June 14 - 16
At the end of the week, it was a very good week - and an excellent Saturday of racing! Here's how the whole week played out!
After the big Game 1 WIN on Saturday the Panthers Playoff run continued Monday where we hosted the Edmonton Oilers. It was a great game and we won AGAIN! The big weather system that moved in made it very dicey for the team to get out of town on their flight, but after a long delay they made it out and arrived in Edmonton. We opted to go to the Watch Party at the arena for Game 3 and the place, full of more than 10,000 excited fans went wild as we built a 4-1 lead and held on 4-3 to take a commanding 3-0 game lead in this best of seven event. When we got home late Thursday I immediately went online and got tickets for the Game 4 Watch Party thinking there'd be a huge demand because of the possibility of our winning our first, ever championship. Sure enough by lunch on Friday all the tickets were gone (several people I knew wanted to go but were shut out). We got there early and sat in the upper bowl, like watching the game on a BIG screen TV. It was exciting early as we made it scored to make it 1-2 and our picture was flashed on the ice during a time out (below, just to the left of the red line/center ice). But then we fell apart and Edmonton got the win. BIG Game 5 on Tuesday COULD be our chance to win the epic trophy in front of the home fans, including Kim and I.....would be just soooooo amazing!
OK, on to racing! Friday I had picks from Belmont at Aqueduct and Churchill Downs. I had ONE second place finish from the first eight races, not good but at least I was occupied during the afternoon was my take on the day. Then in the NY feature, The Cupcoy's Joy Division of the NY Stallion Stakes, Soloshot tracked the front running favorite and looked to have too much to do, even with a sixteenth of a mile to go. But Joel Rosario on the favorite never asked his filly to finish strongly and when Irad Ortiz pushed Soloshot she responded with one final surge to be UP IN TIME! And I'm on the board!
Came back with the last bet of the day, the finale at Churchill where it was a conditioned allowance sprinting five and a half furlongs on the turf. Just Might was on a losing skid, but he was a multiple stakes winner in the past. And best of all he looked clearly like the lone speed. Rocketed to the front, was clear turning for home, and while he was tiring late he lasted to the wire by daylight to salvage the day.
Saturday: Haskell Preview Day / Downs After Dark
Much like the start to Friday's races my first bet went in a little past 12:30 and I didn't score until nearly 3pm. After running fourth twice, third, and second twice in the first five plays of the day it was post time for Race 5 at Monmouth Park. This was a MSW turf route that featured two Todd Pletcher runners, AND two Chad Brown runners. But for me, it was all about Christophe Clement's Eastern Empress. She'd run 2nd at Tampa in her first North American start and was second at Gulfstream as the favorite last time out. The "paired" Beyers in her first two starts indicated to me a big move forward. Tracked the leaders through the far turn, swung outside into the clear and drew off to win by daylight, and I'm FINALLY on the board!
Less than fifteen minutes later I was on the grass in New York where Chad Brown's Unit Economics was trying to break his maiden. The likely favorite figured to be Todd Pletcher's $1 Million colt, Then. But when that one had run a just-miss second last time out, Irad Ortiz was up. Today he opted to ride Unit Economics. I like that angle! The longshot front runner quarter-horsed on a multi-length lead to the far turn while Unit Economics bided his time in second. Collared him on the turn, opened up at the 1/8th pole and took off as much the best - two in a row!
My next bet was in the very next race in NY where Todd Pletcher had what looked to be two REALLY talented first time two-year-olds. Either would have been the short-priced favorite on their own merits, but certainly they'd be odds-on as an entry. Mentee tracked his stablemate into the turn, blew by and opened up into the lane in what looked to be a powerful debut. But at the furlong pole you could tell he was tiring and a late runner was flying! This is going to be close......PHOTO FINISH. As I watched the slow-mo replay I was "pretty sure" I'd won, and when it went official I'd won by the narrowest of margins. Still, that makes THREE in a rwo!
I missed on three picks, sandwiched around a score in a turf allowance at Belmont with Belouni as we headed into the big races at Monmouth on Haskell Preview Day. The 10th on the Jersey Shore was the local prep for the $1 Million Haskell Invitational and Todd Pletcher had entered the lightly raced Tuscan Sky. He'd had two stellar wins to kick off his career then stretched out and moved up in class to try the Grade 2 Wood Memorial where he was outrun. Off for several weeks he looked regrouped and ready to show that he was one of the leaders of the 3yo division. Right out of the gate he broke sharply on the rail, but was quickly joined by not one, not two, not three, but four others on the front. It's typically NOT a good thing to be on a pace duel going two turns but it seemed like jockey Javier Castellano was content to hold the rail position and let the other four runners lose valuable ground. As they swung into the stretch I thought, "we'll find out who's the real deal - if any - of these guys now." And as heads turned for home Tuscan Sky opened up and drew off in a visually impressive effort. OK, let's hope he comes back in the Haskell where he might face his stable mate, 2yo champion and Fla Derby winner Fierceness and the colt I think is the best 3yo in the country, Bob Baffert's Muth.
