Talk about the summer season ending with a BIG BANG! This week is the next to last week of the summer racing season and I had stakes races ALL WEEK LONG! By the end of the week I'd played almost triple the number of races I usually play during a summer week and scored at a huge 40% win clip. Here is how the amazing week unfolded......
Tuesday August 24th
Today I had an added day of racing as Parx was hosting their "Smarty Jones" day card which featured four stakes, two of them graded and multiple starter handicaps. Well, the first thing of interest was it POURED down rain over the weekend and on Monday so management took the Grade 3 Parx Dash, a turf sprint and cancelled the race, moving it to next week. The second item of news was that this afternoon, in the midst of the racing, Kim and I went to get new phones. That might not seem of importance, but keep reading, it was! As I had gone through the card on Monday I found a "BEST Bet" in the second race, a starter handicap going around two turns at a mile and a sixteenth. In the third race, another starter - this one a 6f sprint - I narrowed it down to three prime contenders. And in the 5th race, scheduled on the turf I had one horse I liked on the grass. With the weather changes, the fifth became a short field of four. So, I had planned to play a Pick-3 ticket and now I structured it like this:
After winning the first race my BEST Bet, Sheer Flattery was much the best. In the 3rd, as they came to the 16th pole my one pick was 18/1 on the lead and being chased by my other choice (who ended up winning). I'm IN! So at this point Kim and I headed out to get our phones. Because I figured that would take a while I made the rest of the bets for the remaining races I liked on the card. The phone process did take several hours and when I got home I found that the Pick-3 had paid off for over $20 for the bet. I'll take the profit!
I won another off-the-turf race before losing the next two, my first losses on the day. As I completed watching the replays it was ten minutes to the featured, Grade 3 Smarty Jones. I liked Brad Cox's Fulsome who had won the Grade 3 Matt Winn for me in July. He looked much the best and the planned bet was $15. He was an awfully short price so I checked the multi-race payoffs and he was heavily favored. Up the bet? YES! So instead of the planned triple investment I went prime time. He roared by the leaders in mid-stretch and drew off handily to complete a 5-for-7 day. I pulled up the daily total screen on Xpressbet and their numbers did NOT synch with my totals. According to their numbers I had won MORE MONEY that I calculated. How is that possible. Then I realized what I'd done.......I had made ALL my bets before leaving to get the phones. When I got home and bet the $20 to win on Fulsome, it was actually an ADDITIONAL bet. Oh my....but I won!
How cool is that? And then as I was doing this my email went off, five times in succession. What the? Oh my....MORE good news! I had lost about $40 last Saturday on Alabama Stakes Day and Pacific Classic Day. But what I'd forgotten was that Xpressbet had a promotion at Del Mar. Any race, all day long, if your WIN bet finished 2nd or 3rd they would refund you up to $10. Well, I'd run 2nd and 3rd on FIVE different occasions on the card...
BINGO - another $50 "free dollars." So in a matter of moments my balance on my Xpressbet account had leaped by first a "surprise $35" with the double bet on Fulsome, and then another "bonus $50" with the moneyback special! WOW, what a day.
Wednesday August 25th
Today was a "Saratoga-only" day and my practice has been to simply play the Progressive Handicapping Angles. But today I actually had races on my sheet. The opener on the day was my first pick and Pocket Square, for Chad Brown looked formidable. AND he was another Saratoga 40% Club play on the class drop. Patiently waiting to the far turn while the leaders sprinted away, then turning for home of the nine furlong turf event, he blew by handily. Ran 4th at 4/1 in the fourth before another Chad Brown runner, Digital Future was tons the best in a maiden special for older. He was the DRF Best and handicapper Mike Beer next to never goes with the favorite, but this one he didn't even list in his top three. If you're a public handicapper advising the betting public, I'd think you "owed" it to them to at least talk about the favorite. Missed in the sixth when a Todd Pletcher 2yo firster got cut off in the stretch. Not sure he would have won, but the 2nd place horse that denied him the opportunity was DQ'd so I got promoted to second. In the 7th it was ANOTHER Saratoga 40% Club Chad Brown class dropper. Gandy Dancing went off at a generous 2/1. Handled patiently by Javier Castellano in one of his rare "return to Hall of Fame form" rides, he timed the move perfectly turning for home and ran away. Cashed for well over $30. And in the featured John's Call Stakes going 13 furlongs on the grass it was the THIRD Saratoga 40% Club Chad Brown class dropper of the day with Serve the King. The crowd obviously has not read Jim Mazur's book, nor seen my online analysis because he was allowed to go off at better than 3/1 and ran away in deep stretch. Paid a huge $8.90 and I collected for nearly $45 to top a 4-for-6 day with a profit of over $50. WHAT A DAY!
