Where's the Value?

- I don't know how much, if any, Dan Borislow contributed to Wild Desert's 1-4 odds in the Prince of Wales stakes, but the Toronto Globe and Mail reported that Borislow was subdued after the race.

The Wild Desert team descended on the Fort Erie Race Track with such aplomb that majority owner Dan Borislow, who calls himself the biggest bettor in the United States, had a wagering window reserved for him at the track's Prince of Wales dining room.

Winner Ablo set tepid early fractions which the favorite couldn't overcome. Jockey Patrick Valenzuela said Wild Desert "kicked on very well. If it had been a mile and a quarter today, I think I would have got it. But it was a 16th of a mile too short." [Buffalo News] These excuses may very well be valid, but the warning signs were there, given the unnaturally slow time of Wild Desert's win in the Queen's Plate, and the similarly lethargic workout the colt had at Saratoga last week.

Last year's Louisiana Derby winner Wimbledon returned to the races after a 15 month absence and ran third Sunday as the 17-10 second choice at the Solano County Fair. He was 5-2 in the 2004 Santa Anita, ran 5th, and suffered a tendon injury prepping for the Derby under Bob Baffert. Y'know, there are a lot of races available for wagering everyday. There has GOT to be better ways to invest ones money than betting at low odds a horse whose condition was questionable like this one. Don't you think he'd be running somewhere other than a county fair if he was anything like he was last year? Even if he won, so what? Don't people care about value when they wager? Why would anyone have bet on High Limit off his layoff at 7-10 Sunday? Was he really that much less disappointing this past spring than 5-2 Sun King? Wild Desert at 1-4? Did winning the Queen's Plate in glacial time make him the second coming? Do some people just have to bet on every race?

Personally, I don't make straight win bets on any horses at such odds - you'd have to bet like Dan Borislow for it to have any impact on your life, and I'm certainly not the biggest bettor in the United States. But even if that's your thing, there's got to be about 100 better such favorites to bet on every week; horses with proven and current form running on familiar racetracks against familiar foes for leading trainers and jockeys. Once upon a time, bettors had a small menu of races to bet - just the ones at the track they were at. Now, with endless choices at many tracks, there's no excuse for not exercising a little patience and discretion with one's investments; that's my opinion anyway.

- On Sept 30, 2003, the President of the United States said "If somebody did leak classified information , I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action." Today, that same president raised the bar, saying, "If someone committed a crime , they will no longer work in my administration." (Links via Daily Kos) Left at the Gate has learned that tomorrow the president will say "If someone committed a crime while wearing all blue and listening to Morrissey on a Tuesday or non-Jewish religious holiday between 8 and 10 AM that results in death or mutilation of a non-Muslim, gross malnutrition, chicken pox, root canal, or the inability to speak any language but French, then he may possibly maybe perhaps perchance we'll see I'll think about it I'll ask my daddy no longer work in my administration unless his first name is Karl." Remember, you heard it here first.