Delaware Handicap Week

 July 7 - 10

What a great week of racing!  And it's funny because in looking ahead to the week there really wasn't anything big on the calendar except for the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on Saturday where none of the really big stars were slated to run.  I started the week by looking at Canterbury's races for Thursday evening and had four picks from eight races.  But the last two were on the turf and it was a sloppy track and we were off the track.  So I ran 2nd and then won a photo finish with a triple investment to start the week.  On Friday I played just Monmouth and won two races from four picks.  So heading into the weekend I'd gone 3-for-6 and had made a whopping $2.50.  But as I told Kim, better to have had fun and been ahead than to have had fun and had no money to show for it.  Saturday there were a few big stakes events at Belmont where it was closing weekend.  And it was Indiana Derby weekend at Horseshoe Indianapolis (formerly Indiana Grande).  I didn't see any big names there, but I wanted to play if for no other reason than to hear John G. Dooley call the races.  He typically calls them in the winter at the Fair Grounds then in the summer at Arlington.  But with Arlington sold off for real estate value by Churchill Downs, Inc. he was out of a job until they hired him.  I've met him twice and he recommended one of our favorite TV series last winter that we just finished watching the tenth and final season.

I started off with a win in the opener at Indiana then was 2nd in the first stakes event on the Delaware card when I thought the winner should have at least been objected to.  But what ever.  I was a run away winner at Monmouth with Rough Sea who entered the back stretch towards the back of a compact field but was much the best through the lane.  The weather had been stormy in Delaware so all but one race was off the turf.  This suited me because in their fourth race Bad To The Bones was a big time play on the off going to win his maiden.  He ran away as the favorite and I had my third winner.  Second at Belmont after getting squeezed to last at the start, sigh.  Then the first stakes at Horseshoe Indianapolis was the Indiana General Assembly Distaff going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf.  I thought Mark Casse's Hendy Woods would be a legitimate favorite.  Her pp's showed seven graded tries, two in Gr 1 company.  The other five resulted in a 5/3-1-0 resume.  She had "paired" Beyers and it looked like it would take a lifetime best figure to beat her from her rivals.  She swung wide into the lane and had to catch two that had had dream trips saving ground.  Came to the wire....PHOTO finish.  At first I thought I won; then I was pretty sure I lost.  The third look, eehhhhhh - maybe?  DEAD HEAT!  I'll take it.

Missed four in a row before Odramark wired a turf sprint field on the Jersey Shore for my fifth win of the day.  A no-show effort in a stakes at Indiana before it was time for the feature race of the weekend, the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap going the classic mile and a quarter distance.  Two rivals faced off for the third time and what I thought was interesting about Miss Leslie and Battle Bling was that in both their previous races, one had been the favorite and had lost to the other.  Today though, Miss Leslie just looked way, WAY better to me.  She pressed the pace in the clear three wide into the turn.  Sling-shotted to the front into the lane and ran away as much the best with my triple investment on board.  WHOOOO HOOOOO.

After a 4th in one of the Belmont stakes it was time for the Monmouth feature, the Jersey Girl.  I'd listed Bramble Bay as my choice but had some questions.  In the pre-race show she was described as the "obvious short-priced favorite" and on the board now she was being pounded.  So I doubled the bet.  She was a runaway winner.  Smart of me to up the ante!

Ran 2nd in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at Belmont, but got my money back thanks to the Twin Spires "Bet Back" promotion.

The last three races on my sheet were from Horseshoe Indianapolis and were the three "big races" on their card.  The first two of which were my BEST Bets of the Day.  In the JB Schuster Stakes on the turf, I thought you were simply foolish or "playing for value" if you bet on anyone but Ivar.  OK, he'd not been seen since early November, but when he last ran he was third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile against the best mile turf runners in the world.  He'd run six triple digit numbers in his last seven starts and the only non-triple digit beat all 221 combined numbers posted by ten of his eleven rivals.  Oh.  The horse on the rail was the lone danger, but his last three wins - since July 2020 - had all come against restricted rivals.  Ivar had run, won and/or been competitive in graded stakes, four in Gr 1 races.  Just found it hard to imagine him losing.  The pace was hot and there were five of them up close heading into the far turn and another half dozen way back.  That left Ivar in the perfect "garden spot" about a half dozen off the dueling pace-setters.  On the turn jockey Joe Talamo gave him the cue and he began gathering momentum effortlessly.  At the top of the lane he was asked to run and within a furlong he'd blown by the field, then was geared down to win going away.  Powerful and with my PRIME TIME bet on board.

