Maryland Million Day

 October 22

Home for the weekend!  The day did NOT start out as I anticipated.  First post for my first selection was a little after noon.  From that point until about 3:15 I had eleven selections and won with a single bet.  OUCH.  That lone win came in Keeneland's opener when California Twirl went wire to wire in a two turn maiden claiming event for two-year-olds.

My second victory came in Belmont's sixth, a seven furlong maiden special for juveniles.  The full field of ten included five first time starters.  None of those with experience impressed me.  Of the firsters, I probably would have leaned to Todd Pletcher's Rudder's Men anyway, because....well, it's Todd Pletcher.  But this colt had fired a blistering best-of-108 bullet work for today - yes, one-hundred-and-eight.  YOWZA.  When he took a lot of money at the windows I upped the wager and he ran away while under wraps.

Came right back less than ten minutes later with my first stakes win on the big Maryland Million Day card in the Maryland Million Lassie.  The earlier 4th at Laurel had been the Md Million Nursery for 2yo colts and I remarked for that one that these were all lightly raced runners which could have a form reversal in either direction.  My choice had run fifth at 3/1.  Here in R8 for the fillies, I again reiterated that anything COULD happen, but for me it was hard to go past Chickiness who was the program favorite.  The ran a best-of-the-rest 2nd on debut then waltzed home in her second start.  Since then she'd run second in back-to-back stakes races behind a filly who's now a perfect 4-for-4.  There wasn't anyone in the race that would match up to that one.  But on the far turn she was about three off the lead and the rider seemed to be asking her, hard, to run to keep up.  Give him all the credit because he kept pushing and pushing the filly.  Finally at the eighth pole she found another gear and mowed down the top two to win going away.  Note I made her a PRIME TIME bet!

I finished off a three-race winning streak with the co-feature at Keeneland where I made Steve Asmussen's Gunite my "Keeneland BEST Bet" of the day.  As I noted, it was a horse race and these were three-year-olds so anything could happen.  But much like Chickiness in Maryland, you'd be hard pressed to convince me you had a strong opinion on anyone but the top choice.  His last three Beyer figures were 101, 102, and 101.....the ONLY triple digit Beyers on the page.  Those three numbers topped the combined fifty-six figures earned by the rest of the field.  AND with the outside draw he looked to get the most ideal trip.  Exactly as I'd seen it.  Pressed three wide to the turn, ran by readily and drew off as tons the best.  Two-for-two with PRIME TIME plays!

Ran 8th with my "upset special" at Belmont on the turf before it was time for the BET of the Day - this came in the 10th at Laurel, the Maryland Million Sprint.  Again, much like the previous two "big bets," you could say "I'm not taking a short price."  And like with Chickiness you could add, "I'm not taking a short price on a horse who's never raced over the Laurel track."  But, I was betting - literally - that to take anyone else was an exercise in futility that would end up in you throwing away your losing ticket as you sought to "get some value."  In Fortheluvofbourbon's last five starts he'd earned Beyers of 92, 98, 92, 91, and 94.  The other fifteen runners on the page had been out a combined total of one-hundred and fifty six times had ONE, count them, ONE Beyer in the 90's.  Uh oh.  This guy was 11 for 22 lifetime and had won five in a row, including three stakes.  Doesn't get much better than this.  How the fans let him float up to 1/2 odds at post time is just beyond me.  Tracked in the clear from post eleven through the far turn while in hand under Paco Lopez.  Accelerated to the lead and held everyone safe while never being asked for his best.  WHOOOO HOOOOO!!!

The final win on the day saw me sweep the featured events at Keeneland.  The Grade 2 Raven Run at Keeneland looked on paper to be wide open generally.  But for my own opinion, I thought that Steve Asmussen's Wicked Halo was either a run away, dominant winner.....or would finish off the board, which would validate the fact that she was NOT the program favorite, nor the choice in the Daily Racing Form.  But for my purposes, it was hard to look past that she'd won three in a row, was exiting a win in Saratoga's Grade 2 Prioress, and that she'd never run a bad race while building a 5-for-9 resume.  So I put her on top but on as a minimum bet.  But in watching the pre-race day analysis on the Keeneland feed, hottie handicapper Gabby Gaudet had a strong opinion about the filly.....

