Today H-A-S to be considered a winning day for a variety of reasons....none of which have to do with making money (which I didn't). But it WAS all about sticking with it and not giving in to negative feelings after a slow start. And I have to be honest that after the first hour and a half of racing the thought flashed through my mind, "....what if I run out of money and don't cash a ticket?...." But then I quickly "stood up to myself" and reminded my doubting fears that I ALWAYS win some races and that I should know that after some 19,000+ races I ALWAYS win around 30% to 35% of my selections. So here's how the day unfolded. Because Kim was going to be out of town this weekend I decided to add on a couple more tracks that I typically do not play and so as I headed out to Gulfstream around 11 am I had four pages of selections from some ... tracks: Gulfstream, Aqueduct, Tampa Bay, the Fair Grounds, Los Alamitos, and the two new ones to the group: Mahoning Valley (from Youngstown, Ohio) and Turfway Park (from Florence, Kentucky just outside Cincinnati). I was surprised when I opened up the Turfway pp's that their first race post time was not until 6:15 pm because it HAS to be frigid for the fans and especially the riders! I had put Mahoning on the list because last weekend Jim and I had talked about them briefly and I wanted to see how I would do there. My first pick was from there, a 3-lifetime allowance where Mo Big Deal looked the be the lone speed. Dueled with a longshot and faded to be third at even money. The Gulfstream opener was a MSW for 2yo on the turf and I liked Todd Pletcher's Bee R Bee who figured to be a price. She was, a huge 12/1 - could I be making a BIG score? Never close, 7th. Then nothing seemed to be going the way it should......2nd at Aqueduct at 3/5 after a race-long duel; 5th at 8/5 on Wild Cheers from Tampa when clear into the stretch and then stopped on a dime; 5th again, again at 8/5 in the Mahoning 3rd on a 9x winner at the track. Then you KNOW it has to be an off day when at Aqueduct in a 2yo stakes my pick, Gold For The King was a prohibitive 1/5 and ran second. The first of three graded stakes at Gulfstream was the Grade 3 Sugar Swirl. I had some doubts about Stonetastic, but she looked EASILY the lone speed. My second choice was Dearest who, on figures, was as fast, but she'd built up her resume on the weaker summer competition here. The gates opened and Stonetastic went right to the front and I thought the wire-to-wire win by the favorite was already over. But by the time they hit the turn Dearest had confronted her and as they turned for home she drew off and my pick faded to third. WOW. The fourth at Mahoning resulted in an off-the-board fifth as the overwhelming 3/5 choice. EIGHT straight losses - not the way I saw this day unfolding. Then I got a text message from one of my former Cypress Bay colleagues.....Jennifer Cook. She had many times for a couple of years talked about coming out to the races to see what it was all about and I'd told her early in the week via FB message that today would be a "big day" to come. Her message said that she and her husband were on their way if I was still going to be there. This brightened a day that had NO bright spots at all. Next up was the 4th from Tampa and my choice Pacific Image went off at a more-than-generous 5/2 and wore down the 40/1 leader in deep stretch.....a WIN! WHOOO HOOO. With my double investment I'd be cashing for a handsome near-$40. Ok then! Up to my seats to watch the featured (in my mind it was the best of the three graded stakes) Grade 3 Rampart. When I'd looked over the field it was OBVIOUS that the lone speed was lightly raced Curlin's Approval. But he'd never seen graded company nor had he ever gone beyond seven furlongs - today was a mile. Genre was the obvious favorite as she'd won the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher at Monmouth and had twice beaten her stablemate Eskenformoney. Both were from the Todd Pletcher barn and my initial inclination was to make Genre the pick. But Eskenformoney had Javier Castellano on and I thought, "...could this be one of those races at Gulfstream where afterwards handicappers are asking how Pletcher-Castellano win a graded stakes at such a big price?......" Could I make a case for her? At first I thought no, since she'd been twice beaten by Genre. And to be honest, after I'd cashed on her in her maiden win last winter I always had thought she was overrated. But as I scanned down her pp's I came to it......