I got a text from my youngest son Brad then that he was up for the day with the BEST of the Day coming up and he congratulated my handicapping :)  The BET of the WEEKEND was next in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks where Brad Cox was sending out Interstatedaydream.  Her resume was dazzling, and LIGHT years better than her rivals as she exited a win in the Grade 2 Black Eyed Susan.  She dueled on the front, appeared to be headed through the first 16th of a mile heading for home, then was asked to finish off the job and spurted away as a daylight winner.  My phone immediately "dinged" as my son said, "Easy money!"  :)  Horray for us!

Ran 2nd in the Indiana Derby but finished the day a sharp 9-for-20 on the day with a clear profit.  As I've commented several times in my journals, I often wonder about handicapping / playing the races on Sunday.  I often have a big day on Saturday and then end the week with a so-so, or worse a losing day.  But then there are days like today where I won four of six and topped the day off with a prime time, BEST BET of the Day win in the featured Irish War Cry Stakes at Monmouth!

For the week I had amazing numbers!

Next week Saratoga opens and I'll be playing each day with my "Blue Chip Trainer Angles" as well as the "40% Club" plays.  AND next Saturday Kim and I head off to the Great Lakes for a week long sailing adventure on Viking Expeditions!

Delaware Handicap Week Highlights

Social Media......

For the most part this week my "contact" with "my friends" was largely me reaching out and then they would "like" the contact.  But I did have two really cool interactions this week.  Early in the week gal-pal and weekend anchor Karli Barnett posted a story about how busy travel had been over the 4th of July.  I replied to her (and CBS) that we were going to begin traveling again and sent a collage of our trips.  She replied back about how cool those trips looked.  I so enjoy that she takes time to interact with me as a social media friend :)

Former WHS student Jen Greb was on vacation with her family and liked my comment of how cute she and her daughters looked.

One of the best stories from my WISE program days at Cypress Bay was Erica Rakow who told me she wanted to get into TV journalism.  Became a Broward Teen News anchor as part of and because of my program.  Then went to the University of Florida and majored in Journalism.  Became a reporter and an anchor on both the NBC and ABC local stations before "retiring" to be a full time Mom.  She was always one of the cutest girls in class and as you can see, she is still so adorable - as are her children.

Former teaching pal/counselor Mishele posted about her day biking and we exchanged comments.

Reached out to my "original" gal-pal / anchor Lauren Pastrana who liked my comment.

The second very cool interaction came with former student and my "Disney Girl" Amanda.  We text back and forth often, and when we do it's for an extended period of time.  I reached out to her and said I was thinking of her and she replied the same before we "chatted" for about an hour.

Managed to get into Karli's chat on Facebook on Saturday for a moment.  And when I watched the replay of the video, and you can say it's just my imagination, but if you watch it...when she says "Hi" to everyone, she smiles.  But when it's "Mark" there's a noticeable big smile and different kind of reaction.  Even if it IS in my imagination, it's real to me :)

Finally, on Sunday evening I tuned into the local news and there was my girl.  I thought she had a cute "Irish green" dress on so I snapped a pic and sent it.  Again, might not mean much to you, but her reply.  She could have simply not replied, or simply "liked" the comment/pic.  Or sent a generic "thanks for tuning in."  But instead she opened her text box, got a heart to send....THEN had to change the color of the heart so that it matched the shamrocks she sent.  More than just a "like" and it's appreciated by her "good friend" here :)