If you win here ...	... you get to play here.

The first racing was a night card as 23 would be owners/gamblers appeared Tuesday night to test their mettle in three 6-player and one 5-player game . Six previous champions were among them but only one, Ken Gutermuth, was victorious in gaining an early spot in the Final. Ken got purse money in races 1 and 2 and picked the 1-6 Daily Double to build a lead while former champ Dave Steiner struggled to build any momentum in Game #1. Stan Buck came from far behind in the sixth race but fell just short of overtaking the former champion. Another former champ, Bruce Reiff, failed his first attempt to reach the Final as perennial finalist Jason Levine ran away with Game #2. Mike Zorrer became the only racer to go bankrupt in the first night of racing in his attempt to overtake Jason's torrid pace. John Wellage, our two-time defending champ, began to learn about the three-peat jinx as Sean McCulloch led all first night participants with $185K, easily outdistancing John's $149K in Game #3. the last two former champs, Dennis Nicholson and Rob Drozd, failed to beat perennial finalist Gerald Lientz in Game #4. Gerald's $68K win was the largest of opening night.

The Saturday afternoon card brought in 20 owners for four 5-player games. and two women would advance to the Final for the first time in WBC history. Jennifer Drozd, daughter of former champ Robert Drozd, showed that racing is in the family blood as she easily outdistanced the two-time defending champ to put an end to John Welage's defense of his crown in Game #5. Jennifer became the first woman to make the Final table while proving that the three-peat jinx was alive and well. While WPS has seen many champions defend their title, none has ever been able to win three in succession. Jennifer's distinction as being the only woman jockey in WPS Final turf did not last long. Rachel Harley joined her in the winners circle by defeating Jennifer's dad in Game #6. Rachel was the only one at the table to make it into six figures with $126K. Gerald Lientz continued in Game #7 where he left off on Tuesday by amassing our largest total of the week with $203K, easily winning for the second time and knocking out two-time former champion Dave Steiner in the process. His double win would also reduce the size of the field he would face in the Final by one. Game #8 saw Craig Fox blow away his competition, winning by $103K over second place Bruce Reiff who would not add his fifth WPS crown in 2008. Craig's win ensured that only one previous champion would make the Final.

Only six of the seven qualifiers were present as Tueday night winner Sean McCulloch had to depart to attend a sibling's wedding. For the second year in a row, the finalists unanimously agreed to use the race cards that were produced by Stuart Tucker years before in the General to add some variety. The horse names had been changed to a wedding theme as several of them had been used a few years previously at the Gutermuth wedding. So the Final saw three familiar faces in former Champ Ken Gutermuth and perennial finalists Jason Levine and Gerald Lientz as well as our first ladies of racing Jennifer Drozd and Rachel Harley and newcomer Craig Fox. The Big Board race card also featured jockeys for the first time. Mystery of the Abbey GM Ellen Hoam made jockeys depicting our former champions including Bruce "Hawaiian Shirt" Reiff, Ken "Texan" Gutermuth, Dave "The Carrot" Steiner, Rob "Businessman" Drozd, Stuart "The Mona Lisa" Tucker, John "The Beer Man" Wellage, and Dennis" Wild Hair" Nicholson. The jockeys were a nice touch for the races and everyone there appreciated the effort.

Jason got out to a fast start in the first three races and threatened to run away with his first championship In the fourth race, it became obvious that Jason had bet on his own horse. It looked like a concerted effort on the straight away would box Jason's horse in for little movement until the last horse before his, ran by Rachel, freed up the lane to let Jason's horse pass. Jason went on to win the race and continue to build a lead with Craig hanging the closest to him. Craig ran his horse to a win in the fifth race to keep within striking distance of Jason who, despite his claims that it was close, had a $50K lead. In the sixth race, in an effort to catch the leader, wild bets were placed which almost paid off. Gerald bet his horse across the board and won to reap a huge payout but it still was not enough to catch the leader. Jennifer and Craig also scored good payouts to close the gap but Jason's lead was just too much to overcome as he managed to finally win at the Big Board.

Final scores were Jason $168K, Craig 147.5K, Jennifer $146K, Gerald $142.5K, Ken $48.5K, and Rachel $46.5K. 

Finalists pose with their mounts which sported personalized WPS celebrity jockeys.	Jennifer Drozd coaxes her mount through the turn to show on the big track.