The key was NOT found in the past performances of Eskenformoney who showed not one, not two, but THREE recent losses to Genre. But when you look back in Genre's pp's you see the key. One thing you just HAVE to accept when you play Gulfstream is that (a) Pletcher horses just run lights out here and (b) Castellano is magic with horses here in the winter. And there it is.....last winter, at THIS one-turn mile distance Eskenformoney had beaten Genre not once, but twice! Now you could say their form is much different now, but knowing how things often play out here at Gulfstream, that was enough for me. AND I thought Genre would hook up with Culin's Approval to give the perfect race flow for Eskenformoney on HER track at HER distance. If anyone had been with me at this point in the day and I'd explained what I thought I was going to happen they would have sworn I must have some mystical powers to see the future because the race unfolded EXACTLY like this. As they swung through the far turn Eskenformoney made her move and by mid-stretch she'd edged clear to WIN! And best of all, check the price......
OH MY! That's right, $13.20 and with my investment I'd be cashing for nearly $70! So since I got Jennifer's text I'd gone 2-for-2, collected over $100 and suddenly it was a new day! I was sorry that she and her husband had not arrived in time for what would probably be the Upset of the Day, but right after I cashed my tickets they arrived and we met in the paddock. I immediately told her that she was today's good luck charm :)
They bet the 6th with me where I liked one of two Todd Pletcher runners, I went with the price play under Velazquez. Ironically my pick, High Above went off at a fair 5/1, but the other - Faja - under Castellano was nearly 7/1 and won handily, paying an amazing $15.80. WOW. I explained to Jen and her husband that I was playing multiple tracks today and so they joined me as I went to the simulcast area and watched my "Aqueduct best bet" in their 6th race. As we waited for them to load into the gate I explained to Jennifer that one of the things that helped in handicapping was when you learn things through experience, and that this race was one of those. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott never has his runners ready to fire in their debut, so when they run well at first asking it's a sign of an impending big effort. Such was the case with Lockdown who had chased a loose-on-the-lead winner going a mile, while racing wide AND had held second from one of today's rivals. The stretch to a mile-70 today and with a great initial run made me think he'd run huge today. He was 5/2 in the program but as they hit the far turn he floated up to 3/1 and I was tingling with excitement. He opened up through the stretch and won convincingly!
When the prices came up and he paid a whopping $8.20 I was going to collect $82 on my "prime time" investment and had duly impressed the Cooks :) Next was the Grade 3 Harlan's Holiday and the choice was between front-running Stanford - a Pletcher runner - and his stablemate Keen Ice who had only two wins to his credit, but one was the Grade 1 Travers in 2015 when he handed American Pharoah his only defeat of the year. As a closer he needed pace up front and I thought Stanford would get pressure so I went with Keen Ice who was new to the Pletcher barn, was third off the layoff, and was getting Castellano.....who had ridden Stanford in his previous races. I told the Cooks that this was my Gulfstream "best" and so they bet with me. Disappointed that Stanford went unchallenged on the lead and Keen Ice was a late running 2nd. Sigh...... I led the Cooks back inside for the 3rd from the Fair Grounds, their featured Bonapaw Stakes going five furlongs on the turf. I was thinking "outside the box" by picking Green Mask who was clearly the class of the field based on earnings and the level of races he'd run in. But he also had SEVEN defeats from his last eight starts, but all against better. As they left the gate I explained to Jennifer that I was hopeful he wouldn't "let another win" like he usually does. As they turned for home he hooked the leader and from the furlong pole to inside the final 100 yards Green Mask would not go by and I thought I should have known better, but in the final strides he surged to WIN! Again, the Cooks were impressed :)
