Summit of Speed / Canada Day / Foster Day
Saturday was a HUGE stakes day around the country. In years past I would most certainly have been AT the races here in So Fla. For many years the highlight day of the summer at Calder was "Summit of Speed" Day where there were multiple stakes races, all sprints and at least two of them were graded events. The big name riders, trainers & horses would come down for the weekend and it was fun to be the center of the racing world. When racing shifted permanently to Gulfstream they continued with this big summer day and I can remember as recently as four years ago being on track for the multiple stakes events, spending the day betting the races then meeting my most favorite former student and now adult gal-pal Kimmy for dinner afterwards. But this year the "Summit of Speed" was A race - yes, one race - the Grade 3 Smile Sprint. Ok, so there was a listed event on Sunday.....what used to be the Bobby Umphrey Turf Sprint was simply the Bob Umphrey Sprint because we're not doing turf racing, again, this summer as the turf course is being redone, again like last year. WOW. The racing kicked off at around 12:30 when I missed at Laurel but then I won the opener at Delaware. This was a nw3L sprint and I was surprised none of the public handicappers even listed Need A Marker as a choice. She was lightly race with only seven starts, had won two and been on the board in five....ALL in open company. Everyone else had raced at some point in restricted races like this. She pressed the pace three wide through the turn, opened up and held off the late closers to score at better than 2/1.
Missed three more before getting back in the winner's circle, and again it was at Delaware Park. The second race here was a second level allowance sprint. Chicks Dig Scars had run three consecutive Beyers that beat every lifetime best on the page save one which had been earned last November against cheap claimers. Tracked the 6/1 front runner into the lane, surged to the front and won comfortably enough as the prohibitive favorite.
Over the next hour I had EIGHT "Pass" races, ran 2nd in three events and missed the board in three others. One of the second place finishes came in the American Derby at Ellis Park where I "cashed" on $10 of the $15 bet thanks to a "bet back" promotion. Got my first stakes win in Delaware's Alopasca Stakes despite the fact that my top choice scratched out. Only four runners were left in the field and when I noted how much money Lightning Larry was taking in the early betting I pulled up the past performances. Compared to the other three he deserved to be odds-on. Pressed the front runner through the turn, got to the front.....dueled to inside the 16th pole and then finally edged clear with Paco Lopez doing the piloting here today, in from his usual Jersey Shore home base.
Another hour past and EIGHT losses in a row to show for it. I told myself, "Hang in there, you KNOW the wins WILL come." And they started about quarter after 3pm. The first of the many stakes races at Ellis Park - which had been transferred from Churchill Downs - was the Kelly's Landing. IF we were running in Louisville I'm pretty sure I would have made Bango a BIG TIME bet (maybe $50) because he LOVES that track and his next win will make him the all time leading winner at Churchill with ten wins. But we were at Ellis, so that had to be a consideration. Still, he just looked so much the best. He had back-to-back triple digit Beyers that were nearly "paired" - indicating he'd probably run even better today. And Tyler Gaffalione was on board. I noted that in all the wins showing on the page for Bango, Tyler G had been riding. Right to the front but pressured all the way into the lane. Dueled without ever giving way and edged clear late with my "prime time" wager on board!
At Gulfstream I truly DID think My Shea D Lady looked best in their sixth, a MSW for 2yo. But I must also admit that I WANTED this filly to win because like several horses who share the "Shea D" in their name, they always remind me of my gal-pal Kimmy's partner in crime and also one of my most favorite formers, Christy who's Facebook "handle" is "Sea Shadey." The filly tracked the pace through the far turn, rallied wide and drew off as handily the best.
"My girl Shea D Lady" had no longer crossed the finish line before they were loading into the gate at Woodbine for the first of their graded stakes, the Grade 3 Marine for 3yos - a prep for the rich Queen's Plate - the Canadian version of the Kentucky Derby - later this summer. Chad Brown's Turf King was my choice here. He'd debuted with a sharp win over the GP synthetic then won on the turf before last time out trying the Jersey Derby, finishing third. Despite the last two being on the grass I believed that Brown would not have sent his colt north of the border, stepping up in class to a Grade 3, to run on the synthetic unless he felt he had a good shot at it. He was well back into the far turn, then began picking off runners. Hit the top of the longest stretch in North America and shot through a very narrow opening along the rail to get to the front and edge clear!
