As the horses approached the starting gate for 2002, once again, 40 individuals tested their luck to become the best on picking the ponies this year. The first heat on Tuesday evening saw 29 bettors walk up to the windows. The bettors were competing for ten spots available in the Saturday Final, a final which featured the debut of the Gutermuth Downs large board.

In the first heat, defending champion Stuart Tucker and previous champs Ken Gutermuth, Bruce Reiff, and Dennis Nicholson tested their luck. Tuckered finished third in the closest of the games, being edged out by Chuck Ellsworth. Only Bruce Reiff of the previous champion club was able to advance as he blew away the field, more than doubling his closest competitor. In a low scoring, race fixing affair, Ken Gutermuth finished last with Peter Stein surviving the field. Even Hung Jury won a race in this contest. Dennis Nicholson finished a distant second as perennial finalist Jim Bell ran away from the field. The final game saw Jim Garvey easily outdistance his competition to punch his ticket to the finals. Gerald Lientz managed to be the first person out of the races as he went broke after only three races.

So after heat 1, only Bruce Reiff emerged from the previous champions list to advance with Chuck Ellsworth, Peter Stein, Jim Bell, and Jim Garvey. On Saturday, 11 newcomers joined nine repeat bettors in an attempt to qualify for the finals. Defending champion Stuart Tucker tried again but was easily outdistanced by David "Mr. Race Fixer" Steiner. Jeff August and John Welage also managed easy wins. Only Jason Levine had to survive a late rush by Ken Gutermuth to hold on to a narrow victory.

So after two preliminary heats, nine winners had emerged. Due to scheduling conflicts, two winners would not be available for the finals leaving room for three runner-ups to advance. With Gutermuth Downs set up and ready to go, Stuart Tucker volunteered to be the race steward and Sean McCulloch the banker, assisted by Nicole Reiff. Not wanting to have Bruce Reiff roll the dice, Lisa Gutermuth volunteered to be the official die roller for the races.

With the set-up complete, winners Bruce Reiff, Jim Bell, Jim Garvey, David Steiner, Jeff August, John Welage, and Jason Levine were joined by runner-ups Debbie and Ken Gutermuth, and Robert Drozd. Ken had the added pressure of this being his team game with his fellow teammates already registering wins in their respective events.

Under the rules, only horse owners are allowed a seat at the track so spirited bidding started as players jockeyed to own a horse. John Welage managed to get the favorite, Lucky Old Sun for $3000 while David Steiner got the popular Gunsmoke for $2500. Questionable racing into the turn saw foul claims lodged against Gunsmoke owner Steiner by Reiff and Gutermuth. To set the tone of what was to come, Jason Levine rode Mustard Seed to the first race winners circle followed by August's Rotunda, Steiner's Gunsmoke, and Welage's Lucky Old Sun. The foul claim was nullified as David had bet on his horse to win. Only four bettors managed a payout with Jim Bell and Rob Drozd taking the early lead.

The second race saw a more sensible auction with Reiff managing to get popular Indian Giver for $3000 and Steiner getting the favorites Nothing Special for $1000. In keeping with the first race, Welage's Corn Plaster beat out Indian Giver and Nothing Special with Ken Gutermuth's Spelling Bee gathering 4th place. Everyone except Jeff August cashed in on one of the horses but John Welage fared the best with a winning bet on Corn Plaster. Only Reiff and Drozd had Mustard Seed in their Daily double which explains the large bid for Indian Giver by Reiff. Neither managed any Daily Double winnings however.

In the always tough to predict third race, the auction was pretty quiet. When it ended, Rob Drozd had rode Stampede to victory followed by Levine's Stampede, Welage's Egg Yolk, and Bell's Bone Bruise. Levine and Drozd were the big winners in the betting with Jason betting Dunce Cap across the board and Rob having Stampede to place and show. David Steiner became the games first casualty as he went bust after the third race.

In the fourth race, only the longshot Crime Wave, $2000 by August, and passing lane favorite Red Caboose, $1000 by Debbie Gutermuth, garnered any auction activity. Reiff's Adam's Apple edged out Debbie Gutermuth's Red Caboose for first with Garvey's Hot Spook and August's Crime Wave finishing third and fourth. Most cashed for a little money but no major shift in the standings occurred.

As we entered the critical fifth and sixth races, there was a clear distinction between the haves and have nots. Still in contention for the win were Jim Garvey, Bruce Reiff, Jeff August, John Welage, and Robert Drozd, left looking for a miracle were Jim Bell, Jason Levine, and the Gutermuths.

In the typical race 5 auction, everyone was waiting on the longshot Cockroach to bid. This left die rolls to determine several horses with Bruce Reiff and Ken Gutermuth losing the last two die rolls to eliminate them from the Cockroach ownership potential list. Debbie Gutermuth ended up with Cockroach for $7000. The race, however, was not to the Roach's liking and Rob's Slow Molasses pulled off the win followed by John's Dying Ember, Jim's Lobster Tail, and Ken Gutermuth's Traffic Cop. Bruce Reiff gained the most ground with his pick of Slow Mollasses to win and place while Levine and the Gutermuth duo ended all hopes with their Roach bets.

It was clear entering the last race that the finals were up for grabs between four newcomers and the previous champion Reiff. It could very easily come down to the $25000 purse for the winning jockey.

Bruce started off the bidding by taking the favorite, Jungle Monarch for $3500. After Jim Bell and Jim Garvey picked up Leyte Gulf and Swami for cheap, bidding on the Mona Lisa went up to $5000 by Jeff August, followed by $4000 by Rob for Hannibal and $8000 by Jason for Captain Ahab. So four of our five contenders owned horses in the critical last race. In a strong finish, Hannibal managed to beat Jungle Monarch with Mona Lisa and Captain Ahab finishing out the top four. Jeff, Bruce and Rob all cashed two of their three bets but the purse money proved enough for Rob Drozd to come out on top as the best horseman of the year.

The final standings were Rob Drozd $107K, Jim Garvey $86K, Jeff August $84K, Bruce Reiff $80K, John Welage $61K, Jim Bell $13.5K, Jason Levine $7K, Debbie Gutermuth $1.1K, Ken Gutermuth $500, and David Steiner $0.

Congratulations to Rob on a steady and well played game.