The summer winning just keeps on rolling! Pretty amazing actually. The original plan going back several weeks was to cut back on the racing to just Friday through Sunday. Then there were good stakes races on Thursday; then Keeneland opened; then Saratoga opened. And I thought THIS week we'll begin that calendar. But then I saw that one of the best sprinters in Canada was running on Thursday so I added Woodbine on Thursday to start the week. By the time the last horse had crossed the finish line on Sunday my week's totals looked like this.....
WOW. What a remarkable week, eh? And it was a big week on the social scene as well. So let's get to the weekly recap.....
Thursday July 23
When I saw that Woodbine was running a stakes on Thursday and that in that sprint event was Pink Lloyd, who was gunning for his 24th career win I knew I had to play. I actually, having "decided" that I would only play Friday through Sunday, thought about just playing the stakes race and not even handicapping the card. But on Wednesday I thought, "what else am I going to do?" So I looked at the card and came up with four races I liked. Neither of the first two races interested me but in the third, a juvenile 5 1/2 furlong sprint for maiden specials I liked Dancing Dragon. In his late June debut he'd gotten away slowly, but rushed up to duel through a :21 and change quarter. Cleared into the lane and was caught late. If he could get away cleanly today and withthe added experience I thought he'd prove tough to real in All that came true except as they got close to the wire he was tiring and/or the finishers were coming.....PHOTO FINISH.
I was pretty sure I held on but I wasn't positive until it went official. Only had the minimum, but always good to win the first bet of the week. Was a distant sixth at 3/1 in the fourth and passed the fifth. In the sixth it was a conditioned allowance going six and a half furlongs. There were several solid win contenders but I liked what Piven brought to the table. He'd had a prep race to shake off the rust when running on the Gulfstream turf in April. Then shipped home to Toronto and had first a bullet work and then a 2nd best of one hundred and twenty-one moves for this. WOW. AND one of his best career efforts had come here at this distance. He was behind a wall of horses heading out of the far turn, but got a seam up the rail. Burst through and held off the closers down the middle of the lane. Best of all.....check out the price:
Oh that's right, I'm cashing for nearly $60 on my second win with the BEST of the WEEK coming up next. In the featured Shepparton there was simply no beating Pink Lloyd unless he just didn't show up. He had built a career mark of 28/23-1-1 and was a multi-millionaire as well as a multiple graded stakes winner. In addition, his last EIGHT speed figures going back a year would beat 78 of the 79 career races run by tonight's rivals. AND he had fired a bullet work since his win last time out in the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier. Sat patiently behind the dueling front runners to the head of the lane. Moved off the rail and into the clear and then blew by as easy as he pleased. Somehow the crowd played a lot of "value bets" - which was pretty much just throwing their money away because some how Pink Lloyd floated up to better than 1/5 and I cashed for $65 on my best bet.
So for the day I finished 3-for-4 and nearly doubled my money.....
Friday July 24
The rains came down on the Jersey Shore and of the six races - where I had four picks - all the races came off the turf leaving me with but a single bet. And that minimum play was dead last. So it goes, on to Saturday's races.
Saturday July 25
Today there were several stakes races I was interested in as I went through four different tracks and their offerings. I handicapped Monmouth and came up with several selections and two big time (not quite prime time) plays and felt good about the day's picks. Then as I went through the other three sets of past performances and I kept passing one race after another as I just couldn't find many runners that I felt like offered enough of an advantage to wager on. I kept wondering if I was tired, or just not "seeing it." But in the end I had just fifteen races on my selection sheet which began at 10:30 in the morning and didn't finish until 9:30 pm at night. The reason for the early start was that the superstar European mare Enable was running at Ascot in the Group 1 King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. I looked up what the analysts were saying and most were of the opinion that she had "needed" her last and would run big today. And when I went to watch and wager I saw it was a four horse field and one of them had scratched. She'd have to really be off her game to not win here. I was concerned when the front runner opened up easily and was more than half a dozen lengths in front, even as they made the turn for home. But once Euro superstar jockey Frankie Dettori gave her the "GO" she took off like a shot and easily, EASILY blew by to win by daylight. And the day was off to a great start!
