It was a WONDERFUL weekend of racing from start to finish! Black Eyed Susan Day on Friday saw me score on five of ten selections including the BET of the Weekend. Saturday I played five tracks and hit on eleven more winners (from just twenty-five selections). And then unlike many big weekends where Sunday is a "return to reality" kind of handicapping day, I hit three out of six. Made money every day so this weekend has to go down as one of the best of the spring!
Black Eyed Susan Friday
You'd never have guessed the kind of weekend I was going to have by the way it started. The first race of the day & weekend say my pick leave the gate at 4/1 and run a dismal 13th, ouch. The second race was a maiden claiming event going six furlongs carrying a $40K price tag. I noted in my analysis that I could understand why you might not want to go with a firster in here, especially drawn on the rail, and most especially at a short price. But all that said, Brittany Russell's Run Reagan Run WAS the most likely winner in the field. She was scoring at 28% overall....24% with first timers and 26% with debut runners for a tag like Reagan. The filly had a dozen works listed (more than is typical for a first time starter) and the rider was a 40% winner for the barn. Broke sharply out of the gate, held a daylight advantage into the lane, and then held on as she tired late. I'd doubled the investment, and I was ahead on the money ledger, where I'd stay for the remainder of the three days!
Came right back in the second, a conditioned allowance going a mile and a sixteenth on the grass. The race seemed wide open to me and I did note that if Shug McGaughey's Never Explain was cold on the board I'd probably back off. Did not get hammered, but did draw support at 2/1 so I played along. Tracked the leaders while fourth on the rail under Flavian Prat. Tracked the 99/1 front runner into the turn, took command and ran on to win by daylight. Two-for-three!
Passed both the fourth and fifth, both allowance races which looked to have little to any runners with reason to bet with certainty. The crowd had it right in the third when the favorite romped, but in the fourth it was a 10/1 over a 13/1 over a 10/1 in the top three slots. The sixth was another conditioned allowance but I liked Another Woman in this sprint, a lot. The filly began her career for Bill Mott and had run a big figure second in her Gulfstream debut this winter, followed by a score at another big Beyer number. Tried a route to no avail and now moved to the aforementioned Brittany Russell barn. New arrivals to her shedrow win at a 40% clip! Good works, good connections....I looked for a big effort today. Tracked the leaders while fourth on the rail under Flavian Prat. Moved into the clear on the turn and blew by to open a decisive lead and drew off willingly for my third win on the card.
I was a disappointing fifth as the 3/2 favorite in the seventh and then a good second in the first stakes of the day, the Grade 3 Allaire Dupont going nine furlongs. Noteworthy, my second choice won the race at 2/1 while I was second at 3/2. The 9th was the Hilltop Stakes for 3yo fillies going a mile on the turf and it was my BET of the Weekend! Christophe Clement's Pizza Bianca had done nothing wrong in his four race career. Won at first asking at Saratoga in a two-turn turf MSW, and you know only the best juveniles debut at the Spa. Came back to be a best-of-the-rest 2nd in Woodbine's Gr 1 Natalma Stakes then WON the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. In her 3yo debut he forged to the front off the layoff but was nailed late by a quality Chad Brown runner. With one under her belt she looked like a "Free Bingo Square" in the multi-race wagers. She was patiently handled near the back, some ten lengths off the leaders onto the backside. Moved up into the turn then shot past into the lane and ran off as TONS the best. WHOOOO HOOOO! Hottie handicapper Acacia Clement (our girl from Gulfstream now married to the trainer's son) noted "We'll be having pizza tonight" to which I replied and got a response on Twitter.
My top pick scratched in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness and I was second at 8/5 in the The Very One Stakes (always a discussion how to say this..."the - THE Very One Stakes"). In the Grade 3 Pimlico Special going the Preakness distance of 9 1/2 furlongs, but this was for older handicap runners saw a field without a clear cut favorite in my opinion. I'd seen Shug McGaughey's First Captain run last spring and win his first three which led the Hall of Fame trainer to think his colt was a legitimate Travers contender. But when he couldn't handle the listed Curlin Stakes field in the prep for that he was stopped for the year. Won his 4yo debut in a life-and-death finish at GP but I was willing to say that was a race he wasn't fully cranked for. It was all about the promise of this one vs. the so-so credentials of the rest of the field. Tracked the leaders in fifth some five or six off the lead into the turn. Began moving up, was third into the stretch and wore down the even money favorite in the shadow of the wire. Best of all, he'd gone off at 5/1 and paid $12, so I cashed for $30 on my final winner of the day.
The crowd agreed with me in the featured Black Eyed Susan on Santa Anita Oaks runner-up Adare Manor and made her the tepid 2/1 favorite. I noted in my analysis that TO ME it looked like a showdown between that filly and Interstatedaydream who exited a good try in Keeneland's Grade 1 Ashland. I was second as the chalk behind the 6/1 winner.....yes, my second choice 'Daydream. Sigh.