I have also respected Gabby's opinions and in this instance, her strong belief in my choice led me to double my original bet.  Just as I had thought, and as Gabby had said on air, Wicked Halo got the dream trip.  She sat three wide off of two dueling pace setters.  Swept up in hand on the turn then ran off as much, MUCH the best.  And the even better part was that as she hovered between 8/5 and 2/1 leading up to the race, when they left the gate the crowd let her float all the way up to 5/2.  The payoff of more than $7 led to me cashing my final ticket for over $35!  WHOOO HOOO.  It was a good day my friends!

And as a footnote, what was very cool about the way the day ended......with the nice payoff for the Wicked Halo selection I was close to breaking even.  But then it occurred to me - I'd played today on Xpressbet and I'd opted in on one of their "Bet Back" promos.....

In addition to the two stakes wins I'd run 8th, 5th, 5th AND in the Maryland Distaff, Malibu Beauty had run 2nd with my $10 wager on board.  So figuring in that rebate, I know finished in the black for the day!  WHOOOOO HOOOOOO squared!

Maryland Million Day Highlights

Social Media.....

While we were in Hawaii the National Hockey League season had begun, and fortunately for Kim and I our Florida Panthers opened the season with three straight road games.  This past Wednesday was the home opener and we were there in our regular season to cheer our Cats on to a 4-3 win over Philadelphia.  Then on Friday we played our arch-rivals Tampa Bay and we were joined by our pals Joanie and Michael-Anne (her daughter) for a bite to eat before the game and then they sat right behind us.  Lost in overtime, but the four of us were back at the arena for a Sunday 5pm matinee puck drop where we beat the New York Islanders to get five points of a possible six on the home stand.

On Friday, while I was at the game my high school senior class was having it's 50th reunion in Ohio.  I had originally planned to go, but when the plans changed to open the class reunion to ALL West Jefferson alumni I became less interested.  I might have still gone, but having just returned from Hawaii, heading off to Antarctica in less than two weeks AND having three hockey games this week all led me to staying in South Florida.  When photos appeared the next day on Facebook I was stunned to say the least.  I immediately put together the collage below and sent it to several friends and asked, "Do I look like I'm the same age as my high school classmates?"  Because to me I look at least ten years younger.  Fortunately EVERYONE agreed with me, boosting my confidence.  Most important of those opinions was from my gal-pal Kimmy who validated my "youngster" status :)

I was very happy when we returned from Hawaii to find that my social media gal-pal, CBS Weekend Anchor Karli Barnett was indeed following our trip.  She'd been an enthusiastic follower of the Alaska pictures and before we left for Hawaii she had wished me to have an amazing trip.  So upon our return I messaged her some of the best photos and the two videos.  She responded and later in the Saturday evening chat talked about those pics and videos.

Wednesday night prior to the hockey game the CBS-4 evening news, hosted by my gal-pal, social media friend Lauren Pastrana did a spot on the home opener.  I messaged her that we were on our way to the game and she wrote back.....WHILE ON THE AIR :)

My hottie gal-pal Kimmy's "partner in crime" Christy posted a photo in the fall leaves and I commented how pretty this was, and the leaves too.  She liked the comment.

Saturday evening Karli Barnett hosted her weekly chat and I opened by saying I was watching from my home in Sunrise.  Without any prompting her reply was that I'd been on an "fantastic vacation" to Hawaii and that both my photos and videos were amazing.

I replied back to her that we did indeed have a great time in Hawaii and were now looking forward to our November 1st departure for Antarctica.  Karli again wished us well, was happy for us and told us to have an amazing trip!  She also mentioned taking more great pics, so I will again be reaching out to her with the best of the photos so she can appreciate them!

And lastly, we have two great friends who live in Naples - Ben & Melissa.  I worked with Melissa and as you can see, she is quite attractive.  A couple years ago they moved to the west coast of Florida and so we don't see them as often.  I noted during the hockey game Sunday that she'd "liked" our photo at the game and commented.  So I reached out to her and told her we missed them.  That started an online conversation during which she told me how jealous she was not to be going to Antarctica with us and I offered to let her come along, stowing away in my suitcase.  And she agreed to come :)  LOL

When we got home from the game, I watched the recap of the game and then on the CBS Weekend news they did a recap of the game as well.  Because I know Karli puts together the show I reached out to her and thanked her and the sports anchor guy Mike Cugno for highlighting our big win.  Karli wrote back :)  And I know I've mentioned this before, but when I contact her via Twitter my "handle" is mallan56racing, but she ALWAYS replies to me using my first name :)

Karli FB Chat Highlights - October 22

Racing From Hawaii!

