January 10 - 14
The week leading up to our big invasion of New Orleans included racing on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Here's a recap of those selections and results.......
On Wednesday the weather was wet and races were off the turf. But that didn't bother me because I had only three selections from a less-than-scintillating array of races. The first one scratched out leaving me with my first selection in the sixth. Originally scheduled to be a five furlong turf sprint, I liked Jorge Navarro's Singanothersong regardless of the surface. He was first off the claim for this sharp barn and had go-to rider Emisael Jaramillo up. Second, he had three wins on the off-going. As an EIGHT year-old you had to believe that they'd never claim such a veteran unless they thought he had some real upside. I tripled the investment. After losing his footing when the gates opened he quickly recovered and shot to the front. The farther they went, the bigger the lead got and he was never, ever asked to run hard. Clear by a widening eight lengths under the wire!
I really thought that I'd go 2-for-2 today because my last pick was a Main Track Only in the 9th - an entry level allowance - was Todd Pletcher's No Sweat with top rider Luis Saez. Unlike nearly all of Pletcher's horses to date this one did not fire. He was the 8/5 favorite and pressed the pace between horses to the top of the stretch. He was in prime position and ready to roll, but just didn't have it and was outfinished late for the place money.
Thursday's selection of races seemed much more inviting to me and I had seven live runners. In the opener I liked Beautiful Chaos, listed at 8/1 in the program, to upset this maiden claiming turf event. Bet down to 5/1 under top rider Luis Saez she was in prime position, a close fourth heading into the far turn, then stopped badly to fade to the back. The favorite in the third was a horse I'd had in much better races last year, Shaft of Light. But his last few were abysmal and he was dropping in class. He'd either be much the best or stop badly, so I went with Tough Customer who left the gate at a fair 7/2 price. Rallied strongly but unfortunately Shaft of Light was on his game and wired the field by double digits - I was a best-of-the-rest second. I missed with turf selections in the fourth and fifth before we got to my "BEST of the Day" in the sixth. Talk Logistics figured to be odds-on despite having lost ELEVEN in a row since a debut win here. But wait, there's a good reason....since then he'd been in nine stakes - six of them graded - and in two open allowance events. He'd seen the likes of West Coast, Always Dreaming, Timeline, and Irish War Cry. There were no such runners in today's state-bred allowance. He was patiently ridden by Irad Ortiz in fifth, near the back to the far turn, then swept up four wide and blew by the field. It wasn't a dominating win, but I doubt he was truly cranked for his best or asked for his best. Didn't make a lot of money, but I was right with a prime time investment and I get a lot of satisfaction from those kind of plays.
A fading ninth place finish on the turf set the stage for my final play of the day on Todd Pletcher's last out maiden special winner Noble Indy. I just had the inner gut feeling that this guy had some talent and that I should really, REALLY go all in on the bet. But because the start of the month had been a little off I decided to stick with my original double investment. He battled with the second favorite all the way to the wire before edging clear - and BOTH are highly regarded with their sites set on the 3yo stakes events next month. I'll take the win and move on to the next day!
Friday was travel day for Jim and I. I got to see the first of few races before heading to the airport and I got to see one more race at the airport. When I landed in New Orleans I was expecting Jim to be waiting for me but my phone buzzed and I had a text from him, he'd be about 45 minutes late, so I watched the last couple of my races. The day did NOT start out well, and had you asked me after the first race I would have predicted that it would be a sub-par day like the start of the month had been. Why? Because my choice, even-money favorite Ship Disturber was a dead last seventh without ever being a factor. Not good. My second selection came in the second race and it was an unusual play for me. Typically in maiden races, especially maiden claiming events I have an "unwritten rule" that after six starts you'd better be really special or heads and shoulders above the others before I'll wager money on you. So the fact that Take A Stroll was already a NINE time maiden and also 0-for-6 at today's five furlong turf sprint distance were hard to take. But as I wrote in my analysis, "....the rule in handicapping is that there ARE NO RULES...." The first EIGHT starts had all been in MSW company and at distances beyond five furlongs; last time out, first time tagged he'd been 10/1 in a route race so to me I was forgiving of that. But what caught my eye was a best-of-108 bullet...yes ONE-HUNDRED-AND-EIGHT. That's impressive! Sent off at a generous 3/1 price top rider Luis Saez had him pressing the 9/1 leader early when joined by an 80/1 front runner. He edged to the front spinning out of the turn and when the field began to gather momentum he dug in and held on for the win! Cashed for over $20 with my first win of the day!
