Spring-Summer-Fall Kicks Off For 2022

 Opening Weekend at Keeneland

With the close of the winter racing season last weekend it's time to turn our attention to the Triple Crown Season and this second weekend of April brings about the last three big prep races for the Kentucky Derby.  Keeneland opened on Friday under very unusual weather circumstances as it rained, snowed, sleeted, and hailed.  And - take note Gulfstream Park management - they stayed on the turf!  All day the racing as unpredictable as the weather with double digit payoffs littering the landscape.  And so we headed into the first graded stakes of the spring, the Grade 3 Transylvania for 3yo on the turf with a lot of questions.  First, obviously, the condition of the ground.  Then, it was a short field of six with no clear cut pace scenario.  I could make a case, and did so in my analysis, for four of the six.  But I landed on the unbeaten Graham Motion colt Sy Dog on the strength of his "paired" figures.  With all the others being nearly equal, it was the one factor that said to me he had a legitimate chance to move forward today.  Down the backstretch he was last of the half dozen and the pace, as I anticipated was moderate.  But he began to move approaching the turn and picked off runners while circling the field some four wide.  Into the stretch he was five wide and got on even terms with the leaders with a furlong to go and then edged clear.  The best news.....from a morning line of 3/1 he floated all the way up to 5/1 and paid a very generous $13.40.  With my double investment bet - through TwinSpires - he paid nearly $70 and I was guaranteed a winning day, even though I finished 1-for-6 on the afternoon.

Saturday I had selections from Keeneland, Aqueduct, and Santa Anita for their big cards and seventeen of my twenty-five selections were stakes races, THIRTEEN of them graded events.  The weather was even more "off the wall" today than yesterday and it led to the third race coming off the turf, but note GP management all the other turf races were run on the grass!  I was ready for the move to the main track and had narrowed that down to two main track contenders.  My betting choice got pounded late to 1/5 favoritism.  Ran 2nd behind my other choice who won at a big 7/1 price.  And THAT in a nutshell summed up the first half of the day as I skidded through nine straight losses (five of with were 2nd or 3rd place finishes, three of which were odds on).  Sigh....  Finally got a win in the second at Santa Anita, the six and a half furlong Echo Eddie Stakes.  Smuggler's Run had lured a minimum bet because in this short field of five he was the fastest and in best form, BUT his last three figures had been earned on the turf.  The only thing that made me bet him, especially at a short price was that his debut had been a runaway score on the dirt.  Tracked the leaders confidently through the turn and then took off as clearly the best and I finally was cashing a ticket.

Missed on two more before it was time for the eighth at Keeneland, a five and a half furlong turf dash in the Grade 2 Shakertown.  Golden Pal was going to be a prohibitive favorite and barring his not taking to the soft going, he WAS going to go right to the front and he WAS going to win.  As analyst Caton Bradar said on the TVG broadcast, we'd know in the first jumps out of the gate.  Sure enough, the gates opened and immediately Golden Pal was daylight clear.  Trainer Wesley Ward has said many times he's the best horse he's EVER trained and he showed it again today.  Never being asked and wiring the field for fun as my prime time bet.  

Thought I had another easy winner when prohibitive favorite Adare Manor swept to the front in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks at 3/5 odds, but then gave way to a big upset winner at the top of the lane and finished second.  The eighth at Aqueduct was the Grade 2 Wood Memorial and my pick was Todd Pletcher's Mo Donegal who I thought had a big chance here.  I was intrigued with Acacia Courtney's early co-host said of all the races all over the country he was most interested in seeing Chad Brown's Early Voting run in this race today.  That one went right to the front was clear into the stretch but in a thrilling finish, Mo Donegal split horses, took dead aim and nailed him in the final strides to punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby!

Less than a half hour later it was time for the next 3yo Derby prep, the Bluegrass from Keeneland.  I thought the field could be narrowed, but not without a lot of confidence.  I settled on Chad Brown's Zandon who had lost a heart-breaking and somewhat controversial Grade 2 Remsen Stakes to end his 2yo season to Mo Donegal - ironically who I'd just cashed on in the Wood - when that one came in on him more than once through the stretch but survived the INQUIRY.  Zandon kicked off his 3yo season in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds where he was my bet, but he hopped in the air at the start and was too far back, but closed bravely to be third.  With a better break I thought he could win today.  He was near the back again today but moved into contention turning for home, and then in the most powerful stretch kick I've seen of the spring he blew by to win handily going away.  I'd doubled the bet so I collected another $30+ to my Twin Spires account.