 October 5 - 16

From one extreme to another.....last weekend I was AT the races instead of playing from the "Sunrise Simulcast Center" and for this week I was in Hawaii for an eleven day adventure with my wife Kim and our great friends Sue & Dan.  To check out our Hawaiian adventure.....

Hawaii 2022 - CLICK HERE

Before we left for Hawaii I knew that Saturday was Fall Stars weekend at Keeneland and that there were big Breeders' Cup preview races all around the country, so I figured I would get a small selection of key plays in somehow while on the islands.  My original plan was to simply play the Keeneland card with all the big stakes action, and so on the first day in Hawaii I had enough free time to handicap the entire card.  Then I decided to see who was running around the country.  After I'd gone through all the races I ended up with six selections from Lexington and five from around the country with picks from Belmont at Aqueduct, Woodbine, and Santa Anita.  And on Sunday I picked up one more selection from Keeneland.  First post on Saturday was at 1 pm which with the time change meant I'd have to have my money in by 7 am.  Well, first....we really never adjusted to the time difference and if we were lucky enough to sleep until 5 am we considered ourselves fortunate, and second....I didn't have a pick until the fourth at Keeneland so it was all good.  I thought I'd make my bets, go on our day-long excursion along Oahu's North Shore and watch the replays when we returned.  But at the last minute I took my wireless headphones and actually got to watch all the races while on the bus in between stops!  The first bet was a MSW for 2yo and Tap In Formation was the prohibitive 3/5 favorite, but could only manage fourth.  The next bet was an hour later in the sixth from Keeneland, the Grade 2 Woodford Stakes going five and a half furlongs on the turf.  Wesley Ward has said publicly many times that Golden Pal is the best horse he has ever trained.  And even though last time out he was life and death to win the Grade 3 Troy at Saratoga I thought today he'd run huge so I made him my co-best of the day.  Why?  First, because in the Troy he didn't make the lead and/or they decided to track the pace - his game is to run them off their feet and I expected them to insist on the front and that would mean the end of it for all of today's rivals.  And secondly Golden Pal had earned figures of 100, 110 and 107 in his last three starts - the rest of the field had a combined 59 starts and three horses had a single triple digit Beyer.  Toss the last out 100 in the Troy and the two previous triple digits from Golden Pal win for fun, and those were the kinds of races I expected today.  Right to the front, immediately clear and long, LONG gone!  WHOOO HOOO!

With Kentucky now paying to the penny, Golden Pal paid $2.74 so I collected nearly $30.  In the Grade 2 TCA Stakes Palm Cottage went off at 7/2 and ran a disappointing eighth.  Then it was time for my first non-Keeneland bet in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in New York where they were going a mile and a half on the turf.  For the non-Keeneland races largely I went with horses I knew very well and War Like Goddess is a superior marathon turf runner.  She had lost her last at Saratoga, her first loss there, when she was in a small field and two things worked against her.  First, there was a lone front runner who went a glacial pace on the front end and secondly, the rider had opted to try and save ground through the far turn which led to War Like Goddess not getting out until too late to make her big run.  I thought she'd have won despite the pace flow with a better ride.  Today I thought she'd bounce back strongly.  It wasn't until after I'd made the bet and was getting ready to watch the race that it dawned on me that the Joe Hirsch is NOT a race for fillies & mares, War Like Goddess was taking on the boys!  Still, I was confident.  Tracked the pace along the inside in third, closer than typical to the far turn.  Made her move on the outside and collared the leaders in the lane.  On even terms to the final sixteenth then she lengthened stride and drew off impressively.  Cashed for nearly forty beans as she was my second "best bet" of the day!