Friday August 27th: Charlestown Classic Night
Typically on a Friday I'll have a couple Saratoga plays, a couple from Del Mar and a couple from the abbreviated Monmouth Twilight program. But today / tonight I had TWENTY races. Wait a minute, what's that you say? "What about Thursday's races?" Not talking about that 0-for-9 run yesterday which included two runner-up finishes and three show runners. In just the second race on my sheet, from Monmouth Park, Mi Cleopatra and I went right to the front and held on for the win at nearly 4/1 leading to a quick nearly $25. Missed the next four and I started wondering if I was going to have two days in a row of disappointment. But then the stakes action started at Charlestown. In the Sadie Hawkins Star of the Night had won 8-of-10 career starts and was the 2020 W Va Horse of the Year. She was meeting a familiar foe and as the field hit the far turn the main rival was in front but 'Star was rolling from mid-pack. Caught her at the top of the lane, they dueled for a 16th of a mile and then she edged clear to score as the 1/5 favorite.
Missed at Monmouth and in an allowance at CT before getting to the 10th on the Jersey Shore. It was a cheap mile - 70 route event and Curlin's Thrill was an intriguing play for me. Took TEN tries to break his maiden, but to be fair those first nine were on the turf and synthetic. Got his first taste of dirt and ran away by nearly ten lengths. Came right back to score narrowly in a $7.5K route here. And out of that last race he was claimed by trainer Darien Rodriguez who scores at a big 39% and $2.64 ROI with those kinds. He confidently raised him up in price here to a $12.5K "beaten" affair. Looked like a bad bet approaching the far turn when he was far, and I mean FAR back - at least ten lengths back and then the rider asked. It was an "Arazi-move" - and if you don't know what that means, you need to Google the Breeders' Cup Juvenile from 1991. Blitzed by the field in a quarter of a mile in devastating fashion and was ridden out for the score as the 3/2 choice. Next up was the Sylvia Bishop at Charlestown. This 7f two-turn stakes looked wide-open with the exception of Doorbuster. This filly had run some powerful races against state-breds and was exiting an OPEN allowance try on the turf to return to the level and distance that best suited her. She saved ground along the rail to the far turn and was ready to take command but was completely blocked and hemmed in. The rider patiently waited, and waited - all the way through the turn just crying out for running room. As the field turned for home the rail opened and she shot through. I thought the announcer's call was clever as he announced, "....the rail's open for Doorbuster and she KICKS IT DOWN in the Sylvia Bishop...." Was the 4/5 choice but another winner and I cashed again.
Right back in the Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon with Lady Rocket under Florent Geroux for trainer Brad Cox. It looked to me like two primary win threats but this filly had the better early speed and on a small track like this it's really hard to make up ground. Right to the front, clear to the far turn, looked like the field was going to inhale her as they turned for home, but Geroux asked her to find another gear and she kicked clear to draw off late for the win, my third stakes victory of the evening.
Two runner-up finishes and a dismal eighth place finish set the stage for Del Mar's 7th, a turf sprint which held a Del Mar 40% Club play for trainer Phil D'Amato. The angle here was with runners making their second start off a 30+ day layoff. She looked the part of a winner from the get-go tracking the leaders on the hedge to the top of the lane. Swung out into the clear and powered by to win by daylight as the 9/5 choice allowing me to cash for nearly $30. At about this time everyone was heading to bed so I retired to the spare bedroom at our son's house and turned on the TVG broadcast to watch the Grade 2 Charlestown Classic going a mile and an eighth around three turns. I'd seen Art Collector runaway with the Ellis Park Derby as a 3yo and then win his 4yo debut at Saratoga last time out. That top Saratoga rider Luis Saez came here for this single mount told me they thought that the colt had a big chance. As the TVG analysts discussed their choices I was intrigued with a So Cal import that had shipped across the country for this AND had lured top rider Victor Espinoza to fly here also. And he was 9/1....should I make the change? NO. Stuck with my original thinking. Art Collector tracked the front runner - last year's winner who was double digit odds tonight - to the top of the lane. Collared him and drove by the edge clear late. I tripled the bet and his odds floated up from 3/5 to 6/5 late allowing me to collect nearly $35 on my 7th and final win of the evening!
