NEW VLT MACHINES ARE HERE! Check out our new VLT machines in the Clubwest Gaming Lounge. Open daily from 10 a.m. through 1 a.m.

Entry fee: $25. Bankroll: $60. Place 10 ($2 WPS) wagers on any North American race that takes place on the contest day. You must have a Manitoba HPI account to participate. Deadline to enter is 4 p.m. the Friday before the tournament. For complete list of 2023 handicapping tournaments click here.

Earn 1% cash back on all eligible wagers during our 12 Days of Christmas Cash Back Special. Wager a minimum of $1,000 during the above time period and receive a maximum of $100 cash back. ($2.10 payouts are not eligible.) You must opt-in at HPIbet.com to be eligible for the promotion and all wagers must be placed on your HPI account.

HAPPY HOUR - Daily from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close

The Club West Dining Room and Lounge is open daily at 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages. Our menu includes favourites such as chicken wings, pizza, chipotle mozza burger (pictured), steak sandwich or bacon and eggs plus much more! See the full menu here.

FRIDAY STEAK SPECIAL - $24.95 - 8 oz. top Sirloin charbroiled and seasoned with our smoky dry rub. Served with vegetables and choice of mashed potatoes or french fries. Served from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

PRIME RIB SATURDAY SPECIAL - $29.95 - Our signature Certified Angus Prime Rib (8 oz.) served with vegetables and choice of mashed potatoes or french fries, horseradish and Yorkshire pudding au jus. Served from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Need something to get you pumped up for opening day at Santa Anita on Boxing Day? The memorable races below should do the trick. And there's nothing better than watching a horse you can live vicariously through. Not only do the horses in the videos below all display the courage and talent we'd all love to own, but they have that extraordinary charisma that attracts you to the game and keeps you coming back. These horses took the sport to another level, and we could watch these races over and over. How about you?

Secretariat's 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes made him the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and is regarded as the greatest single performance in the history of horse racing. He ran every quarter in the race faster than the previous one and set a track record of 2:24, which still stands as the fastest 1 1/2-miles ever run in North America. Video courtesy of NYRA here.

Two Triple Crown winners met for the first time in history in the 1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. The race lived up to all expectations, and is widely regarded as the best race Seattle Slew ever ran. 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew got the best of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed after a sizzling duel through six furlongs in 1:09 2/5, but was passed by Exceller in the stretch. Watch the horse that absolutely hated to lose come back at the wire here.

In one of the best race calls you'll ever hear, John Henry took on a stellar field of Grade 1 winners that included a Belmont Stakes winner, a track record holder, a champion mare and a former claimer named Peat Moss, among others. Originally purchased for $1,100 and once a $20,000 claimer, John Henry just holds on to defeat the longest shot on the board on his way to being named Champion Older Male, Champion Turf Horse and Horse of the Year. Watch it here.

The "incomparable, the invincible, the unbeatable Cigar!"

Cigar was in the middle of a win streak that would tie the record for the longest winning sequence by a major American stakes horse since Citation (who won 16 in a row in 1948 and 1950) when he won the 1995 Jockey Club Gold Cup to complete a perfect 10-for-10 season. He won a record eight Grade I events that year, a single-season record equalled only by Lady's Secret in 1986, and set a single-season earnings record of $4,819,800. But it was the way he cocked his head to the right in the stretch at crunch time in all his races, that always got us. It was if he was saying, "Ok boys, let's go!" See it action here.

Arrogate was already being compared to Secretariat before he ran in the 2017 Dubai World Cup. He came into the race with six straight victories including the Travers Stakes, the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Then he got slammed at the break and dropped back to last. One of the best performances we've ever seen by a thoroughbred, it took the Secretariat comparisons to the next level. See why here.

Not only did Zenyatta become the first female to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2009, she was also undefeated at the time with 13 straight wins. One of the greatest mares in the history of the horse racing, the throwback amazon would extend her winning streak to 19 before losing her 20th start in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic by a diminishing nose. Watch the 2009 win here, and follow it up with her heartbreaking loss in 2010 here, which might have been the best race of her career.

Secretariat gets two spots on our list, not only because he was the most talented race horse in history that set track records almost every time he ran, but because of this early move in the 1973 Preakness Stakes. While the move Arazi made in the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile is often compared to Secretariat's famous move, it came late in that race. Secretariat's dramatic and stunning rush to the lead came early in the Preakness and he kept going to set one of his many track records. A must watch for any racing fan, as you may never, ever, see a move like this again in a high class race. Watch it here.

Quote from son Trevor (who is a member of the Assiniboia Racing Club/ARC): “My Dad is in a better place now. I’m sure he’s busy shoeing or galloping Yankee Captain or Munnie Award and talking with old friends Don Gray, Elery Scherbenske, or jock Bobby Stewart, who he used to compete against in the old county fair circuit. Parkinson’s took 14 years away from him. But knowing my father, he’s making up for every minute of it!” See full obituary here.

Four-time Manitoba Derby winning trainer Robertino Diodoro’s drive toward 3,000 career victories continued Saturday, December 17 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The theme was more of the same – claimed older horses climbing the class ladder in two-turn events. More from the Canadian Thoroughbred here.

Horse racing fans get the holiday gift they really want – albeit a day late – when the SoCal winter racing season celebrates its traditional post-Christmas opening day on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park. That date marks the start of a new season in racing at the Arcadia, Calif., track and kicks off one of the country’s premier annual winter/spring race meets. Noel Michaels of America's Best Racing provides an excellent overview of jockeys, trainers and trends to watch here.