Ran second in three straight following my second win.  In Woodbine's Grade 2 Nearctic going six furlongs on the turf, Bound for Nowhere was second at 4/5.  At Keeneland Chad Brown's Regal Glory was second to her stablemate as the even money favorite, and finally Loggins dueled the length of the stretch and was a photo finish second in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity for 2yo going a mile and a sixteenth.  Got my next win with a great price at Woodbine in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor going ten furlongs over the massive outer turf course in Toronto.  When I looked at the field I thought there was probably a Euro in the field but I knew Chad Brown's Rougir and she had a lot of talent.  I wasn't really surprised she was NOT the favorite, but still.....she was well back into the far turn and as they turned for home she was a distant sixth.  With an eighth of a mile to go, still sixth.  But the Woodbine stretch is THE longest in North America and she hit her best stride with a sixteenth to go and came FLYING to be up in the shadow of the wire over the rail-skimming Euro even money favorite.  The best part - she paid a whopping $12.60 so I collected over $60 to guarantee a winning day - whoop whoop!

It was a half hour later when my focus shifted out west where MY HORSE, Going To Vegas was primed for a big effort in defending her title in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive.  Even though she'd lost three straight in 2022 I thought today WAS the day.  First, I liked that she was getting top turf rider Umberto Rispoli back today but more importantly, when I watched the video sent out to fellow owners it appealed to me that it seemed our intention was to be aggressive and go right to the front.  It has seemed to me that this is her best running style.  Sure enough, Rispoli got her to the front easily and maintained an open length lead into the lane.  When the others began to ask their horses to pick it up it was too late, we were LONG GONE!  WHOOO HOOOO!  Not only cashed for over $35 on the wager but I'd be collecting my share of the winner's purse as a part owner!

Was fifth with a big priced 7/1 Todd Pletcher runner in the Keeneland finale, a MSW sprint before winning my final bet on the afternoon.  It was the Grade 1 American Pharoah for 2yo pointing for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.  This Santa Anita event featured three Bob Baffert runners but it was Cave Rock who'd been the most impressive to date.  Immediately assumed command and held a two length lead turning for home.  He'd never been two turns before and now we'd find out.....the field closed the gap as they inched towards the furlong pole, but then Cave Rock shifted gears and drew away, widening the margin with every stride to close out a 5-for-11 afternoon for me.  What a great day....touring Hawaii and winning at the races!

Sunday I looked at the field for the Grade 1 Spinster and Todd Pletcher's multiple Grade 1 winner Malathaat looked like a standout over this collection of older fillies and mares.  Sure enough, as they approached the far turn she began to move from fourth and easily glided up passing horses to take a narrow lead into the lane.  If you had one of the others for brief, oh so brief moment you MIGHT have thought you'd have a chance, but from the eighth pole home Malathaat was merely galloping while increasing the advantage.

For the weekend a big 6-for-12 with a profit of more than $60! It was a great weekend of racing while on vacation :)

Racing From Hawaii Highlights

Social Media....

Early in the week I reached out to social media gal-pal, Lauren Pastrana and reiterated how much we appreciated her hard work and for being accessible via social media.  She replied back and asked about our upcoming Hawaii trip.  Such a sweetheart.

While in Hawaii I reached out to both Lauren and fellow gal-pal, weekend anchor Karli Barnett about our stop at a Kona Coffee farm since I'd chatted with both about coffee previously.  Karli answered back :)

We left for Hawaii on Wednesday and I'd pretty much given up home of seeing my most MOST favorite former, sweetie Kimmy Westmoreland who had told me about a month ago she'd be visiting So Fla.  At that time I'd asked was she coming prior to October 5 because that's when we'd be leaving for Hawaii.  She assured me yes.  But with her wedding in Scotland and the hurricane I had not hear from her.  Then Tuesday morning as I drove to Best Buy I got a text from her asking if I could come to meet her.  I was only too happy to drive down to the ocean front and steal her away from her conference for over three hours.  We have such a connection and we both enjoyed sharing what's been going on with our lives since we last saw each other.  Loved the photo we got together - as I'd told her I needed a new one for my framed picture of the two of us.  And when I sent it to her, she responded with her affection for it as well.

Finally, once our trip in Hawaii was over and before we left I sent Kimmy a couple of photos and she replied back :)  

And finally, before we left hottie Chloe Nelson posted about a trip she'd taken.  We exchanged comments.