Saturday August 27th: Runhappy Travers Day
Today was the big birthday bash for our newly turned 5yo grandson Oliver. There were nearly 20 friends and relatives so I didn't feel like I was too anti-social to duck back and forth from the bedroom where the races were playing all afternoon.
Because of the party I only was playing the Monmouth card, the Del Mar KEY plays, and of course the massive Saratoga card where there were seven graded events....SIX Grade 1's. As hottie handicapper Maggie Wolfendale said (and note below how we exchanged greetings this week), it was like a mini-Breeders' Cup program. My first pick was a "Main Track Only" and he scratched; ran 5th, then 2nd at 3/2 and third and finally 4th at even money to start the day. Not the start I was looking for. The fourth at Saratoga was the first of the graded events, the Grade 2 Ballston Spa going eight and a half furlongs on the turf. My main concern with the Chad Brown favorite Viadara was that since coming to North America her three wins had been by a neck, a head, and a nose. BUT those came in stakes, including a Grade 1 win and her numbers made her the clear favorite. As they came to the top of the lane she moved to the leader and had clear run to the wire. Got a length in front when two closers were coming....PHOTO FINISH! But no, clearly the winner by half a head and I was cashing my first ticket on the day.
The fifth at Monmouth was a turf sprint and Hay Boy ran away as much the best at a generous price paying $7.00. One of the SEVEN wins on the day for top rider Paco Lopez. He RULES the Jersey Shore. Another MTO scratched before it was time for the BET of the Weekend. Hall of Fame trainer had brought Gamine here for the Grade 1 Ballerina. She was the defending Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint champion and no one, and I mean NO ONE can run with her when she breaks on top and is on her game - which by the way has been in seven of eight career starts. Was interesting because when Baffert's Medina Spirit tested positive leading to a cascade of challenges and suspensions, the New York Racing Association banned Baffert runners. But he fought it in court and won, so here she was. Not only was I sure she was the best in the field, but I thought Baffert would be out to "show you" that he could still bring home the big ones. She just needed to break cleanly from the rail slot. Right to the front and as they spun out of the turn I briefly wondered if she'd kick on with it, but easy-peasy-pie she drew off. The $2.70 payoff was more than fair as I cashed for nearly $70.
Right back at Monmouth where Saratoga Affair wired a second level allowance on the turf and then in the eighth at Monmouth Plato lived up to his 2/5 favoritism by running away. Then came one of the most interesting races of the day, the Grade 1 Forego at seven furlongs for the boys at the Spa. Many of the contenders in here were exiting the Grade 1 Vanderbilt a month ago where the winner had scored at a huge price. I didn't like ANY of those. So for me it looked ripe for the taking. I went with Steve Asmussen's lightly race Yaupon who drew wide and should sit a comfortable trip. Last year as a 3yo he'd rattled off four straight with such ease and big numbers that he not only went to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint, but was the post time favorite. Didn't fire that day but he'd come back with the easiest of wins in a Pimlico listed event to prep for this. Right to the front and clear into the turn when multiple graded stakes winning Firenze Fire came to him. The two laid it down, shoulder to shoulder until inside the furlong marker Firenze Fire all of the sudden had had enough of this young whipper-snapper and began trying to bite him, or what's called savaging. OH MY! Irad Ortiz, the rider, pulled him away from Yaupon and the duel continued to the wire where Yaupon prevailed in a sensational performance. Had Firenze Fire finished first he most certainly would have been DQ'd, so it was best that the best horse won. This was so unusual I called several of the adults into the bedroom to watch this most unusual event.
This state-bred day on the Jersey Shore always features multiple stakes events and I seem to always do well on this day. But the highlight promised to be in the Del Mar feature late in the evening when Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit would run in the Shared Belief Stakes and face off with Santa Anita Derby Champion Rock Your World who bested the Derby winner which led to the big priced payoff of Bob Baffert's 6th Kentucky Derby champion. The first selection on the special Jersey Shore card saw me run a close 2nd at 2/1. Then in an entry level event I thought that Smithwick's Spice was as good as any IF you were willing to filter out his bad races. Listed at 7/2 in the early DRF program, nine of his running lines and Beyers would make him a legitimate favorite. But before the last break he ran poorly. Often if a poor effort is followed by a break it's indicative of an issue. But he came back off the break last time out and ran poorly. IF you could excuse it on the sloppy going AND the long layoff then you might have something. Pressed the pace to the turn, moved three-wide and drew off in the lane. But the best part, the crowd let him go off at better than 7/1 at post time! Wish I'd doubled the bet to cash big, but still collected over $40 with my first winner of the day.
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