It was over two hours to the next race. Missed in the first two races of the afternoon before I went on a nice run. The second at Saratoga was a maiden race for 3yo and up and Todd Pletcher was sending out Midnight Surprise for her debut. I thought that unless something happened unexpected, it was either than filly or the favorite. And then the favorite scratched at the gate. Probably should have upped the bet at that point but I decided to stay with the minimum play. Pressed the pace in third behind the speed, then angled out into the clear and opened up. Then held the late runners safe to score as the 9/5 favorite.
The only bet of the day at Woodbine was in their Grade 3 Marine Stakes which featured last out debut winner Shirl's Speight. And from the way she'd run and the press she'd received I really thought she might be a star in the making. Coming off a dazzling maiden win, could this colt be that good? The short answer, yes.....pressed from third to the turn, took over willingly and opened up by daylight. Under wraps through the final 16th and on to bigger and better things.
Next was a maiden claiming turf sprint at Monmouth. But because of the weather yesterday it was on the main track. And as I wrote.....it seems like it's the "Paco Show," but honestly it nearly always gets the call on the best horse and just wins a lot. So Your Awesome Boss looked the part on paper. Pressed the pace to the top of the lane, glided up and I thought he'd roll right on by but the leader would not give in.....PHOTO FINISH!
Whew, I got the nod and cashed on my third winner in a row. Next on the page was literally the only disappointment of the day. Chad Brown's champion mare Sistercharlie was running in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga. And yes, this mile and a sixteenth was as short as she could go and be effective, but she'd done it before and she had always run big off the shelf, like most Brown turf runners. She was my best of the day. Tracked from off the pace and I thought too far back. Came with a run, but not a big run. A non-threatening third. Not what I was expecting at all. I had three straight plays at Monmouth as I had a pick at Saratoga scratch. In the fifth at Monmouth, a starter optional claiming event, Final Prospect looked a legitimate short-priced favorite and ran away as tons the best. And came right back with Dalton a second time starting two-year-old for trainer Jorge Delgado who's winning with Paco Lopez at a nearly 40% clip. That one dueled to mid-stretch, then edged clear to score.
The eighth at Monmouth looked like a carbon-copy of the seventh....Delgado and Lopez with a maiden who'd debuted with a "good" first start and probably would take a big step forward today. Always Alright was plunging from a $40K Belmont try to this $10K spot. Went right to the front under a confident hand ride. Got the patented "Paco look-back" on the far turn and I knew it was all over. Somehow the crowd let him go off at 6/5 and I cashed for nearly $25.
Next up was the feature from Monmouth, the Irish War Cry going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. But it, like the other turf events today, had come off the grass. For my top choice, Golden Brown this probably played into his hands, although last year he won back-to-back stakes on the grass here. But as Monmouth handicapper Brad Thomas said, Golden Brown is probably a Grade 3 type dirt runner going a route of ground. He'd come off the layoff and run in a dirt sprint stakes at the beginning of the meet, but this one mile event was right up his alley. Somehow the crowd made him the second choice at 6/5 odds. He tracked the pace to the far turn and while the even money favorite skimmed the rail to pass the early pace setters, Golden Brown went four wide all around the turn and came to even terms entering the stretch. Just way too much horse for that one and he pulled clear in the final 16th and I had yet ANOTHER winner on the Jersey Shore.
The triple investment I had on him led to a payoff of over thirty dollars. Missed in the Del Mar opener and then it was time for the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga. As they went into the gate there were only four left in the field. Three were multiple graded stakes winners - who had all been my top choice in victory on other days - and rising star Volatile from the Steve Asmussen barn. He'd blistered the Aristides Stakes at Churchill with a whopping 112 Beyer last time out. And there was reason to believe that while he could regress, he also might probably actually improve. Third off the layoff and with a bullet work - I went with the rising star. Right out of the gate the other three left him all alone on the front end. Jockey Ricardo Santana craftily slowed the pace to a crawl going :23 and change for the opening quarter and :46 and change for the half. That's slow for cheap claimers! I knew he was long gone. When the other three were asked for run as they spun out of the turn Volatile had plenty, PLENTY left and won going away as easily best today.