Breeders' Cup Preview Weekend

 September 28 - October 1

I had little to do during the week with Kim being gone, so I decided to play the races all week long.  The good news is that I was kept entertained by something I really enjoy doing.  The better news is I ended the week by winning seven of my last thirteen bets, which included three big ones.  The bad news was, well a pictures is worth a thousand words.....

Yes, TWENTY-THREE times I was second best.  Ouch.  Hard to make money like that.  But over the long run, the past two weekends I'd gone 17-for-35, nearly 50% so I can't complain.  Wednesday only Churchill was on the docket and I had the 3/2 favorite in the opener.....second behind a first time starter who was 10/1 in the program bet down to 8/5.  In retrospect, that was the preview for the week!  Passed on the second and then drew off with Princely in the third at 4/5.  Came right back in the fourth with an oh-so-generous price of $9.60 on Atras who went wire to wire in a two-lifetime claiming event.  It's funny how MANY times you can find a runner like this in a spot like this, at a price.  Racing for a first time tag for Brad Cox and Florent Geroux.  And I cashed for nearly $50 thanks to my double investment.  WOW.  Closed the first day with a 2nd at 2/1, 2nd at 7/5, and finally a 2nd at 2/1.  Should have known right there!

Thursday and Friday were L-O-N-G days at the track.  EIGHT times I finished second over the two day span of playing Belmont (at the Big A) and Churchill Downs.  And both days I didn't win until very late in the day.  On Thursday Slim Man drove to the lead in the finale going 7f in a maiden claimer to edge clear at a nice $6.66 price - cashed for over $30; and on Friday around 4:30 Decision Maker edged clear late to score at an even bigger $7.36 price so I collected over $35.  Neither payoff made up for the losses, but at least it kept me in the ball game.

I spent a lot of time debating with myself about what to do on Saturday.  Initially, I told a lot of people that I was excited to be actually GOING to Gulfstream for the first time in seven months to be on track and enjoy racing.  One reason I next to never go between the end of the Championship Season in the spring and the beginning of the next one in December is because it is SO difficult to find a runner that provides an edge for betting.  Not much point to going out there to bet one or two races, and spend most of the day watching TV's without sound hanging from the ceiling when I could watch on a big 55" flat screen from the comfort of my "Sunrise Simulcast Center" listening to the race call.  But today was the final race of the Florida Sire Series with both the My Dear Girl and In Reality Stakes carrying a $400K purse.  AND in both races there was an unbeaten 2yo going for a sweep of the series.  That is unusual, but not all that unusual for a juvenile to sweep the series.  But since in inception of this series of races back at Calder in 1982 NEVER had BOTH a filly and colt swept the series in the SAME YEAR.  But as it got closer to Saturday I began to wonder if I REALLY wanted to drive all the way down there and spend the day largely on my feet.  When I heard that Hurricane Ian had become a major rainmaker as it died down and was going to dump rain all over Baltimore and New York, where I had several selections I also wondered would I have a lot of scratches and end up wishing I could watch college football in between races.  But in the end I thought it would be a good way to get some steps in (I ended up with over 8,000 steps and walked about 3 1/2 miles); I would NOT be munching on food all day; there really were not any big games I wanted to watch; there were not a lot of scratches; and finally, I reasoned - I DO like to be there and what else would I be doing....sitting at home alone, AGAIN as I had been for ten days?  And so I went.  Although it wasn't an OMG winning day, it was great to be at the track, talk with all my teller "friends" and like I said in the opening, I finished the day with several winners which made me feel good about being there.

I started the day with nine, count them, NINE straight losses.  I had been there for over two hours before I finally cashed a ticket.  And ironically, the winner was in a 2yo MSW at Churchill where I only had the minimum bet.  But as I noted in the highlight video clip, just to FINALLY cash a ticket was good enough at that point.  Tapit's Conquest had closed to be 2nd in his debut and today's stretch from 7f to a two-turn mile and a sixteenth looked to right in the son of champion Curlin's wheelhouse.  Trained by Brad Cox he made a big move on the turn and opened up.  Until he got to the 16th pole I kept looking for who was going to run me down because I'd already had several of those, but he was clear under the wire.  Thought maybe I was on my way, but lost the next three - two of which saw me finish second. In the very next race in Louisville I liked O Besos in a third level allowance.  He was a near-perfect fit for the conditions.  He was lightly raced with four races against MSW and allowance foes.  ALL the rest were graded stakes.  The MSW & allowance events - ALL WINS.  And to add to the appeal, of the 115 combined figures run by the rest of the field, his LAST SIX beat 113 of them; and his last two beat them all.  He sat midpack through the turn, swept up five wide and wore down the leader in the shadow of the wire with my triple investment on board.