As I looked at my sheet I made a quick count of my wins so far and thought, ".....I'm making a nice little comeback since that 0-for-8 start!....." While awaiting the start of the Gulfstream finale I made the decision to bet the late races at Turfway online via my Xpressbet account, so I went to my favorite teller who is a twin named Kim (and her sister Karen works two chairs down as a teller and is also a favorite to bet with) and bet the remainder of the Fair Grounds races on my sheet and two races from Los Alamitos, including my BET of the Day. I was pretty confident that Chocolate Ride would win the Dibartolo Memorial at the Fair Grounds. He is a "Horse-for-the-Course" in New Orleans with a 8/6-1-0 record to date. Sent off as the 6/5 favorite I was surprised he didn't contest the early lead, but he has won from just off the pace. Made a bold move into the lane, split horses and was asked to sprint for home......ran evenly to disappoint in 4th. Unlike two weeks ago the trip home was smooth as silk and I was home by 6:15 pm. I fixed my dinner and sat down to watch the simulcast replays. In the first at Turfway Main Man Mike was second (again) as the 1/2 favorite - not thrilled that this was the way my "new track" was starting after being shut out at Mahoning Valley earlier today. Then in the 7th at Los Al Bob Baffert's Americanize justified my triple investment and was tons the best in winning her MSW sprint. The short 3/5 odds meant I'd only cash for $25 and change when I next go to GP. I was a good 4/1 in the 10th at the Fair Grounds but only 2nd, AGAIN! The third at Turfway saw my pick, Matchbook Lily sent off at even money......SECOND, AGAIN! WOW. Then it was time for my BET of the Day - the featured Winter Challenge at Los Al, a race that had been written especially for champion California Chrome to serve as a prep for the $12 Million Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup her at Gulfstream in January. Chrome has always been based here and prepped for all his big efforts, but ironically he'd never raced here. So this was a great way for the champ to say goodbye to his fans. He figured to be an ULTRA short price and win for fun, but hey, it's horse racing! As they loaded into the gate check out how the betting was lopsided on California Chrome, obviously #10.......
I was mildly concerned down the backstretch when he was not just wide, but was racing literally out in the middle of the track! On the turn, still very wide he just cruised by and ran away without any urging to the thunderous cheers of his thousands of followers.
Though I didn't make nearly any money, as I've said before, the satisfaction of betting big and having my confidence rewarded was good enough. In the Fair Grounds finale Rose's Asset was the short-priced 4/5 favorite......oh my, SECOND AGAIN - can you believe it? Then came one of the highlights of the day. The late-night feature at Turfway where it WAS freezing AND it was raining! was the Prairie Bayou. After looking it over I thought that defending champion Dac was the likely winner. This time last year he'd come off a good effort in the Grade 3 River City on the turf to win this stakes on their synthetic surface (which plays like turf). He'd earned a 91 in the River City and then run a click faster in winning this. THIS year he also prepped in the River City; again he ran well without winning, BUT he earned a bigger 96 Beyer. Anything close to that and he's your winner. He was a fair 5/2 price but was mid-pack into the far turn and out of the television screen. But then I saw his colors as he was rolling five wide through the turn, picking off horses one at a time. By the furlong marker he'd caught the leader, but that one wouldn't go down easily.....head up and head down to the wire.....looks like a photo finish.......oh so close!
But even the announcer called it for Dac. Then the final odds flashed and he was a HUGE 3/1 - wow. With my triple investment I would collect over $60 on what turned out to be my final winner of the day. IN the seventh at Turfway Contrasting looked solid in this second level sprint with only five runners. But when the gates opened she hopped in the air losing all chance despite being the even money favorite. Rushed to challenge on the turn and faded to fourth. Still, a "WINNING" day as I said at the outset because......(a) after starting out 0-for-8 I finished with TEN wins and despite having TEN seconds, (b) I still cashed on 30.3% of my selections; (c) got to show off my passion to two new race fans; and in spite of the numbers and the long losing skid at the beginning I rallied to come with $20 of making a profit. A great day at the track!
Rampart Stakes Day Recap
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