August 9-13
It was Arlington Million Weekend and the good news was I had an excellent time in Minnesota, virtually as I played Canterbury on two of the four days I had selections. Even better, I rallied on Saturday from a 2-for-16 start to end up with a 33% win average including wins in BOTH the big Grade 1 events on the Million Day card. The bad news is that on Friday and Sunday I could hardly get a sniff at a winner despite being on odds-on favorites many times. So for the purposes of this journal - and my long term memories of the weekend we'll just chronicle the good times and move on! On Wednesday I played the Canterbury card..... The opener was a maiden 2yo race and I liked on filly in particular, a first time starter but noted that I'd let the board be my guide. Xtreme Diva got hammered at the windows so I upped the bet. Pressed the pace to the top of the lane and then drew off like a graded stakes winner - ultra impressive. Good decision to up the bet.
With rain in the area of late the turf races and three of my bets were off. Missed on another maiden sprint at 2/1 but on my final selection, a maiden event for older Sweet Curalina was every bit as impressive in drawing away as my first winner. So I closed the night 2-for-3 with a nice profit and thought I was about to have a good week. Then I went winless on Friday - oh. This game, so humbling when you think you're really good at it.
Million Day Saturday started the way Friday had gone.....missed with the first two, then won the opener at Colonial Downs where the "Arlington Million" was being run today. And I was 1-for-3, about my typical win percentage to start the day. Then lost the next seven and eleven of the next twelve to be sitting at two-for-sixteen at a little before 5 pm as the big stakes events were starting.....
And as it turned out to be throughout the day today, when I won again it was once again with a minimum bet. I just didn't have a lot of confidence in any of two-year-olds competing in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special but I thought enough of Rhyme Schemes based on his runaway maiden win to make a bet on him. I liked as well that he was trained by Norm Casse who's married to hottie handicapper and TV analyst Gabby Gaudet - not that this has an impact on the race, but still. Pressed the pace into the turn and then WOW was every bit as impressive as he debut daylight score.
Thought I had the winner in the Grade 2 Fourstardave when Todd Pletcher's Annapolis sat the perfect trip and shot to a daylight lead at the furlong pole, only to be run down by the defending champion Casa Creed, again. But then the day turned and I felt really good about myself as I closed the day out with SIX WINS from the last eight bets. In the Grade 1 Beverly D my pick had scratched. It was only going to be a minimum bet and so I looked at my comments and noted that I remarked Fev Rover would be the one to beat and I thought - probably even more so now. Right to the front and never looked back - and again, with just the minimum.
In the Canterbury opener Cupid's Crush was the prohibitive 1/9 favorite in the Minnesota Oaks, but as was typical of the day, 2nd best. WOW. But I came right back in a maiden 2yo race when Xtreme Smoke Show - note the similarity to the first winner Wednesday...and had the same human connections - was a dazzling winner. Luckily in racing they pay the same on a winner regardless if it's a stakes or a 2yo maiden event. And for the first time today, it was with a double investment.
The highlight race of the day was the Grade 1 Arlington Million going a mile and a quarter over the Colonial turf course. I thought that there were multiple legitimate win possibilities but I've always been a fan of Brad Cox's Set Piece. And when he won two back they did a feature on this horse where Cox was obviously very attached to him. I thought (a) he had as good a chance as anyone and (b) if Cox was going to run him here they had to think he had a good chance. Didn't think much of my opinion as they hit the far turn and Set Piece was dead last. He began to pick up momentum but turning for home as he swung at least eight wide he was still last of eleven. This can't be good. But then he just FLEW past the entire field and won going away. Certainly the highlight of the day - and he at least partially saved the day because (a) I did have a double investment and (b) he paid $13.40 for the win.
Missed in Canterbury's Glitter Star before winning the next two stakes events (both with minimum bets, of course) when Thealligatorhunter went wire to wire in the Wally's Choice and Roses For Liam split rivals and ran off in the Minnesota Derby.
Lost money but finish 8-for-24 (33%) on the day. Certainly things will "balance out" tomorrow I thought. And I had more bets than usual because it was Ellis Park Derby Day in Kentucky. Won the first race at Ellis and lost every other race at Monmouth and Ellis. NOT a good day, but there's always next week!
Social Media this week.....
I had an unusually active "social life" online this week - saw NO ONE "live" of course, somewhat sad that my "human contact" comes through virtual friends, but I guess it's better than not having ANY contact :) New CBS weekend morning anchor Terri Hornstein and I exchanged multiple comments during the week. First, she appeared on last Friday on the evening news and that was after appearing on the morning news during the week. So when she appeared again on the weekend morning news I reached out remarking on how busy her schedule was. Then when she reappeared on the weekend morning news I reached out again; and we exchanged messages when she posted a Facebook photo regarding the hot weather.
I had a long text conversation with my girl Kimmy who nearly always messages me right back when I reach out to her to "chat."
Gal-pal Lauren Pastrana and I exchanged messages regarding the BILLION dollar lottery which we didn't win.
I also exchanged messages with CBS-Miami reporter Trish who posted she was going to go home to Greece for a break. I found it interesting that she posted her pic & message and when I wrote to her, she wrote right back in less than five minutes :)
And I had several exchanges with WPLG Channel 10 morning anchor Jacey Birch who is on holiday in London, where we just were.
But has become typical, the most exchanges during the week came from gal-pal Karli Barnett, now a news anchor in Atlanta. Several private messages and the weekly chat produced comments back and forth. It won't mean much to anyone but me, but I KNOW when I greeted her on the Saturday chat that I got a "knowing smile" that several others did not get :) And listen, I get it.....probably make more of it than there truly is to it BUT I had messaged Karli and sent her my Egypt "teaser" video to which she reacted, so at the end of the chat I thanked her for watching it and while signing off she paused and not only reacted to my comment about the video but remarked that she always enjoys following my travels. That means a lot to me :) When I thanked her the next day for the chat and following along I got another reaction.
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