Again, "here we go" I thought, only to watch the next five picks lose - three of them second.  WOW.  The next win made me feel proud of myself.  One thing I've learned about my handicapping and playing the races....always, and I mean ALWAYS it evens out for me to show 35% to 40% winners.  And so it's "easier" to endure multiple losses on any given day because I KNOW that I'm going to win later.  And what made me proud in this instance was I not only did not back down from the betting because I was not cashing, but I actually upped the wager in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes, a "Win And You're In" Breeders' Cup event.  I can hear someone say, "Wow, how hard is it to up the bet on a 1/9 shot?"  But that's the thing....it would have been oh-so-easy to back off to "avoid losing" knowing that if I did win, I wouldn't do much more than get my money back.  But FOR ME at the races, it's all about the playing - and a lot of the excitement is that I'll invest more heavily when I'm more confident.  And to have those pay off is rewarding.  So it was not hard to like Life Is Good who was not only clearly and I mean CLEARLY the best in this short field, but he was also the lone speed.  Still, as his trainer Todd Pletcher replied when asked on Friday if the race was basically just a "walkover," he said "We'll be sweating bullets until he crosses the finish line first!"  Anything can happen in racing.  But he lived up to the hype and walked with it - and now it's on to the Breeders' Cup Classic and the much anticipated showdown with Flightline.  For my big $50 bet I cashed for $52.50 - but felt very good about myself!  I went back and looked, and since the summer season began in late June I've had sixty races where I went "prime time" on the bet or higher ($20 and up).  I've cashed on 65% of them.  And even better, when I'm very confident and bet more than $20 I've cashed on 13-of-16 bets....that's over 80% my friends!

Less than ten minutes after Life Is Good crossed the wire, I turned around in the Gulfstream breezeway to one of the other big screen TV's and watched Battle Bling draw off in Laurel's Twixt Stakes.  Nearly $30 on that one.

Really thought Be Your Best would remain unbeaten in her young two-year-old campaign in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo but she didn't seem to have the same kick over the yielding ground and rand third.  In the featured Grade 3 Ack Ack at Churchill Downs I didn't have a lot of confidence in Speaker's Corner and thought he was over the top, but on paper he looked obvious.  Should have trusted my gut - rant a dismal 7th at 7/5.  I had two more races to watch live before I was ready to head for home.  At Santa Anita trainer Bob Baffert had sent out the very talented filly, Fun To Dream.  She'd blitzed her MSW rivals on debut and then buried a state-bred stakes group.  Now off a freshening she was going two turns for the first time, and in an open race - but an entry level allowance.  I loved her chances.  Then I read that the DRF's Brad Free made her his BEST Bet and made the comment, ".....she towers over her rivals...."  She drafted behind the leaders, swung into the clear heading for home and ran off without taking a deep breath.  Stakes rivals are next for this filly.

Finally, it was time for the Gulfstream feature, the $400K In Reality Stakes.  In the filly version Lynx had disappointed, as my choice, and ran second (no surprise).  So I was wondering about what would happen here.  But I thought Awesome Strong looked the more likely winner of the two juvenile favorites and so I made him the Best Bet at Gulfstream and went "prime time" on him.  He sat comfortably in the clear about mid-pack until they approached the far turn.  Now we'd find out if he could get two turns.  Swept up and ran by everyone to take command.  Opened up what appeared to be a commanding lead turning for home with the run to the first finish line.  But inside the final 16th you could tell he had nothing left.  Oh my, hang on Webby I thought, and he did as a clear winner, but he won't be a long-term threat going two turns in my opinion.  Or maybe he's still young and developing.  Regardless, I'd won another big race with another big bet and headed for home a happy camper with half a dozen late races to watch.

