August 14

Sunday Results

The end of the week and I found myself having the same kind of thoughts that typically follows a big day of Saturday racing, that is "will the Sunday racing dampen the enthusiasm for a big day on Saturday."  I only mention this because for the first time that I can ever remember I had a new thought......why don't I look forward to Sunday racing and hope that Saturday doesn't spoil my Sunday!  Regardless, I only played Monmouth today and from the ten races I had seven original selections, reduced to six with a scratch in the 8th of my upset choice.  I passed the first and in the second my pick Memories of Winter went right to the lead and was clear into the stretch.  My heart was pounding because I'd doubled the bet on this selection and he was running towards the wire at a HUGE 10/1 price!  In deep stretch he was caught by the 6/5 favorite, 2nd....but what a thrill to start the day!  I had my BEST of the Day in the third with Legend of Lorelei.  Check out my analysis:  

Sent off as the short 4/5 choice she was well back into the far turn and was still had a LOT of work to do turning for home, but then she found a whole other gear and was FLYING under a perfectly timed ride by Paco Lopez to be up in time.  

Cashed for nearly $40 and I was off and running on the day.  I loved Just Sisters in the next race and so did the crowd at 3/5.  But when she was shuffled back entering the turn you could see Paco Lopez just quit riding.  Not that she would have won, but he didn't give her any chance whatsoever.  In the fifth I planned to triple the bet on 1a Shaft of Light who was sent out by Jorge Navarro, the top trainer of the meet.  The entry mate, Defer Heaven I'd seen several times at Gulfstream and had won with him in his first start here on the Jersey Shore.  But his last two had been obvious regressions AND there was other speed to compromise his chances I thought.  I wrote in my analysis that I'd pass the race if Shaft of Light scratched out, but I was pretty sure they'd both run as two different jockeys were named to ride.  But at the beginning of the day it was announced that Shaft of Light was out of the fifth.  I went into my wagers (I'd made all of them early) and cancelled the bet.  Fast forward to the fifth.  As I was working online I had the Monmouth live feed running and analyst Mike Currci came on to preview his Pick-4 ticket.  He started with this fifth race and he - who rarely goes with the favorite, especially at a short price - named Defer Heaven as the OBVIOUS choice and he was going to SINGLE that guy on his ticket.  Really?  He's that confident?  Well, who am I to think the top trainer doesn't know which of his two horses has the best chance to win and especially when one respected handicapper makes that horse his Pick-4 SINGLE!  So I entered the bet again.  Defer Heaven floated up to 2/5 at post time and as soon as the gates opened he rocketed to the front.  In control and never threatened in an easy wire-to-wire romp!  

The original plan had been to triple the bet on Shaft of Light and when I re-entered the bet I did the same on Defer Heaven.  WHOOO HOOO!  That was it for the day as I ran 4th with both of my last two choices to finish 2-for-6 on the day.  For the week I was 48/14-8-6, 29% which is OK, but not what I'm used to for sure.

Tomorrow, Monday August 15th is the first day that teachers go back to school and it marks the official end of five complete years of retirement.  So I made and will post a video highlight of many of the FORTY trips I've taken over the last five years.  Enjoy......

Five Year Retirement Highlights