A distant 6th at Monmouth interrupted my winning ways before I was back "in" New Castle, Delaware for the Grade 3 R.G. Dick Memorial on the turf. This eleven furlong marathon event looked to me to come down to one of the two former European runners with my choice being Sopran Basilea. Like her rival she could boast Group wins in Europe and a solid Beyer here in North America. But to me what separated them was that 'Sopran had only been out once here when finishing 2nd in a Grade 3 on Preakness weekend while rival had already had two starts and her big figure in NA had been in an entry level allowance. Much like the Turf King race, Sopran Basilea was at the back until they hit the far turn. Looked to have no where to go behind horses and then the jockey saw the narrowest of openings and squeezed through at the 16th pole to burst to the front just in time to win. She had been one of the betting choices from the time wagering opened but in the final minutes all the money went to the "other" Euro import. This allowed Sopran Basilea to somehow drifted all the way up to 7/2 post time odds. With my triple investment on board I cashed for almost $70. YAY ME!
The 7th at Laurel wasn't a stakes event, but this conditioned allowance carried a purse of $70 - compared to the stakes events carrying $75K purses - AND the field contained several stakes winners. It was a six furlong dash and while I could make a case for several it looked like multiple stakes winner Princess Kokachin would take them gate to wire. The Delaware went official and I flipped screens to Laurel to see Princess Kokachin trotting back to the winner's circle. WHOOO HOOO. Watching the replay I saw I'd indeed been correct - right to the front and never looked back.
In Belmont's Grade 3 Dwyer I went with the slight upset choice of lightly raced Saudi King to upset Bob Baffert's Fort Bragg. Wire to final jump before the Baffert colt was up in time. Back to Ellis Park as Hoist The Gold went wire-to-wire in a money allowance to close out a 6-for-8 run to get my winning percentage back up again.
Another skid of five losses - two of which were "prime time" / big bets that ran 3rd & 4th - and a 2nd place finish at 2/5 in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Ellis Park in a three horse race, wow before back in the winner's circle. The finale at Delaware was a starter optional claiming sprint going just five and a half furlongs. Wild Behavior's last two speed figures topped 205 of the 207 combined career figures earned by the rest of the field and NEITHER of those appeared on the page. Sent off as the prohibitive favorite he easily disposed of the field to give me my tenth winner on the day.
Last year's 2yo filly champion Wonder Wheel just had not looked the same this year over the winter, but I thought MAYBE she'd run well returning to her home base in Toronto for Mark Casse in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes. Was right there to the turn and stopped. Time to stop believing she's going to get back to that juvenile form. The Concern Stakes at Laurel provided my next score as Prince Jericho tracked the pace setters to the top of the stretch, swung six wide into the lane and exploded to the front to post the win.
Lost four in a row with three off the board, but when Set Piece rallied to be third in the Grade 2 Wise Dan (to a $90 winner ridden by top national jockey Flavian Prat!) I got my money back on the Twin Spires promotion. Now it was time for the national highlight race, the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Ellis Park which was a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race. There were SIX millionaires in the line-up and I thought that at least five of them had very legitimate shots at the win. West Will Power had lost the Grade 3 Alysheba last time out at 3/5 odds when dueling all the way to the top of the lane, but I thought today jockey Flavian Prat would have him loose on the lead. Well, partially right. He sat just off the front runner into the far turn while the two of them were well clear of everyone else. He easily coasted to the front and looked home free. But then Rattle N Roll came flying at the end to make it interesting, but too little too late and I had the winner.
Minutes later it was time for the one and only "Summit of Speed" stakes, the Grade 3 Smile Sprint. Dean Delivers looked way the best of these and I was amazed he was not sent off at 1/5 odds or lower from the way I perceived the chances of everyone else. Right to the front in complete control and coasted home under wraps with my "prime time" wager on board paying an uber-generous $4.40 to win. How is that possible?
The Grade 3 Dominion Day at nine furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic was next and I wrote in my analysis that I believed Tyson could be an emerging star in the older handicap division. He'd earned "paired" Beyers, the most recent a third in the Grade 2 Eclipse - the prep for this - and was third off the shelf today. As the rain began to come down he swept up EIGHT wide into the lane, got to the front - dueled and edged clear late. And the best part - he was allowed to leave the gate at better than 4/1 odds so I cashed for nearly $60!
I thought my three race winning streak was coming to an end as I watched the finale from New York, a maiden claiming two-turn turf event. Miracle Mike not only trailed from the get-go, but as the field straightened into the stretch he was still dead last. Being ever the optimist I did have the briefest of hopes as he was making up some ground. As the camera swung to cover the field, 'Mike was out of the picture and then all of the sudden you could see he was getting three strides to every one of the rest of the field! And even at the 16th pole when still mid-pack I thought, "he's going to catch them all!" and he blew by - WOW, make it four in a row!
Closed out the day with my SIXTEENTH winner on the day when Xigera rallied through the stretch - after a long weather delay in Kentucky - to win the Tepin Stakes on the rain-soaked turf. Seemed only appropriate that Julian Leparoux was on board the filly as he'd been multiple graded stakes winning Tepin's regular jockey!