Less than fifteen minutes later we were back at Aqueduct for the seven furlong Grade 1 Carter Handicap.  And I wrote in my analysis and told Keith - who was watching with me - that the "Best Bet" of the day was to take ANYBODY BUT my top choice, Speaker's Corner.  And the reason for that is because in that one's last two (if not three) starts I've been completely against him and was convinced he was over rated.  When he won both his last two at Gulfstream and drew rave reviews, even the comment that he would next be seen in Gr 1 competition, I immediately remarked he was NOT that good and would be a play against.  But after looking over the race I reluctantly made him the bet here.  But five of his last six Beyers would beat 116 of the 118 lifetime figures earned by the rest of the field, and both those looked out of place.  He pressed the pace three wide through the far turn and it was oh so obvious that the jockey had a strong hold on him.  He took off at the top of the stretch without the rider ever moving.  OK, he IS that good.  I admit the error in my ways.  :)

Got the final winner of the day in the Grade 2 Royal Heroine at Santa Anita.  Going Global was coming off a layoff, and it IS a horse race.  But besides that, uh no.....she'd won five of six turf starts since coming to the US and those included a Gr1, a Gr 2 and three Gr 3 races while going 4-for-4 over the Santa Anita turf course.  Oh.  That she paid $2.40 was still stealing as she rolled impressively.

Next week there aren't many big stakes but I'll have some wagers for sure!

Social Media.....

Monday was the NCAA Basketball Tournament Final and typically following the tournament is the only time I watch college basketball.  But this year I've had little to no interest.  But in the championship tonight it was North Carolina (which I like because two of my gal pals, mother-daughter duo Shari & Danielle Bush are big fans) faced off against Kansas (which I like because on of the sweetest gal-pals I have, Shelly, is an alumni and we've had that connection ever since my oldest worked there).  I watched the last half of the second half and when Kansas won in a thrilling finish I reached out to Shelly who responded back.

This week I was "reunited" with good gal-pal Lauren Pastrana, the evening anchor for CBS-4.  It's been a while since we've "communicated" but this week not once, not twice, but three times not only were we connected but she took time out WHILE ON THE ANCHOR DESK to write back to me :)  I enjoy that a lot.  When I turned on the news on Wednesday Lauren sat on the desk in a very bright and attractive blue print dress that caught my eye.  I reached out to her and she replied right back - not just a like, but wrote her thanks back to me.

The very next day I turned on the news around 6 pm (an hour after it had started) and she and co-anchor Elliot Rodriquez were standing in front of the big screen.  Typically Lauren is in a very nice dress or a cute skirt & top combo.  But today she was in a hot pink (because SHE'S HOT!) pants suit.  And that she wasn't in a dress/skirt caught my eye, so again I reached out to her.  That was at 6:21 as she was reporting the news.  At 6:25, just four minutes later - again in the midst of being on air - she not only "liked" my comment but took time to write a "lengthy" reply and explained why she was in pants today1

Finally, on Friday Lauren posted a shout-out to the Miami Heat for being first in the Eastern Conference of the NBA.  I immediately pointed out that our very own Florida Panthers were also in first.  And again, not just a like or a "thank you," but a full blown comment and she told me she wished she could go to a game.  I'd offer to take her with my "second ticket," but I'd probably have a hard time explaining to my wife why I was taking hottie Lauren instead of her, LOL.  So I offered to loan her my jersey if she went :)

The last contact of the weekend came on Saturday.  I'll so miss hottie handicapper Acacia Courtney-Clement at Gulfstream, but I follow her on the "America's Day At The Races" broadcasts on Fox Sports.  Sure enough, when the big Wood Memorial telecast came on air there was our girl.  I took a photo of her while watching in the "Simulcast Center" and sent it to her and she "liked" it back.