Lost my final play at Monmouth due to a scratch and all I had left were the two big stakes events at Monmouth. Because the post time for those were not until 9 pm and 9:30 pm EST we all went out to dinner at the marina (see group photo on the banner). And then we watched some television. When everyone else was winding down for bed Keith and I watched the two stakes. The first was the Grade 2 San Clemente on the turf going a mile. I thought that while you probably could make "a case" for many of these, Laura's Light stood out to me. She had earned a 4/3-1-0 record on the grass and exited a win in the Grade 3 Honeymoon at nine furlongs which was probably too far for her. Looked to sit right off the pace and prove best. I couldn't have envisioned it more perfectly. Pressed the leader, took the lead coming out of the turn, opened up and held the closers safe. Nice!
The final race on the Saturday card was the Grade 2 San Diego going a mile and a sixteenth on the main track. And the star attraction of the day was Maximum Security who was the Eclipse Award winner as 3yo champion and had last been seen winning the $20 Million Saudi Cup. But since then his trainer, Jason Servis had been suspended and facing charges on drugging horses, so now Maximum Security was under the care of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. How would he adapt to the new training regimen and how would he do on the west coast? And a question for me was with all the top riders out there, it was "interesting" that young and talented rider Abel Cedillo had earned the call. Hmmm, where's Mike Smith, Victor Espinoza, or Flavian Pratt? My plan was to put a double investment on him, but I just had a "sense" that he WOULD run big, so I upped it a notch. Broke sharply to the front but two others insisted on the lead so Cedillo let him stalk in third. Heading into the far turn he had to work on Maximum Security to get him involved and he slowly began to wear down the 6/1 front runner. But in the stretch that one was all heart and the two of them put on a real show. Head up and head down, bobbing to the wire....PHOTO FINISH. Both Keith and I as we watched the finish live and the slow-motion replays were pretty sure Maximum Security had indeed won, but as you can see in the photo it was awfully, AWFULLY close. Sent off as the 2/5 favorite I didn't make a lot of money, but the win capped a huge day. After the feeling that today wouldn't be that good of a day for racing and really I didn't have a lot of "solid" selections my results turned out like this. Fifteen selections total including six stakes events. I won with an amazing ELEVEN of my selections and won five of the six stakes events on my selection sheet. Having preceded that big Saturday action with a 3-for-4 Thursday night, I am certainly having a great week of racing!
I found it interesting that a player on Twitter commented about how "good" the TVG analysts were, especially as I am piling up the impressive WIN and profit stats.....
Sunday July 26
Like so many other weekends where I've had a big Saturday I felt confident in my Sunday picks, but I know how the numbers often even out and I wasn't anxious to lose all the momentum (and money) I'd built up over the last three days. But the day played out nicely.....in the opener we were going five furlongs on the turf in a MSW event. Francatelli was sent off as the favorite and if he ran to his debut off-the-turf when earning a huge 79 Beyer (and I thought he would because his second start was around two turns and he ran well before tiring). He was a massive horse in physical size and he went right to the front. As announcer Frank Miramahdi called it, "this was over after the first three jumps out of the gate" as he wired them in hand.
Missed on the next two but in the fifth Smithwick's Spice looked like a standout to me. He was coming off a sharp effort last time when he earned a figure near the top of what he'd earned in the past. But, in looking down his past performances, every time he'd come off a break his SECOND race was a big jump forward. Well that big number last time came FIRST off the bench. So while he could bounce as they say, I was more of the opinion he'd jump forward and if that was the case he'd win by a pole. He was also dropping from open company into a state-bred event. Just WALKED with it and my triple investment returned $5.80 as the inflated 9/5 favorite. Cashed for well over forty dollars. WHOOO HOOOO.