Two races left on my sheet before we headed out to the arena for the Watch Party. In the Grade 3 Monmouth on the turf I was a fading 7th at 2/1 odds. Then in the featured, Grade 3 Salvatore Mile, Todd Pletcher sent out Grade 1 winner Bright Future. At first glance this one mile trip looked too short for him and I could envision the connections thinking "if we just run well, it's a good stepping stone to longer and bigger races." But it's been my experience that Hall of Famer Mr. Todd does not run races as a "prep," if he's in - he's "in it to win it." His layoff runners are always ready and being fresh off a layoff I thought he'd probably show better speed than if he were going longer. I made him the BET of the Day! He was in good position pressing the pace into the turn, but got shuffled back, all the way to sixth. That's really not good. Jockey probably just keeps him wrapped up and awaits a better fate next time, I thought. But the rail opened and Javier Castellano stepped on the gas. Bright Future burst through in an instant and quickly opened up a daylight margin to win going away. It was a WOW performance, and I cashed for over $40 as a reward for my big bet!
With our disappointing effort in the playoff game out west Kim and I came home after the second period, and I watched the replays of my picks from Churchill Downs. I love their "Downs After Dark" programs and I'd even considered going to this one, but with the playoffs scheduled to still be going on at the time I was considering the trip, I wasn't about to miss a chance to watch us play in the Finls. In Race 2, Xtra Extraordinary was my pick to win the cheap, $10K sprint for maidens. The morning line pick was a first time starter and I've just never liked betting a debut runner when in for such a small price tag. I thought with a little "creativity" I could make a case for my pick. His three back try at Keeneland for $40K produced a sharp third place finish. Drew the rail for the same big price tag here and was away slowly, then looked like the rider didn't try the second half of the race. Stretched to a one-turn mile in the slop on the drop to $20K to no avail. With blinkers on, another price drop I thought he might just repeat that Keeneland effort. Right to the front, took pressure all the way through the turn, then opened up and drew off at a generous $9.80 price! WHOOOO HOOOO.
The third was a five and a half furlong turf sprint and I liked the chances of Cloudwalker quite a lot. The on-air analysts made such a big deal that he was a closer from well out of it, but it's my experience that more often than not - especially here at Churchill Downs - THAT is the preferred running style in these kinds of races. I'd even had a nice score in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2011 with Chamberlain's Bridge doing that. Cloudwalker was near the back through the turn as he began to advance between rivals. Split runners, got into the clear turning for home and hit a whole other gear to blow by late and WIN with my triple investment on board!
The co-feature under the lights was the Monomoy Girl for 3yo fillies. Our Pretty Woman had looked very talented in the spring airing on debut around two turns at the Fair Grounds and taking an allowance event handily. Was a sharp second in the Grade 2 FG Oaks and moved on to the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Pretty much lost all chance when drawing post 14 of 14 and was never in the race. She'd been off for the six weeks since and I thought this was a good spot regroup dropping into a listed event off back-to-back graded events. Tracked the leaders in third through the turn, and looked to be being asked to run pretty hard, but she put her head in front and courageously drove home, holding off the closers - again with my triple investment bet on board for my NINTH winner on the day.
Had a daylight lead and looked LONG GONE with a 3/5 favorite in a MSW dash, only to see them get nipped on the wire. Sigh.....missed in the co-feature when the Godolphin favorite disappointed for the third time since coming state-side. But in the finale, I thought Generous Lover looked best of the most obvious win contenders. His last three speed figures - interestingly earned on both turf and dirt going both short and long - were the best numbers on the page. Tyler G would know how to handle this guy. Sat comfortably behind a wall of horses, saving ground through the turn, swung outside and advanced to third at the furlong pole. Lifted late, and surged to the wire for my tenth winner of the day!
Sunday I only had four bets at Monmouth, and only got two runner-up finishes from the four. Well, the racing this week was all about Saturday!
Social Media this week......
I reached out to my most favorite former Kimmy because with the epic rainfall this week, her former home, near Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach would have certainly been flooded. She wrote back :)
Another very favorite is Michelle, who if you've read previous journals of mine, I'm most proud of because she picked up and took off for Hawaii years ago to become a flight attendant without knowing anyone there or in the business. She's so sweet, and she post a photo of herself with a "boy" and a beautiful sunset. I had to comment, and she replied back.
CBS-Miami reporter Trish Christakis, who I first "connected with" when I learned she was originally from Greece and we were looking forward to our recent trip there, was covering the Panthers playoff run. She posted and I replied. She wrote back complimenting Kim and I :) And when she posted a second time I wrote to her and she "liked" it.
Long time gal-pal Karli saw my messages to her on Instagram and she wrote back to me, so sweet.
I don't often watch the much of the morning news broadcast on the local ABC station, but I am a fan of anchor Jayce who's very active on social media and is a real fashionista. When she posted pics of an outfit with a "nautical" them I had to comment, and she replied :)
I was "noticed" and got a lot of "likes" from my pal Lauren Pastrana. First, prior to our Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and then when I sent her a photo of myself celebrating our win. The third one below came during the massive weather event when our Panthers were scheduled to take off to fly to Edmonton. I was wondering about the flight status and couldn't find any info, but of course Lauren (and the CBS team - though Lauren was the one reporting it!) gave the good news that the flight had left FLL. If you recall, recently I bought raffle tickets to support Lauren's son's little league baseball. She messaged me - that's very unusual - to tell me that "sadly" I had not won, and thanked me for the support. I replied that I would be even happier to "win" a Stanley Cup and she wrote back to me on that one! The last photo I sent to her was in preface to Kim and I going to the big Watch Party for Game 4 and she "liked" that as well. Here's hoping I can send her a photo of Kim and I celebrating the WINNING of the Stanley Cup this week!
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