Saturday October 30
Today I was planning to be on track at Keeneland as part of my visit to Ohio, and I was looking forward to heading back to Europe on a Viking river cruise in about ten days. Well, as they say, the best laid plans.... I did make it to Ohio, but the other two plans fell through. The trip to Europe we were very excited about, but last Sunday I saw news reports out of Romania, where our trip was beginning, that the virus situation had declined - and the vaccination rate was so low - that schools were closing for two weeks, employers were told to work at 50% labor force, and a 10 pm curfew was instituted with all restaurants and bars closing at 9 pm. Just didn't seem like the right decision to go forward with the trip. So Kim and I cancelled and used the money to book a July trip to Paris and the beaches of Normandy. Unfortunately, because we'd been so sure we were going, I'd needed to move my eye injection up to Wednesday - the day before I flew to Ohio - just two weeks after the last one, so I'd be good to go while in Europe. Flew to Ohio Thursday and maybe it was the fact that this had been just two weeks after the last shot...maybe it was that the day after the shot was NOT a "take it easy day" .... maybe it was the rain....but regardless on Friday morning going to get coffee in Ohio in the dark I had a difficult time seeing the road. And it just made me wonder why I was going to drive 3 1/2 hours to Kentucky - in the rain....to be on my feet all day in 50 degree weather, in the rain....to get in the car and drive 3 1/2 hours back in the rain, IN THE DARK. So I backed out and played the races online. Here's how the day played out for me.......
In the second at Keeneland the race was a nine furlong turf event for two-year-old maiden fillies. So the first question was were we on the turf? Secondly, this was one of the very first races, nationally, where juveniles were being asked to go a mile and an eighth. Who could get the distance, and who would run their race on the dirt...a wet track to boot? I gave the edge to Freedom Rose who had been two turns twice, albeit on the grass. But she was a daughter of Constitution so she should have not problem with dirt or the distance. And IF that were the case, her last two Beyers were not only "paired" figures, which would indicate today she'd move forward, but they were clearly MUCH better than anything else the rest of the field had ever run. The only question for me was what kind of ride we'd get from Javier Castellano who often times, these days, seems clueless on how to put his horse in the best position to win. Complicate this with the outside draw. But today he gave his filly a Hall of Fame ride by pressing the leader to the far turn, glided easily to the front and opened up by more than half a dozen in the lane to win in hand under the wire. Doubled the bet based on the numbers and cashed out on the first winner for nearly $40! WHOO HOOO!
Right back in the very next race on the sheet, this one the first of the NY-bred stakes races on New York Showcase Day, the Sleepy Hollow Stakes for 2yo colts. I preferred Shipsational who'd won two of three, the most recent being a 7f NY-bred stakes like this....but today they were all going a one-turn mile and none of them had ever gone this far before. The main rival looked to be Todd Pletcher's last out debut winner Overstep who was the favorite in the DRF morning line. I noted in my analysis that should that one take a lot of money I reserved the right to switch the selection. And when I flipped from the Keeneland page to the Belmont page to see the betting, Overstep WAS the short-priced favorite....at time listed at 4/5 to 2/1 for Shipsational. Hmmmm, what to do. So I checked the double and multi-race payoffs and discovered that Shipsational was the slight favorite in all those pools. For me that confirmed my initial selection, so I went with him. He dueled with that one to the far turn, put him away and was clear into the lane and I thought I was home free. But the favorite came charging again. Too little, too late and I scored. Shipsational had taken late money and while the Pletcher colt was the 4/5 favorite, my pick went off at 6/5 so I cashed for just a little shy of $25. Suddenly I've won two races and am ahead for the day.
Didn't cash again until about three hours later in The Empire Classic, and it was my "Belmont Best Bet" on Todd Pletcher's Americanrevolution. The colt had debuted with a fourth place finish, but then was moved to Pletcher's care. He promptly won his maiden, then showed so much promise that he was sent to the New York Derby for state-breds, which he won. Next out he cruised in the Albany Stakes at Saratoga. Was a decisive winner and the runner-up was a dozen clear of the rest of the field. He so impressed the connections that they decided to go for the gusto and sent him not only into open company but to the $1 Million Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. He finished a sharp third behind two Triple Crown, graded stakes winners. Now back in state-bred company in a listed stakes he looked to be odds on, not the 3/1 listing in the DRF early line. Sat third right behind the front runners to the far turn then coasted to the front and ran away as much, MUCH the best!
And proving my often written about adage, in the Keeneland finale, I scored with my BET of the Day on Famed. What made this a "unique" play is that I've often said the race does NOT have to be a Grade 1 $1 Million Breeders' Cup race to be a "Bet of the Day" investment. Such was the case with this maiden event for two-year-olds going the "about seven furlong" trip that Keeneland offers from time to time. In his debut Famed was a best-of-the-rest second, finishing SEVEN in front of the show runner and had earned a figure that was the length of the stretch faster than anyone else in the field here. My advice in my analysis, "....take the short price and cash out on the finale...." Famed broke a step slowly, but quickly assumed command before they'd gone a quarter of a mile. He took some pressure to the far turn, then effortlessly opened up and won geared down by so many lengths that the rest of the field wasn't even on the TV screen!
Sunday I looked for any standouts and didn't find any, but mid-afternoon I turned on "America's Day At The Races" - largely because it was Opening Day at Churchill for the November Meet and as I watched I found three runners I liked enough based on the comments of the analysts to bet them. Won two of three :)
Penny Saver EASILY In The 8th at Churchill
Social Media Buzz
On Tuesday what turned out to be a very busy "social week" - it's funny how in today's world so much of my / our contact with friends is through the social media. Most if not all of these people I consider pretty good friends of mine but I'd never email them individually or call them on the phone. But to reach out via social media and have them respond back is almost "expected," even if it's just that they acknowledge me and not actually "talk." The first encounter came with my sweet pal Mishelle. She posted a new profile photo where, as you can see, she looks so pretty. As we talked she revealed to me that she had recently divorced so her retirement and our "wine date" would be postponed. So I offered that we needed to celebrate her new life and happiness to which she was most agreeable.
No comments:
Post a Comment