My final win of the week came in the featured Jersey Derby for 3yo going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. It seemed so obvious to me that Paco Lopez had been lured to ride Vanzzy because he was so talented and would go off as the odds-on choice. While he'd only been on the turf twice, he'd run competitively in both tries and had been defeated by two of the top three-year-old turf runners in the country. The move to a listed event here against the present company made him look awfully enticing, and that's without the top rider. He had the ideal trip into the far turn, saving ground all the way. And as the leaders lined up four across the track Lopez made the choice to stay inside. THAT is why he's the leading jockey because a seam opened up and he did NOT have to lose all kinds of ground by swinging wide to get running room. He burst through and quickly was daylight clear and went on to win as much the best.
But the BEST part was that he was NOT the post time favorite and went off at a generous 5/2 price. With the triple investment I had on him I cashed for well over $50 to close the day out. And for the week I had scored at a big win percentage with a nice profit to boot.
Our Life In Cape Coral
The first segment of my social life came when I reached out to "my girl" in the CBS news department for information. A lot of people have reported NOT being tested for the virus and yet they are informed after leaving the testing site that they were not only tested, but came up positive. Lauren provided me with a link that explained how the system gets all messed up if someone leaves the testing line and this leads to a chain of events where a lot of people get the wrong results. More examples of this thing is just a huge mess.
That came as we were heading out to Fort Lauderdale for a few days to pick up my sister and niece. That's the second piece of news, as you see in the banner for this week, they came back with us to Cape Coral and will be here until August 6th. This upcoming Tuesday my Mom arrives for a week to coincide with my birthday next weekend. And over the weekend all the kids and grandkids will be here for the big party. Good times ahead. Lastly, finally we were able to get out on the field with the Oasis High football team on Monday following the last day of racing. Good to be back in the coaching scene and especially to be sharing the experience with my oldest son and my best pal.
Oh that's right, I'm cashing for nearly $60 on my second win with the BEST of the WEEK coming up next. In the featured Shepparton there was simply no beating Pink Lloyd unless he just didn't show up. He had built a career mark of 28/23-1-1 and was a multi-millionaire as well as a multiple graded stakes winner. In addition, his last EIGHT speed figures going back a year would beat 78 of the 79 career races run by tonight's rivals. AND he had fired a bullet work since his win last time out in the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier. Sat patiently behind the dueling front runners to the head of the lane. Moved off the rail and into the clear and then blew by as easy as he pleased. Somehow the crowd played a lot of "value bets" - which was pretty much just throwing their money away because some how Pink Lloyd floated up to better than 1/5 and I cashed for $65 on my best bet.
So for the day I finished 3-for-4 and nearly doubled my money.....
The rains came down on the Jersey Shore and of the six races - where I had four picks - all the races came off the turf leaving me with but a single bet. And that minimum play was dead last. So it goes, on to Saturday's races.
Saturday July 25
Today there were several stakes races I was interested in as I went through four different tracks and their offerings. I handicapped Monmouth and came up with several selections and two big time (not quite prime time) plays and felt good about the day's picks. Then as I went through the other three sets of past performances and I kept passing one race after another as I just couldn't find many runners that I felt like offered enough of an advantage to wager on. I kept wondering if I was tired, or just not "seeing it." But in the end I had just fifteen races on my selection sheet which began at 10:30 in the morning and didn't finish until 9:30 pm at night. The reason for the early start was that the superstar European mare Enable was running at Ascot in the Group 1 King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. I looked up what the analysts were saying and most were of the opinion that she had "needed" her last and would run big today. And when I went to watch and wager I saw it was a four horse field and one of them had scratched. She'd have to really be off her game to not win here. I was concerned when the front runner opened up easily and was more than half a dozen lengths in front, even as they made the turn for home. But once Euro superstar jockey Frankie Dettori gave her the "GO" she took off like a shot and easily, EASILY blew by to win by daylight. And the day was off to a great start!
