And so we began the Fall Championship season, and typically I play only on Saturdays and not every weekend. My original plan was NOT to play this weekend, but then I saw that Canterbury Park in Minnesota was running their "Festival of Champions" night with six stakes. So I thought I'd play there while I watched college football. But then I saw the first post was not until early evening AND that Pimlico was opening with three stakes. So I planned to play just those two. And THEN I got an email informing me that one of MY horses, Going To Vegas was running Saturday evening at Del Mar in the Grade 2 Mabee Stakes, so I handicapped Del Mar as well. In the end I had eighteen plays from early afternoon until almost 10 pm. Here's how the day played out.....
The first bet of the day came at Pimlico where I thought any of the top three program choices COULD win this 2yo allowance sprint. But what separated Super Chow from the other two for me was that he'd won his debut impressively - like the other two - but had then run third in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special after dueling through hot splits. The other two were an impressive last out maiden winner and a horse who'd won his maiden strongly, then ran 2nd in a restricted Colonial Stakes. Super Chow dueled all the way to the lane, was headed, but came back and then drew off.
Made a bold move in the All Along Stakes with the even money favorite Plum Ali, but the front runner had gone :26 and :52 early and was too far gone to catch. Ran second at Del Mar then ran second with Jaxon Traveler in the Lite The Fuse before running 4th at Del Mar in an allowance. Got my second win with my Pimlico Best in the Grade 2 Baltimore-Washington Invitational Turf Cup. Brad Cox's Set Piece COULD be viewed as in declining form, but his last had been a solid fourth IN A GRADE 1. I've had him before and I know that he rallies from the back. Through the far turn, through moderate splits he was well in hand to the top of the lane. Asked while going six wide into the lane. The acceleration was immediate and he blew by as much the best.
And interestingly.....before I started the day I checked to see if Twin Spires was offering any "Bet Back" races, and they were, but only at Canterbury. Then it occurred to me that Pimlico is a 1st Bet/Xpressbet track so I went into that account and saw they were offering a $10 refund if you ran 2nd or 3rd. It's just me, I get it....but I don't like to play the races on two separate platforms. But then I told myself that was silly, so I deposited money back into my Xpressbet account and played the Pimlico bets there. Went 2-for-4 and BOTH of the losses ran 2nd so I got my money back. I'm so clever some times!
Ran second at odds on in the next two bets, the first the Northern Lights Debutante for 2yo fillies at Canterbury when Thnders Rocknroll was 2/5 and led into the lane before being run down. Then at Del Mar I had three Bob Baffert 2yo to choose from and I picked the wrong one, second at even money. At this point it was 7 pm and I had played eight races, only won two, ran second in FIVE and fourth in the other. At least I'd had college football to keep me occupied and happy. But then I went on a tear. Over the next three hours I had ten races....WON SEVEN and ran 2nd in two and third in the other :) Kicked off the sequence with a win in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf with Commanche Country. The first thing I liked about this filly was I'd had bet her and won when she made her North American debut here at Del Mar a month ago. The second thing that I liked about her was that she was a Euro import, with experience on THIS course around two turns. The other Euros I liked had run all their races on the straight away. Commance came running into the lane and mowed them all down at a generous 2/1 and change allowing me to cash for over $15 on a minimum bet. Came right back in a maiden race when Elle's Lil Diva ran off by nearly a dozen lengths.
Looked long gone in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante but got nailed in the final fifty yards to be second at 3/5. Next up was the Princess Elaine Turf Distaff at Canterbury, which was my BEST BET in Minnesota. She was gunning for her sixth win in a row and looked to sit the ideal trip. She was up close, but pinned in on the rail through the far turn. Got a seam, hit open ground and flew by to edge clear late. Two wins at Canterbury and five for the day!
MY personal horse Going to Vegas didn't get a chance to run her race and was a solid third despite the trip and coming off a 3 1/2 month layoff. I was glad that the other horse I considered, who was the 3/5 favorite, also didn't win. Next up was the Blair's Cove Turf Championship at Canterbury, the male counterpart to the Princess Elaine. Unlike that added money event, this one looked WIDE open. I agreed with DRF handicapper that Stitzy rated an edge and one good enough to bet on, but he made this one his BEST BET of the Day. I wouldn't go that far. He had paired figures, and was a 7x turf winner AND had not faced state-breds like this at any time showing on his pp's. Shot right to the front and was clear by open lengths into the far turn. Held firm into the lane, they came running and he had another gear and held on to win. The BEST part was he'd been wavering between 4/1 and 9/2 as they went into the gate, but when they hit the far turn his odds showed at an inflated 7/1. Oh my! Wishing I'd upped the bet, but still on the minimum play I collected over $40 :)
The eighth in Minnesota was the Northern Lights Futurity and if It's Bob's Business ran anything close to his debut he was going to be a runaway winner. He was a prohibitive 1/9 in the early betting. The on air analysts said he clearly LOOKED to be the most talented, but what IF he didn't get out of the gate well from the "1-hole" and/or someone went with him. Maybe he'd be vulnerable, and that's exactly what had happened with Thunders Rocknroll earlier in the Debutante. The gates opened and the field was away, except for 'Bob who was dead last. Oh, that's great. But the rider smartly led the colt get his feet under him, and as they approached the turn he began to pick off horses. Split rivals on mid turn and now my eyes widened because it was obvious he had a full head of steam and had not hit a wall from trying to make up ground. BLEW BY and ran off by half a dozen in hand. WOW, that was impressive! Made 1/5 look like, as Announcer Pete says, "EEEEEEASSSY Money!" Minutes later Flavian Prat guided Kitty Katana through a narrow opening on the rail in the finale at Del Mar and scored in a Maiden Special turf event for my eighth win of the day.
The ninth at Canterbury was the Minnesota Sprint and I did NOT like the favorite who looked like a route runner to me. Dr. Oscar was my upset choice and he went right to the front at 3/1. Was clear at the furlong marker but got caught late, but ran second. In the late night finale it was the Minnesota Distaff Sprint. While there were several locals that could win, it appeared that invader Charlie's Penny would prove best. She'd run big races at the Fair Grounds in 2020-21, then wasn't seen for 18 months. WOW. Came back and ran second in a stakes, with a number that matched her career top. Just missed in the latest, but that was on the turf - her first on the grass. Now she was third off the bench with two local works. Tracked the leader to the top of the lane and was let loose. Ran away by nearly a pole to give me my ninth win of the day and fifth at Canterbury.
AND....you'll recall at the beginning I noted that Twin Spires had a "Bet Back" promotion.....so that meant that BOTH Thunders Rocknroll and Dr. Oscar were refunded to me (although only got $10 of the $15 on the former) so for the day I won 9-of-18 and had four other races where I also cashed. 50% WINS - who can question that? :) AND a net profit approaching $100. It was a GREAT day at the track!!!
Minnesota Festival of Champions Night Highlights
Social Media
The day before I left Ohio I saw on both Twitter and Facebook that CBS-4 was looking for viewers' response to the announcement that FPL was raising the rates. The post said to email weekend anchor Karli Barnett, so I did and she wrote me back......
Later in the week our gal-pal Michelle posted she was going to go back into the classroom, and she posted a photo of her with glasses on. I commented that I liked the "Professor" look :) And then I remarked to her that I would gladly do my homework if she were my teacher :)
No comments:
Post a Comment