The final race of the day for me was the Grade 2 Nasseau where my choice, Moira went off as the 4/5 favorite but ran 2nd - BUT got my money back again thanks to the wagering promotion. So for the day I went 16-for-46, a 35% winning clip. But I also got money back on three races to boost my "cash" rate to 40%
Sunday July 2
I had bets at Monmouth but when almost half of them scratched I looked through the entries on the day and added some "fun bets" to keep me "interested." Won with three of them - the only win at Monmouth - ironically the ONLY win on the Jersey Shore all weekend (went winless there Friday and Saturday) was with No Salt in the third who paid a generous $8.40 allowing me to cash for $40 and change. JohnnyZ From Albany wired a Laurel sprint at low odds. Then I closed out the day with a prime time win when Zozos wired the Hanshin Stakes at Ellis Park.
With the calendar turning to July this weekend I ran my figures for the month of June - pretty impressive if I do say so myself!
June Totals
Social Media this week......
The first "social media" story wasn't so much in the media but happened to Kim and I on Sunday at dinner. Kim and I decided to celebrate the 4th of July early and go out to a nice restaurant, J.Alexander's in Plantation. I showed Kim I was wearing a light tan sport coat with a button-down shirt and she put on one of her cute new dresses she'd purchased for our upcoming trip to France. As we walked in and the hostess took us to our booth we passed a booth right in front of ours that had two girls seated there. One was "ok" looking, but the blonde facing us as we approached was very cute. OK, I did take notice. When we'd finished dinner I asked Kim if she wanted to split a dessert to take home and she said he'd only eat a couple bites but she'd seen online that they had what looked to be a delicious carrot cake with thick icing. No thanks, I don't want all the calories and we paid, and got up. As we passed the booth with the two girls, Kim and I both paused as there in the middle of the table was THE carrot cake - it was huge and just dripping with thick icing. The one girl saw us looking and said, "It IS delicious." I replied that it sure looked it and that it had to have so many calories. The cute blonde then looked me in the eye and said sweetly, "You should try a bite.....go ahead, you can take a bite." I hesitated, Kim was smiling at me. The other girl said, "Yes, please....take a bite. Grab a fork from that table and try it." I glanced at our table but the silverware was already cleared away and the cute blonde pointed to an empty table behind us with the place settings wrapped in the napkins. "Grab one of those forks and take a bite!" Kim said, "Go ahead, I think you should." So I did. "So good, right?" said both the girls and I agreed they did. As we walked out Kim said, "I knew you'd try it." I replied, "Well, first of all I was NOT going to turn down a chance to taste what looked like an oh-so-delicious carrot cake, especially with all that icing. But second, if a cute blonde girl asks me to do something, I am always going to have a hard time refusing." We both smiled at the "adventure." - AND Kim has had me repeat the story several times since.
While not the ACTUAL two girls - you get the picture....just HAD to illustrate this adventure!
Amber is one of my former students and was in fact the very first student in the WISE program that I mentored. She and I have kept in touch as she's gotten married, had two little ones and moved to Vermont. But this week I saw a couple of posts that seemed to indicate that she and her husband were getting divorced in an amicable break-up. Having been there, done that I messaged her and she replied.
Brianna was half of a mischievous duo of cute girls I had in class (with Leah who've I've posted pics of previously) and it was her birthday so I reached out to her.
Tati is one of my all-time favorites, and she will tell you that she IS my all-time favorite - though I'd imagine gal-pal Kimmy would have something to say about that! Anyway, Tatianna graduated for the final time with her last medical degree and I congratulated her.
Our "Panthers Girl," Emma sent out an email with a special offer for a suite at the arena for a series of concerts over the summer. I wrote back that she was "suite" to offer but we had travel plans for the summer and she responded with a sweet email.
I reached out to my girl Kimmy and told her I was thinking of her, again, as it was four years ago on THIS day in racing that we last met for a "dinner date" at Gulfstream, which always seemed to be "our spot" to get together. She and I then exchanged some text messages.
But the best interactions was a series of week-long interactions with gal-pal, CBS-Miami anchor Lauren Pastrana. First, much like last week when I reached out to her about her change in hair color, I've become more comfortable in our "friendship" to reach out with a comment like below where she had on a "cute little black dress" and I noted it. Note - like so many other times that she answered WHILE ON THE AIR. Then later in the week she had on a bright "sunshine yellow" dress and I reached out to her just after the evening news telecast had started at 5:11pm. Note that in less than five minutes, WHILE ON THE AIR she replied to me :) Finally, Lauren and I exchanged messages twice when she hosted an excellent thirty-minute program on Alzheimer's disease.
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