95seconds left, Levar finds the keys and
he and Chris find the keys. Tara W., for some reason, is
excited about this. Tara C. and Eric are the next to
unlock their wheelbarrow and they load it to near
overflowing to make up time. All the other teams decide
to quit while their pedicures are still relatively
intact.
When time expires, Eric and Tara have raked up 62 pounds
of muck and straw. Levar and Chris... 245 pounds! It's
Levar's container, so Levar wins the Stablehands'
Challenge!
But what about the wagers? Aaron bet $40 on Chris, so he
goes down to $650. Tara W. bet $150 on Levar (hence why
she was so happy), so she goes up to $1030. David bet
$136 on Eric and drops to $1600. And Susan,
unfortunately, laid $250 on Chris, knocking her down to
$1990 but still in the lead.
Later that day, at the Santa Anita Chandelier Room,
twelve horse enthusiasts march in to face up to the Guts
Match. Think of it as the "Boardroom" of horse racing as
two people will be placed on the chopping block. For the
Owners, Susan nominates David since he's her biggest
competitior. David has no regrets, saying Susan's doing
it right. For the Stablehands, Levar chooses the one
person he's CERTAIN will pick a winner: Deanna. She
says, "I slept with those horses last night; I have
feelings for them." (I will NOT go there! I would... I
could... I really SHOULD... but I won't!)
The two are then allowed to ask Alex one question about
one horse. David asks Alex if Avenue of Knowledge is a
good choice. Alex says yes because he has the most
current form and good speed. Deanna asks about Ready To
Flirt being a lightly-raced horse and Alex says the
horse has speed in the morning.
And the choices are...David going for his instinctive
pick of #7 Avenue of
Knowledge. He thinks the numbers for the
6-year-old grandson of Seattle Slew in the Forum are
good... and his father owned a horse called "Avenue of
the Stars". And Deanna goes with
#12 Crafty Value
because the 5-year-old gelding and the most expensive
horse in the stable is also the winningest horse in the
stable and she "had a ball with him last night". (Again,
NOT going there!)
It's the "Call to the Post" with David and Deanna
holding their game life in their hands. The two horses
will race 2 furlongs (1/4 mile) in a straight line on
the front stretch of the track. The winning horse nets
its picker $5000 and plants them FIRMLY in the lead. The
picker of the LOSING horse... goes home. And the other
10? They again get to bet up to $500 with even odds for
whichever horse they think will win. The wagers:
DEAN - $300 on #6 |
CHRIS - $500 on #12 |
SARA - $150 on #12 |
AARON - $325 on #6 |
JEWEL - $500 on #12 |
SUSAN - $500 on #6 |
ERIC - $500 on #12 |
TARA C - $80 on #12 |
TARA W - $200 on #6 |
LEVAR - $200 on #12 |
Dean's the only one who
didn't bet on his fellow Stablehands' horse. This may
come back to chomp him in the horse's behind later.
The horses are in the gate...and it's Post Time!
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd they're off! And DOWN THE STRETCH
THEY COME! And Avenue of Knowledge STUMBLES at the
start, allowing Crafty Value into an early lead. But
Avenue of Knowledge catches up. They are
stride-for-stride as they hit the finish line...
...and it's #12 Crafty
Value by a head! Deanna earns $5000! All
the Stablehands (except Dean) win more money! All the
Owners LOSE money!
And, unfortunately, David loses everything. The race,
the money... and the shot at the stable. He is
"scratched" from the game. (When a horse is "scratched"
from a race, it will not be competing... so it makes
sense that it's the "You're Fired" of this show.) He
says his good-byes and returns to his life as a graphic
artist.
CURRENT STANDINGS
|
1
|
DEANNA
|
$6060
|
2
|
SUSAN
|
$1490
|
3
|
JEWEL
|
$1250
|
4
|
ERIC
|
$1237
|
5
|
CHRIS
|
$1222
|
6
|
LEVAR
|
$1000
|
7
|
SARA
|
$950
|
8
|
TARA W
|
$830
|
9
|
AARON
|
$325
|
10
|
DEAN
|
$324
|
11
|
TARA C
|
$160
|
11 remain. Who
will be Owners? Who will be Stablehands? Who will be
scratched NEXT?
No need to wait...just
click here. |