- I haven’t been to the track in, like, 11 days now, and I'm getting a little antsy, so I replenished my OTB account and tuned in to TVG and HRTV the last couple of nights. But it seems to have rained all over the country, and the thoroughbred tracks have all been wet the last two nights, and I just don’t like betting off tracks. When is the last time Mountaineer has had a fast track? So for the second night in a row, it’s harness racing from Woodbine. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve saved a lot of money lately blogging instead of betting and I feel flush with cash, so what the hell. I just lost the 10th, but one amazing thing is to watch the money pour into the pools in the final minutes. With around 3 minutes to go, there was around $2500 in the exacta pool; at the end, it was over $24,000. Also, they have horses as 7-1 in the morning line there; I don't think I've ever seen that before.
- I got the new issue of the New Yorker, and it’s dated May 2, which made me realize just how close we are to the big race. Inside, there’s a great illustration of David Johansen as he’s projected to look like when he performs with the New York Dolls here next week. Some, if not most of anyone who’s reading this blog, of course remember him chiefly for his landmark performance as Looney in the motion picture Let it Ride.
- One guy who’s getting on my nerves is Roger Stein, the trainer of General John B. He told the Racing Form:
"This year there's one standout - Bellamy Road - and all the geniuses say he's not going to run back. If he does, he buries the field. If he really cannot run back to that race, it's good for us. Then we have a chance, that's all. [Daily Racing Form]He doesn’t explain though how he’s going to make up the 24 lengths he was beaten by High Fly and Bandini in the Fountain of Youth. 1-800-NO-DERBY.
- As you know if you’ve been reading, I came away from the Wood absolutely astounded by the scope and, especially, the ease of Bellamy Road’s performance and have, only partly in jest, already conceded the Kentucky Derby to him. Having personally witnessed the Wood, and with his New York connections of the likeable, Brooklyn-born Nick Zito and, yes, even the evil George Steinbrenner, who seems to blubber as much as bluster in recent years - just wait and see him bawl his eyes out if his horse wins the Derby - I must admit that there’s nothing more I’d like to be doing on June 11 than to be at Belmont Park to see him return to New York with the first two legs under his belt. It might even get the city into it, like they've already done just south of here, where I'm told that Philadelphia is once again agog over a Derby contender with local connections, this time Afleet Alex.
Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m not looking for someone to bet at a square price. It’s the Derby; horses get in traffic, they can’t get the distance, and there’s always a live horse or two, some kind of angle at a price to take a shot with. I mean, it’s only a horse race, right? With Bandini and Afleet Alex clearly the second the third choices, I’m looking elsewhere, and this is who I’m looking at right now: Noble Causeway and Andromeda’s Hero, maybe Consolidator or High Limit. More on that later.
1 Comment:
A few years ago, I was spending some time in a simulcast lounge at a dark track. I was studying the Form and glancing at the TV to see the report from Churchill. Pat Day's mount was the favorite and looked to be best on paper. I was always looking for the chance to bet against Pat's fans. I noticed that Donna Brothers was reporting indoors. When the outside shot came on screen, it was raining so heavily that I couldn't see much. I did see that the track was already turning sloppy. I looked back at the Form and saw that the favorite had raced only once on a wet track and finished poorly. I quickly figured the best runners for the conditions and jumped out of my chair and ran to the windows. I boxed four horses on a trifecta ticket. The race unfolded much as I had hoped, with Pat Day sitting on a horse that did not like the mud. With Pat finishing out of the money, I cashed that trifecta ticket for a little over 1200 bucks. A little rain must fall.
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