It was over two hours to the next race. Missed in the first two races of the afternoon before I went on a nice run. The second at Saratoga was a maiden race for 3yo and up and Todd Pletcher was sending out Midnight Surprise for her debut. I thought that unless something happened unexpected, it was either than filly or the favorite. And then the favorite scratched at the gate. Probably should have upped the bet at that point but I decided to stay with the minimum play. Pressed the pace in third behind the speed, then angled out into the clear and opened up. Then held the late runners safe to score as the 9/5 favorite.
The only bet of the day at Woodbine was in their Grade 3 Marine Stakes which featured last out debut winner Shirl's Speight. And from the way she'd run and the press she'd received I really thought she might be a star in the making. Coming off a dazzling maiden win, could this colt be that good? The short answer, yes.....pressed from third to the turn, took over willingly and opened up by daylight. Under wraps through the final 16th and on to bigger and better things.
Next was a maiden claiming turf sprint at Monmouth. But because of the weather yesterday it was on the main track. And as I wrote.....it seems like it's the "Paco Show," but honestly it nearly always gets the call on the best horse and just wins a lot. So Your Awesome Boss looked the part on paper. Pressed the pace to the top of the lane, glided up and I thought he'd roll right on by but the leader would not give in.....PHOTO FINISH!
Whew, I got the nod and cashed on my third winner in a row. Next on the page was literally the only disappointment of the day. Chad Brown's champion mare Sistercharlie was running in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga. And yes, this mile and a sixteenth was as short as she could go and be effective, but she'd done it before and she had always run big off the shelf, like most Brown turf runners. She was my best of the day. Tracked from off the pace and I thought too far back. Came with a run, but not a big run. A non-threatening third. Not what I was expecting at all. I had three straight plays at Monmouth as I had a pick at Saratoga scratch. In the fifth at Monmouth, a starter optional claiming event, Final Prospect looked a legitimate short-priced favorite and ran away as tons the best. And came right back with Dalton a second time starting two-year-old for trainer Jorge Delgado who's winning with Paco Lopez at a nearly 40% clip. That one dueled to mid-stretch, then edged clear to score.
The eighth at Monmouth looked like a carbon-copy of the seventh....Delgado and Lopez with a maiden who'd debuted with a "good" first start and probably would take a big step forward today. Always Alright was plunging from a $40K Belmont try to this $10K spot. Went right to the front under a confident hand ride. Got the patented "Paco look-back" on the far turn and I knew it was all over. Somehow the crowd let him go off at 6/5 and I cashed for nearly $25.
Next up was the feature from Monmouth, the Irish War Cry going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. But it, like the other turf events today, had come off the grass. For my top choice, Golden Brown this probably played into his hands, although last year he won back-to-back stakes on the grass here. But as Monmouth handicapper Brad Thomas said, Golden Brown is probably a Grade 3 type dirt runner going a route of ground. He'd come off the layoff and run in a dirt sprint stakes at the beginning of the meet, but this one mile event was right up his alley. Somehow the crowd made him the second choice at 6/5 odds. He tracked the pace to the far turn and while the even money favorite skimmed the rail to pass the early pace setters, Golden Brown went four wide all around the turn and came to even terms entering the stretch. Just way too much horse for that one and he pulled clear in the final 16th and I had yet ANOTHER winner on the Jersey Shore.
The triple investment I had on him led to a payoff of over thirty dollars. Missed in the Del Mar opener and then it was time for the Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga. As they went into the gate there were only four left in the field. Three were multiple graded stakes winners - who had all been my top choice in victory on other days - and rising star Volatile from the Steve Asmussen barn. He'd blistered the Aristides Stakes at Churchill with a whopping 112 Beyer last time out. And there was reason to believe that while he could regress, he also might probably actually improve. Third off the layoff and with a bullet work - I went with the rising star. Right out of the gate the other three left him all alone on the front end. Jockey Ricardo Santana craftily slowed the pace to a crawl going :23 and change for the opening quarter and :46 and change for the half. That's slow for cheap claimers! I knew he was long gone. When the other three were asked for run as they spun out of the turn Volatile had plenty, PLENTY left and won going away as easily best today.
