Off To Alaska!
After driving to Orlando on Thursday, I played the Penn Mile and Monmouth cards on Friday. Then as we flew some 30,000 feet in the air from Orlando to Houston and then 7 1/2 hours on to Anchorage I played Monmouth, the big Stephen Foster card at Churchill and the Canterbury Derby card from Shakopee, Minnesota. By the time I'd finished watching the replays in Anchorage (at about 2am EST) I'd collected SEVEN wins from the sixteen selections I'd made on the day. WHOOOO HOOOO!
Friday - like all Friday's at Monmouth - started with a late post time of 2pm. Didn't have anyone in the opener. But the second was a four-lifetime claiming event going a two turn mile. Admiral's Wave had the best numbers on the page and was getting Paco Lopez. What more could you ask for? But the concern for me was that his last FIVE races had come at this same restricted $8K level. So I was only in for the minimum. But once I saw the betting action and the possible daily double payoffs I decided to up the bet. Pressed the 2/1 second choice midway down the backside and then opened up in hand. Appeared to be tiring through the final 16th of a mile but had enough to hold off the closers and score. And I'm off to a good start by doubling my money. The other three plays I had on the Jersey Shore did not produce a winner. Ran second twice and third in the other one. So it goes. As the Penn Mile card opened I was a disappointing second at 3/5 in the opener, then failed to hit the board in the next three, including a dismal 5th in the Alphabet Soup Stakes where my choice was the prohibitive 2/5 favorite!
The 5th at Penn National was the first of the two 3yo stakes, the $200K Penn Oaks. I thought it was hard to look past Graham Motion's unbeaten Laurelin. She'd won her two-turn, turf debut at BAQ in October and followed that up with back-to-back stakes wins in the Tepin and Memories of Silver, both at the Aqueduct Meet. Her last two figures were the top two figures on the page, but the two back Beyer was similar to numbers held by five of her rivals. And the big question was how would she - and the others handle the soft going? Was next-to-last from the start until the field approached the far turn. She began to pick up momentum and was in contention by the time they reached the mid-point on the turn. Accelerated to collar the front runner at the top of the lane and edged clear late. Like the first winner today, the initial plan had been to just go for a minimum bet, but I doubled it based on the scratches and betting patterns. Smart move. In the last selection of the day, Zulu Kingdom had been my BET of the WEEKEND, even with all the graded stakes at Churchill on Saturday, in the Grade 3 Penn Mile. But he scratched out as well. Went with my second choice, Mi Bago who was loose on the lead into the lane before weakening at 3/5 to finish 4th. Somewhat disappointing day of racing. But you can't have big days every day!
Saturday saw Kim and I heading to the airport early, arriving at the gate around 7:30am. Knowing that our flight was on time and we'd be on the ground in Houston before 11am AND that I didn't have a wager until nearly 1:30 pm I waited to make my bets until after we'd had lunch in Houston. I was able to watch the first four selections run as we awaited boarding our long, L-O-N-G 71/2 hour flight to Anchorage, Alaska. The first race on my sheet saw my pick at Monmouth go off at a big 5/1 price and turning for home I thought I might be cashing for over $50 with my double investment, but he ended up second best. Two favorites ran third in the next two picks and then fifth at 5/1 as I shut down the computer and we walked to the gate for our turn to board. But our flight was delayed by about half an hour so as we stood in line post time was approaching for the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill. It was in this first big event from Louisville that we found our BEST BET of the Day. The last time Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, had run she'd inexplicably faded off the board. I thought that today she would return to form. As they went into the gate our plane was finally ready for the pre-boards to begin to file on the plane. 'Anna pressed the second choice all through the race to the far turn, then took over easily and opened a clear lead. Looked to me through the final 1/8th of a mile that jockey Brian Hernandez had to push her to finish, but she was easily clear on the wire. She went off at a short price but it made me so happy that (a) I'd cashed on the BEST and (b) that she had returned to form....she's one of my favorite horses in training.
The rest of the races would have to wait until we landed as we were called to board our flight. Having won with only three of the fifteen selections for the weekend to this point I was resigned to accept that it was just one of those "blue collar" kind of weekends where you have to accept the fact that even at my high 35%-to40% win rate, I'm going to lose on six or seven of every ten selections. After two feature length films, a TV show, and a short nap finally we were landing in Anchorage at 7:30pm local time (which was 11:30pm EST). Our luggage arrived quickly as did our transportation to the hotel. We dropped off the bags and went downstairs to have a bite to eat. While waiting for our food I began catching up on the races. In Monmouth's 7th I picked Boardwalk Jack to score in this six furlong MSW race for 3 and up. I liked him because unlike the other key contenders he was exiting sprint tries and they were turning back from two turn events. Right to the front and never looked back!
