Fall Racing: Week 8

 Ohio Wedding Weekend:  Oct 18-19

Thursday of this week, Kim and I flew to Columbus to visit my family and go to my nephew Eric's wedding on Saturday.  For racing purposes, the feature for me was the second leg of the Florida Sire Stakes where my filly, Love Like Lucy was stretching out to seven furlongs in her third career start to run in the $200K Susan's Girl.  Because of a 2pm wedding start we needed to leave my Mom's house by 1pm, which was before the first post of the races I'd selected to wager on.  So it wasn't until we returned home around 7pm that I was able to watch the replays.  Things could not have gone better at the beginning as I scored on the first three selections on the sheet!  Indy Magic drew off in the Keeneland opener in an "about 7f" claiming event as the 7/5 favorite.  Then I hit two in a row at Gulfstream.  May Mischief was the short-priced 4/5 favorite in R2, a two-lifetime claiming event going five and a half on the synthetic.  As she drew off through the lane Announcer Pete made his signature call, ".....she made 4/5 look like eeeeeeeeeassssy money!"  :)  I topped off the streak of three wins when Zo Zucchera blew by everyone in a starter allowance going a mile on the turf.

I was no threat in the next three when 4th, 8th (at 13/1) and 3rd before getting my first stakes win of the day.  Barnes was a $3 Million sales grad who'd shown promise early in the year for trainer Bob Baffert.  But he'd not had a win in the Grade 2 San Vicente on the Kentucky Derby trail.  Was a good second to Journalism in the Gr 1 Santa Anita he then was a fading fifth in the Kentucky Derby.  Off a long layoff he was a close 3rd in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens when turned back to a sprint distance, but disappointed on the Pa Derby undercard in the Grade 2 Gallant Bob.  Looked to me like a good spot to rebound and I didn't think Baffert would ship his colt all the way to Kentucky unless he thought he was ready for a big effort.  Pressed the leader to the turn, took command turning for home and drew off impressively with my triple investment on board.

After a 2nd and 3rd in the next two it was time for the Florida Sire Stakes Susan's Girl.  I really thought my filly, Love Like Lucy had a big chance here until I did the handicapping and saw that graded stakes winner Mythical was entered.  She looked like a standout and I was set to put down a "prime time" $20 bet on her.  But I read the GP local analysis and the remark was made - when they were against her - that she seemed the "precocious kind" who was dazzling early in the 2yo season at shorter distances.  That made me a little leery, and since I would not be betting live to examine the WIN pool and the payouts for the multi-race wagers I opted to go with just a double investment.  My filly tried hard and there were three across the track mid-way on the turn.  But at the top of the stretch Mythical took off as much, MUCH the best that would have indeed warranted the prime time play.

The selections closed out with two thirds and a fourth for an "OK" 5-for-13 day.  But it was the "Bet of the Day" that WOULD have made for a big day of handicapping.  Bill Mott's Ragtime had three wins and a photo finish second in the Grade 1 Test on her resume and she looked formidable.  She'd had trouble out of the gate in that Test effort and had to rally 8-wide, so I thought jockey Junior Alvarado only had to get out of the gate cleanly.  He did, but immediately let her settle WAY at the back.  Shewas flying through the lane but had too much to do.  A close third was the result.  Had she won I'd have gone nearly 50% on the day with a tidy profit.  Oh the racing game!  Sunday I had four picks from the Belmont at Aqueduct card and didn't win a single one of them (two 2nd's a 3rd, and an off-the-board finish).  Fortunately there was a little salvation when I noticed that Santa Anita's featured sprint race had Bob Baffert's Himika in the line-up.  I'd seen her run, and in a listed event like today's race she would be tough to beat.  Won geared down by nearly a pole.

So despite losing a small amount of money for the weekend, the numbers showed me 6-for-18 or a nearly normal 33% - and I can't argue with that!  One more weekend of handicapping before Brad and I are off the the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar!

Social Media this week......

The first morning I went for coffee it was in the low 40's so I posted a pic which got a whole bunch of "likes" from my social media pals.  And I shared with some of my online pals my new-found coloring hobby.

A few pics from the wedding.....

I shared my new-found coloring hobby with Kimmy who replied back :)

I reached out to former teaching pal Jen Cook who told me she was looking at another solo trip over Thanksgiving.  So happy she's willing to do these for herself.  And we made plans to get together in a few weeks - that will be very fun......actual "human contact" with someone while NOT on a cruise :)

Teri enjoyed the pics I sent her from the wedding and I enjoyed her compliment that I looked "great :)"  And she also replied when I sent her an example of my coloring book hobby.  She's nearly always so good about messaging me back :)

My girl Petra from Slovakia is back at work on the Nile.  We had a chat about various things, but it made me smile when we talked about solo travel and the idea of the two of us traveling together came up and she said that would be fun.

After taking a week off from her duties as evening anchor, and avoiding social media, I reconnected with Lauren Pastrana this week.  I particularly enjoyed that she replied back to me about my future plans :)