Lost my final play at Monmouth due to a scratch and all I had left were the two big stakes events at Monmouth. Because the post time for those were not until 9 pm and 9:30 pm EST we all went out to dinner at the marina (see group photo on the banner). And then we watched some television. When everyone else was winding down for bed Keith and I watched the two stakes. The first was the Grade 2 San Clemente on the turf going a mile. I thought that while you probably could make "a case" for many of these, Laura's Light stood out to me. She had earned a 4/3-1-0 record on the grass and exited a win in the Grade 3 Honeymoon at nine furlongs which was probably too far for her. Looked to sit right off the pace and prove best. I couldn't have envisioned it more perfectly. Pressed the leader, took the lead coming out of the turn, opened up and held the closers safe. Nice!
Sunday July 26
Like so many other weekends where I've had a big Saturday I felt confident in my Sunday picks, but I know how the numbers often even out and I wasn't anxious to lose all the momentum (and money) I'd built up over the last three days. But the day played out nicely.....in the opener we were going five furlongs on the turf in a MSW event. Francatelli was sent off as the favorite and if he ran to his debut off-the-turf when earning a huge 79 Beyer (and I thought he would because his second start was around two turns and he ran well before tiring). He was a massive horse in physical size and he went right to the front. As announcer Frank Miramahdi called it, "this was over after the first three jumps out of the gate" as he wired them in hand.
Missed on the next two but in the fifth Smithwick's Spice looked like a standout to me. He was coming off a sharp effort last time when he earned a figure near the top of what he'd earned in the past. But, in looking down his past performances, every time he'd come off a break his SECOND race was a big jump forward. Well that big number last time came FIRST off the bench. So while he could bounce as they say, I was more of the opinion he'd jump forward and if that was the case he'd win by a pole. He was also dropping from open company into a state-bred event. Just WALKED with it and my triple investment returned $5.80 as the inflated 9/5 favorite. Cashed for well over forty dollars. WHOOO HOOOO.
My final win of the week came in the featured Jersey Derby for 3yo going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. It seemed so obvious to me that Paco Lopez had been lured to ride Vanzzy because he was so talented and would go off as the odds-on choice. While he'd only been on the turf twice, he'd run competitively in both tries and had been defeated by two of the top three-year-old turf runners in the country. The move to a listed event here against the present company made him look awfully enticing, and that's without the top rider. He had the ideal trip into the far turn, saving ground all the way. And as the leaders lined up four across the track Lopez made the choice to stay inside. THAT is why he's the leading jockey because a seam opened up and he did NOT have to lose all kinds of ground by swinging wide to get running room. He burst through and quickly was daylight clear and went on to win as much the best.
But the BEST part was that he was NOT the post time favorite and went off at a generous 5/2 price. With the triple investment I had on him I cashed for well over $50 to close the day out. And for the week I had scored at a big win percentage with a nice profit to boot.
Our Life In Cape Coral
The first segment of my social life came when I reached out to "my girl" in the CBS news department for information. A lot of people have reported NOT being tested for the virus and yet they are informed after leaving the testing site that they were not only tested, but came up positive. Lauren provided me with a link that explained how the system gets all messed up if someone leaves the testing line and this leads to a chain of events where a lot of people get the wrong results. More examples of this thing is just a huge mess.
That came as we were heading out to Fort Lauderdale for a few days to pick up my sister and niece. That's the second piece of news, as you see in the banner for this week, they came back with us to Cape Coral and will be here until August 6th. This upcoming Tuesday my Mom arrives for a week to coincide with my birthday next weekend. And over the weekend all the kids and grandkids will be here for the big party. Good times ahead. Lastly, finally we were able to get out on the field with the Oasis High football team on Monday following the last day of racing. Good to be back in the coaching scene and especially to be sharing the experience with my oldest son and my best pal.
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