The eighth at Churchill was the listed Tepin Stakes for 3yo fillies. Both Lush Lips and Vixen had finished behind the dominant 3yo turf filly, Nitrogen lately. But the two had met in the Grade 2 Edgewood here on the Kentucky Oaks undercard with Lush Lips closely ahead of the other filly. I thought she had the better talent and would run well here. Settled mid-pack to the far turn, then circled the field three wide into the lane. Burst clear and drew off by daylight for my second score in a stakes for the day.
Next up was the featured Tale of the Cat Stakes from Monmouth on the turf. Tom's Magic was my selection, and I was hoping he'd go off at a fair price based on his dismal last out effort. I was focusing on his MSW win and win in the Black Gold Stakes at the Fair Grounds. But the crowd wasn't fooled as he left the gate as the short priced 3/5 choice. Tracked in third while full of run through the far turn. Burst between runners to the front and just as the other contenders thought maybe they had a chance, he set sail for the wire lengthening his lead with every stride.
The next graded stakes at Churchill was a sprint and I felt like I "had" to bet Booth who MIGHT go wire to wire, but I had my doubts despite his multi-race winning streak. Faded to fourth through the final furlong. But in the Grade 2 Wise Dan I had my next winner. Much like Thorpedo Anna, Brilliant Berti had lost last time out in a stakes here at his favorite venue. But I thought he'd rebound in a big way today. Tracked a moderate pace into the turn, accelerated to the front, but had to run hard to hold off the challengers through the final 200 yards. But win he did!
The feature race of the day on the national scene was the Grade 1 Stephen Foster. I've been a BIG fan of Todd Pletcher's Mindframe since his debut and I've cashed tickets on him every time he's won. The most recent was when he was my BET of the Day on the Kentucky Derby undercard and won the Grade 1 Churchill Downs at a generous 7/2 price and I'd cashed for over $90! Today he'd stretch out to 9f but I thought this was his best distance. I wasn't in for as much today because the gate was full of stellar runners who'd all been "Bet of the Day" wagers for me on other days. Pressed the 5/2 front runner to the far turn, took command and drew off as much the best to establish himself as one of the best older horses in training and one of the favorites for the November Breeders' Cup Classic (where I'll be at Del Mar with my son Brad!).
I closed out the day with five selections from the Canterbury Derby card - which, like the Penn Mile card, had been rescheduled to tonight. The first four saw me only hit the board once, but in the 'best" of the night, Cupids Crush was MUCH the best at short odds.
The racing next weekend ended with a spectacular 7-for-16 day and a clear profit. Made the amazing sights we'd seen flying into Anchorage even better for me personally. Not sure about playing the races next weekend as we'll be finishing our trip before returning home on Monday. We'll have to see!
Social Media this week......
I had several interactions with my online pals this week, and I'm excited to share the Alaska adventure with everyone. Hopeful we'll hit the 1,000 social media hits for the ten day trip. Lissette Gonzalez has been our "weather girl" on the CBS Morning News every day for as long as I can remember. When she posted a photo of herself "rocking" a blue pants suit I had to reach out and tell her how much we had appreciated her daily weather outlooks. She reacted to my message with a heart :)
I reached out to "my girl," Kimmy to let her know that we were off to Alaska and she wrote back quickly there after apologizing for us not hooking up last week. But as I told her, hey....she's a working Mom of two little ones with a real life at home, no worries. As long as we stay connected, I'm happy.
Florida Derby gal-pal Chloe and I had two exchanges. The first when she reacted to my video of our new Fire Bowl pool feature. And the second when I messaged her after watching her second TV commercial for a local Orlando auto dealership. Such a sweet (and pretty) girl. Her Mom & Dad are two of my most favorite people on planet Earth!
Former CBS-Miami weekend anchor Karli Barnett has let me know she still likes following our adventures, but often it's days after I share that she sees them. So I reached out to let her know about our upcoming trip to Alaska and within hours she'd written back to me.
And is always the case, my biggest interaction with other people - online that is - came with Lauren Pastrana. She messaged me in reply to the highlight picks from the Louisville racing adventure that the event looked "so cool." When I asked about possibly getting a tour of the new "news verse" set she told me maybe later in the year - but was appreciative that she not only replied but indicated that would probably be something we could do. Responded to messaging about her evening broadcasts with more close-ups and finally when she posted about a change in her hair and I remarked how she looked like she had been working out, she replied simply eating better.
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