Preakness Saturday
I had handicapped not only the stakes filled Pimlico card, but also my usual Monmouth Park card, and had added selections from both Churchill Downs and Belmont Park. Much like Friday I started a tad slowly with a pass race in the opener and then a 4th at 4/1 odds. In the third my choice was the 4/5 favorite and I ran 2nd, but Twin Spires was running a "Bet Back" today with up to $20 back on your WIN bet if you ran 2nd or 3rd, so it was a "win" as I got my money back.
The next at Pimlico was the first of the Saturday stakes races, the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint. There looked to be three very evenly matched contenders in here but I went with Jaxon Traveler who had sharp figures, had stakes experience AND had Joel Rosario riding for Steve Asmussen. I was delighted when the crowd did NOT make him the post time favorite. Right to the front, quickly clear through the turn. Challenged at the top of the lane but Rosario had plenty left and he spurted away again to score by open lengths. I came right back in the opener at Churchill Downs in a short four horse field going two turns. Was a little concerned when Naval Aviator was at the back of the pack through moderate fractions to the far turn, but once he kicked in he opened up to draw off to victory. The fifth at Pimlico was the Grade 3 Gallorette on the turf and I tried to beat the heavy favorite. Didn't but ran second, so I "won" again with the bet-back promotion!
Two scratches and three pass races took up the next forty minutes until it was post time for the fourth at Monmouth. It was a maiden special sprint that seemed to be all about Moving Pictures. The two to his inside had been BADLY beaten in their last, and the three outside of him were firsters from barns that were a combined 10-for-114. Unless one of them took money I liked the chances for Moving Pictures. After a slow start he rushed up the rail, shot through on the turn and drew clear in the lane. Lost a photo at Churchill that was oh-so-close and then it was post time for Monmouth's feature, the Politely Stakes. It was originally carded for five furlongs on the turf but it was now on the main track. That meant my top choice scratched, but my second choice, Robin Sparkles was ultra quick and I'd bet him both on the turf and on the main track where he'd won for me both times. Burst out of the gate and never gave anyone else a chance.
At this point in the day I'd bet on eight races.....won four of them and got my money back on two others. I'm having a good day! Ran 2nd and 5th in the next two picks before Played Hard ran off as easily best in the 4th at Churchill Downs. Three pass races took me to a half hour later and the Grade 2 Dinner Party, my Saturday BEST Bet. I'd seen Set Piece run - and had won with him three times - last year at Churchill Downs. And in all three - and in his close loss in a graded stakes at Saratoga - he'd come FLYING through the turn with an exciting burst of speed. I noted in my analysis, "I've seen this guy run and he WILL win!" Near the back to the far turn and then jockey Florent Geroux asked him. In a flash he'd circled the field, hit the front and was long gone! Could not believe my good fortune that the crowd let him go at better than 2/1 and I cashed for $62 - my "magic number" of sixty-two! I'm having a VERY good day.
Right back in the 7th at Monmouth where Frippet looked MUCH the best on paper in a two-turn MSW and he was easily best. Was third in the following race on the Jersey Shore then just failed to last with Cogburn in the Grade 3 Chick Lane Stakes at Pimlico. But the 2nd place finish in the sprint was my third "money back win" of the day. Three pass races, a 4th at even money at Belmont and then I was a very good third at 9/1 in the JW Murphy Stakes on the turf at Pimlico for my fourth "win" through the Twin Spires promotion.
The eighth at Churchill looked like another one of "those" races where it would be a "free bingo square" in the multi race wagers Runnin Ray had run three consecutive 90+ Beyers which topped the combined 84 lifetime starts of today's rivals. Right to the front and clear, but quickly became hounded by a 16/1 outsider. Still, 'Ray looked in hand as they hit the far turn. Then the longshot ramped up the pressure and actually put his head in front of the 2/5 favorite - yes, 2/5 - but 'Ray battled back, head up and head down stretch duel....PHOTO FINISH....
WHEW that was close for a 2-5 shot! Two pass races between this win and the 11th at Pimlico where I thought D.Wayne Lucas' colt Ethereal Road should prove best. He'd suffered three losses, but against what I thought were better. Close enough in those to earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby, but instead he will be a favorite answer to the trivia question, "What horse scratched OUT of the 2022 Kentucky Derby field to allow 80/1 longshot Rich Strike to get in and WIN the Derby?" My logic was if he was good enough for Derby consideration he certainly was good enough for a listed 3yo stakes like this. At the back approaching the turn he circled the field, was five wide into the stretch and then drew off to deliver as the favorite.
Missed at 6/5 at Churchill when it began POURING down rain as they got into the gate on the turf course, and again at Churchill when perennial runner-up 3yo Rattle N Roll was second, again as the 4/5 favorite. The twelfth at Pimlico was the Jim McKay Turf Sprint Stakes, named in honor of long time ABC sports host Jim McKay who was a native Marylander and always promoted Maryland racing. Carotari looked best barring any kind of bad luck. Filtering out the graded stakes on the page, in his last ten turf sprints he'd WON four, was 2nd beaten a neck, and third to a loose on the lead front runner. Luis Saez looked to be prominent from the get go from post two. Burst out of the gate, right to the front, never threatened as he ran away with it, carrying my triple investment wager for my TENTH win of the day.