I won two of them and ran second in two others, of course.  In the Grade 2 City of Hope going a mile on the turf I thought at first glance that the field was pretty evenly matched.  Then I looked at the likely pace scenario - uh oh, Beyond Brilliant was the one and only front runner.  Looked LONG GONE and she burst to the front immediately and never was threatened as my third big-time bet winner.  And finally in the last bet of the day we were racing down the unique hillside course at Santa Anita - I love those races - in the Unzip Me Stakes.  Connie Swingle got my bet.  I wasn't completely convinced, but it was hard to ignore these three facts:  (1) she was a perfect 3-for-3 on turf; (2) last time out the 3yo filly beat older, multiple stakes winner Leggs Galore; and (3) most importantly she was 2-for-2 down the unique course on the hill.  Right out of the gate she latched onto the hip of the front runner.  As they crossed over the main track and turned for home she burst to the front and scored by daylight for my seventh winner on the day!

Next Wednesday we head off to Hawaii.  It's Opening Week at the strong Keeneland Fall Meet.  No guarantees, but I'd guess I'll find time to play a few of the big stakes on "Fall Stars Weekend."  To follow our Hawaii adventure, go HERE.

BC Preview Weekend Highlights

Social Media

Former student Christy posted a couple more pics from her visit to Scotland to be at gal-pal, partner-in-crime Kimmy's wedding.  And when I commented, we had a brief online conversation where she agreed that we should get together.

Jessica Jordan was my most favorite waitress at Ford's Garage in Cape Coral when we lived there for six months to help our son Jeff with his head coaching gig.  I grew particularly close to Jessica because there were a few times when Kim did not make the trip back to Cape Coral until later in the week and I was left to myself.  Kim would encourage me to go to Ford's and nearly always (those were typically on a Monday) the place was not very crowded and Jessica would spend a lot of time with me just chatting.  Got to know her so well, and saw many a pic of her little girl Emma.  So that we've kept in touch means a lot to me.  When she posted pics of her now two little ones, she reacted to my comments.

Acacia Courtney now works full time in New York and we'll miss her during the winter at Gulfstream.  But nearly every time I reach out to tell her I am watching and playing I get some recognition back, as I did this week.

Typically at least once - often on the weekend I exchanged social media comments with CBS-4 Weekend Anchor Karli Barnett (who ALWAYS calls be out by name).  But heading into this weekend, I'd not heard from her in almost two weeks.  Then on Friday she posted pics from a wedding and I thought OH, that's where she was.....

When the hurricane swept through southwest Florida I was concerned about several of the people I keep in contact with there, one of which was Jessica.  And on Saturday she let me know she was ok.  But the most meaningful part of her reply - and that she took the time to write to me and not just give me an emoji - was here saying "I miss seeing you too."  That's my girl!

If you remember from last fall, Karli is a Georgia alumni and her Bulldogs have been kings of college football.  I've learned she's an avid follower and watches the games.  So on Saturday evening when they barely escaped with a win I messaged her that it was good to see her back on the air.  Also, she'd commented during the chat earlier that she'd been ill - which explains why she had been "missing in action" for so long - and I commented on that.  More on the chat below...... You'll note that I sent her the message just after she'd gone on the air, and WHILE ON THE AIR, she replied.

In response to Karli letting her fans know her parents were ok we exchanged another set of comments.

My good friend Mishele, who's still working, was at a friend's retirement party.  I inquired when she would join us in not working and then suggested we go to the track to make her retirement income LOL.

One of my most favorite "kids" from the fall I spent at Oasis High was Madi who was our lead manager and chief drone pilot.  We've stayed in touch and I was concerned about her and her family.  Finally after five days she replied to me.  The good news, they were all ok....the bad news, their home was destroyed.  So sad, like so many others :(

By far the best....THE BEST.... THE VERY BEST part of the weekend - especially from a social media point of view was the Saturday evening Facebook chat that Karli Barnett hosted.  Typically I try to get on and usually I say hi and there isn't much to comment on.  But tonight, she and I engaged in "conversation" on many topics.  And her reaction to our trip to Hawaii (and my trips in general) and to the frozen cappuccinos were memorable!  So I clipped the videos together into this "highlight reel" of our conversation!