Missed with a minimum bet in the third and passed the fourth. The fifth race was a basement level maiden claimer for three-year-olds for a $12.5K tag. Typically in a spot like this you'd be very suspicious of a runner dropping out of a $50K no show effort to run in this spot. But as I wrote in my analysis for today, ".....this IS Gulfstream, and it IS the Championship Meet, and the trainer IS Todd Pletcher...." Well that's about all you need to know, especially this winter where he's done this many times in spots just like this. I tripled the bet on Bannon who left the gate as the 8/5 second choice. I knew almost immediately that I was the winner. He was well in hand to the far turn, then when asked he accelerated without being pushed for his best. Drew off impressively and I was cashing for nearly $40 on my second win of the afternoon.
My flight was two hours - add in another hour or so for boarding and de-planing and it was about 6 pm EST when I was waiting at Jim's gate and pulled up the replays. The sixth was a turf sprint and my choice Zeus Odin didn't get clear on the lead, stopped to be fifth after dueling early at 3/1. In the seventh it was another maiden claimer for 3yo and another Todd Pletcher runner dropping significantly in class. I chuckled out loud when handicapping because the DRF "Closer Look" comment called it the "Pletcher Plunge" that we'd seen so often this winter. I again tripled the bet on Sumner who was the 8/5 favorite. He tracked the leader to the turn, blew by willingly and ran away as much, MUCH the best!
Cashed for over $40 and with three more live plays I knew I was a winner for the day regardless. As I watched 5/1 Raining Lemons surge to the front with a double investment in tow I thought I was going to have a big day, but he was nailed on the wire in a tight photo.....so much for a big winning day......or so I believed. I was against the odds-on class dropper in the 9th at had a 13/1 runner who pressed the pace, then stopped while the favorite ran away. So we were down to the finale, another maiden claiming event on the turf this time. Could we even dare to hope for.....YES, there was a Todd Pletcher colt, Elk Camp. He'd never been on the turf AND had drawn the parking lot post in position number twelve. Maybe we shouldn't bet. Are you kidding me? I'm "All In" on ALL Pletcher colts and I've been handsomely rewarded in cases eerily similar to this. My thought was go to rider John Velazquez would ask the MSW class dropper for a little early speed for position into the first turn then makes the winning move on the far turn. If you'd read my analysis and watched the race you would have HAD to have thought I was a psychic......
OH MY, $15.20 payoff! I cashed for $76 on this race and four the day my four wins netted me a profit of almost $100! About this time Jim came off the plane and after exchanging hellos I told him I'd had a pretty good day at Gulfstream. He turned to me and said he'd bet on a couple of my Pletcher picks. "Did you have Elk Camp in the last race?" He said yes and then I told him the big bonanza payoff - he too was a winner for the day. A GREAT WAY to start the New Orleans racing weekend!
Click HERE to go to the journal for today's BIG day of racing!
Sunday was our day to tour the New Orleans area. We had beignets at Cafe du Monde and toured the city; then we had a five hour excursion to Oak Alley Plantation. While there we watched our races. I had three Pletcher runners and another minimum play to go along with my BET of the Day in the sixth. No, it wasn't a Todd Pletcher 3yo, but it was in a 3yo maiden claiming event. Overdraft was a Dale Romans colt and he'd been a good 4th in a MSW debut and shown speed when dueling for $40K - the drop to $25K should be all the help he needed AND the field was less than formidable. He proved to be the lone winner on the card as he dominated.