The final win came in the tenth at Belmont in a six furlong turf sprint under entry level conditions. I liked that Deep Cover had run as well as anyone in his previous when he was "hard held while on heels" waiting for room to run. I thought with a cleaner trip he'd be a likely winner. I doubled the bet. Within the first 16th of a mile, after a clean start he was in front. And with each passing furlong he got farther and farther in front. I was DEEEEE-lighted as he was a big 9/2 on the board so I cashed out on my final win for $55!
In the Preakness I backed D.Wayne Lucas' Kentucky Oaks winner, Secret Oath against the colts. Made the exact same move on the turn like in the Gr 1 Arkansas Derby against the boys, looked like a winner - like that day in Hot Springs - and hung, running evenly, as she did in Arkansas, to finish fourth. But oh what a day it was as I scored with eleven picks and had another big profitable day.
Sunday at Monmouth
I often say, and always wonder after a big weekend about having picks on Sunday. After a big day I just hate to have an "off day" that brings the weekend's numbers down. But I have learned that over the long haul I win as often as any other day, so you never know. And today was one of "those" days where I was so happy to have played. Missed in the 2nd when Paco Lopez wired the field at a generous 5/2 price - oh, how I hate to miss on that guy who wins ALL the time here. Then in the third, a MSW on the grass Tap the Gavel looked way too good for these. Even with two Chad Brown runners and a Todd Pletcher runner. But Paco was on board 'Gavel instead of riding for the "big boys." Pressed the pace to the turn and took off easily with my triple investment....and I'm ahead for the day! Was second at 5/2 when Catania came too late with her rally in the fourth.
Then in a "bonus play," my "Best of the Day" was in the Sunday Belmont feature, the Seek Again Stakes. Most Sundays I look at the entries to see if anyone I "know" is running or if there's an "obvious pick. Here, in a short field, Chad Brown's graded stakes placed Juddmonte colt, Masen, looked easily best. The five horse field was reduced to three with late scratches. Pressed the pace to the top of the lane and then under a hand ride, drew off by a pole. Belmont just givin' away money!
Three races I didn't like before I was a fading fourth as the 2/5 favorite in a starter allowance. Then the finale, and the story of this Sunday afternoon. To me it seemed so very obvious. And I was surprised to see Jose Delgado's runner, The Critical Way listed at 7/2 in the official program. CERTAINLY everyone would see what I saw. Scan down through his past performances....
Toss the bottom race run on the main track. The next ten turf sprints resulted in SIX WINS, two 2nd, and a third....ALL in stakes races. And note he last two races HERE he'd won stakes events, including last year's edition of this Get Serious Stakes as the short-priced favorite. OK, maybe you're concerned about the first off the layoff back in December at Tampa where he was "pulled up and walked off" - that can't be good. But since then he's worked fine, and then when returning here he earned a sharp bullet from the gate on May 4th, then a blistering, best-of-58 bullet move on May 12. Obviously, OBVIOUSLY he's ready to go over a course we know he really likes! He's certain to go off the favorite today, I thought, but maybe we get a "fair price" of 8/5 or maybe even 9/5 instead of last year's 4/5 price. The loaded into the gate and immediately jockey Angel Rodriguez was clear of the field by daylight. As they hit the turn the closest pursuers were a 3/1 horse who looked to be going evenly and a 20/1 outsider. Meanwhile The Critical Way looked to be well in hand as they hit the top of the lane. Rodrigues shook the reins and the multiple stakes winning sprinter burst clear to win going away. The best, THE VERY BEST part ..... he'd left the gate at a huge 4/1 price. Oh my! Cashed for over $50 on my final winner of the weekend!
WOW I had a great three days :) The final numbers:
41 / 19 - 10 - 3 46.3% WINS $2.69 ROI PROFIT: $157
Preakness Weekend Racing Highlights
Preakness Fashion Pics
Social Media This Week
The first five social media interactions of the week all came from my CBS-4 anchor girls, and all when they did pieces on our Florida Panthers who were moving into the second round of the playoffs. Lost BOTH home games, the latter in a heart-breaker with 3.8 seconds left. I thought it was cool that after I'd reached out to Lauren initially on her piece that it was also "liked" by Panthers announcer Steve Goldstein, then later SHE reached out to me to tell me she HAD said "Go Panthers" only to have her mic cut out before she said it :)
On Friday, as I mentioned in the journal, I exchanged comments with Acacia regarding the Clement filly winner, my BEST BET of the weekend.
And finally, the usual Saturday night Facebook chat with Karli Barnett took place on Sunday this week, and I popped in for a quick hello to both she and meteorologist Jennifer Correa.
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