But for the week I'd built up solid stats, and seemed to be back on course after a slow start the first week!
Missed with a minimum bet in the third and passed the fourth. The fifth race was a basement level maiden claimer for three-year-olds for a $12.5K tag. Typically in a spot like this you'd be very suspicious of a runner dropping out of a $50K no show effort to run in this spot. But as I wrote in my analysis for today, ".....this IS Gulfstream, and it IS the Championship Meet, and the trainer IS Todd Pletcher...." Well that's about all you need to know, especially this winter where he's done this many times in spots just like this. I tripled the bet on Bannon who left the gate as the 8/5 second choice. I knew almost immediately that I was the winner. He was well in hand to the far turn, then when asked he accelerated without being pushed for his best. Drew off impressively and I was cashing for nearly $40 on my second win of the afternoon.
My flight was two hours - add in another hour or so for boarding and de-planing and it was about 6 pm EST when I was waiting at Jim's gate and pulled up the replays. The sixth was a turf sprint and my choice Zeus Odin didn't get clear on the lead, stopped to be fifth after dueling early at 3/1. In the seventh it was another maiden claimer for 3yo and another Todd Pletcher runner dropping significantly in class. I chuckled out loud when handicapping because the DRF "Closer Look" comment called it the "Pletcher Plunge" that we'd seen so often this winter. I again tripled the bet on Sumner who was the 8/5 favorite. He tracked the leader to the turn, blew by willingly and ran away as much, MUCH the best!
Cashed for over $40 and with three more live plays I knew I was a winner for the day regardless. As I watched 5/1 Raining Lemons surge to the front with a double investment in tow I thought I was going to have a big day, but he was nailed on the wire in a tight photo.....so much for a big winning day......or so I believed. I was against the odds-on class dropper in the 9th at had a 13/1 runner who pressed the pace, then stopped while the favorite ran away. So we were down to the finale, another maiden claiming event on the turf this time. Could we even dare to hope for.....YES, there was a Todd Pletcher colt, Elk Camp. He'd never been on the turf AND had drawn the parking lot post in position number twelve. Maybe we shouldn't bet. Are you kidding me? I'm "All In" on ALL Pletcher colts and I've been handsomely rewarded in cases eerily similar to this. My thought was go to rider John Velazquez would ask the MSW class dropper for a little early speed for position into the first turn then makes the winning move on the far turn. If you'd read my analysis and watched the race you would have HAD to have thought I was a psychic......
OH MY, $15.20 payoff! I cashed for $76 on this race and four the day my four wins netted me a profit of almost $100! About this time Jim came off the plane and after exchanging hellos I told him I'd had a pretty good day at Gulfstream. He turned to me and said he'd bet on a couple of my Pletcher picks. "Did you have Elk Camp in the last race?" He said yes and then I told him the big bonanza payoff - he too was a winner for the day. A GREAT WAY to start the New Orleans racing weekend!
Saturday January 13: At The Fair Grounds
Click HERE to go to the journal for today's BIG day of racing!
Sunday was our day to tour the New Orleans area. We had beignets at Cafe du Monde and toured the city; then we had a five hour excursion to Oak Alley Plantation. While there we watched our races. I had three Pletcher runners and another minimum play to go along with my BET of the Day in the sixth. No, it wasn't a Todd Pletcher 3yo, but it was in a 3yo maiden claiming event. Overdraft was a Dale Romans colt and he'd been a good 4th in a MSW debut and shown speed when dueling for $40K - the drop to $25K should be all the help he needed AND the field was less than formidable. He proved to be the lone winner on the card as he dominated.
But for the week I'd built up solid stats, and seemed to be back on course after a slow start the first week!
