Wednesday March 8 - Sunday March 12
Wednesday March 8
Coming off a less-than-spectacular week of results I had high hopes of turning the corner with the new week. I had begun the month of March with a 5-for-50 start - hardly the 35% I'm used to. And the first race today I had the prohibitive 1-5 favorite who was the Daily Racing Form's Mike Welsch's best bet. He was being handled confidently pressing the leader into the stretch. Cruised up to him as they turned for home and was ready to run by when the leader dug in. The rider could tell he had a fight on his hands and the duel was on! Heads up and heads down to the final 50 yards when, of course, the 1/5 chalk gave way - 2nd. WOW. In the fourth Top of the Page finished 6th at 8/5; in the fifth Give Me The Money was 6th at 2/1 and I finished the day with a 5th place finish at 10/1 in the 9t with Grand Sky in a turf sprint. So now the numbers are 5-for-54 and we're headed into the big weekend adventure at Tampa. Ironically it was this very week last year that I was also skidding as I walked into Tampa Bay Downs on an 0-for-22 skid. Surely....SURELY, I can pick up some wins before the weekend! Right? C'mon man!
Thursday March 9
I tried to be a little more careful about which races to play and be just a click more convinced that I had an edge in an effort to turn this thing around. In the second six entered in this non-winners of two lifetime sprint were coming off a maiden claiming win or had already lost multiple times in this condition. But Proud Enough at least had the potential to improve after running a huge race off the layoff in a very fast time. Sent off as the even money favorite she stalked th epace into the stretch and then ran right by to WIN....oh my, a winner!
In the fifth I wrote that Arcature was NOT a "smart bet" as he'd be a short price in this 3-lifetime turf event. But it had appeared on Saturday that Javier Castellano was finally back to riding like he has over the past few years. And on a Chad Brown turf horse, he SHOULD win here. But again, a questionable ride where he waited too long to move AND got the horse into traffic problems through the turn and into the stretch. Sigh......The final pick of the day was in the eleventh it was a 2-lifetime turf sprint and Puzzled Look was interesting. Her last two were allowance efforts in Tampa, but today came here for a first time tag, first time 2-lifetime condition AND lured Castellano. But like oh so many horses with Castellano this winter, she was off slowly and when finally into gear she was too late - second at a big 7/2 price.
Friday March 10
I'd spent a lot of time over the last two days putting together an analysis of the Tampa Bay Derby Day card (check it out here). But I was determined to pick up the pace with some wins heading into the weekend. I felt pretty good about the races on Saturday and I'd put together a pretty cool program, if I do say so myself - check out a look at it on the Tampa Bay Derby page (below). For today I'd come up with six selections from the eleven races being run on this Friday at Gulfstream. I watched them as I handicapped Gulfstream and Santa Anita for Saturday. I was "proud" of myself that I stuck to my belief in myself and that in the second today I made Todd Pletcher's first time starter My Miss Tapit not only my top pick but a "prime time" play! She had drawn a $550K auction bid at Keeneland and had a steady string of works while getting go-to rider John Velazquez in the irons. She was near the back of this 5 1/2 furlong sprint as the field hit the far turn, but when Velazquez asked the filly to run she circled the field, collared the leader at the top of the lane and drew off as much, MUCH the best! WHOOOO HOOOOO!
I am rewarded, finally! Though to be fair, it wasn't like I was going to get rich on the even money favorite. But the key was I'd stuck with it, made the "big bet" and won! I passed the third. In the fourth there was another Pletcher filly in this entry level allowance for three-year-olds. It's always difficult for a thoroughbred to exit a maiden win and score right back vs. winners. But as I've said several times in my writings, while the Gulfstream advertising slogan proclaims that "Gulfstream is your playground," the fact of the matter is that it truly is Todd Pletcher's winter playground. So I doubled the bet on Nonna Bella. I felt a bit more confident than under normal circumstances because when Nonna Bella on on February 4th she beat a filly by the name of Salty and that one had scored on Sunday as a much-the-best odds-on favorite. Nonna Bella pressed the pace to the top of the lane and then ran away! Just what the doctor ordered for my lack of wins - back-to-back Pletcher runners!
Again, she was a short-priced favorite, but to be on a win streak felt GOOD! In the fifth I liked Mark Casse's Speight Swiftly as a bit of a price play in a maiden special turf event. The crowd bet her down to 8/5 favoritism. The gates opened and she went right to the front. She was clear into the stretch but was all out to hold off the late charge of Castellano's horse - too little too late again for the Eclipse award winning rider.
I only had the minimum on this filly, but it made me a 3-for-3 handicapper for the day! The streak ended on back-to-back off-the board finishes - one at 5/1 the other at 6/5 (we're not going to start this again, losing with short-priced favorites, are we?). But the final play of the day was in a no conditions allowance going nine furlongs on the turf where Jay Gatsby was my choice. He'd run off a string of triple digit Beyers including back-to-back second place finishes in tough NYRA graded stakes last summer. And the last time he was in an allowance like this he earned a 100 figure and was a decisive winner. John Velazquez was riding. He was patiently handled, riding the rails to save ground until heads turned for home. Into the clear and driving to the wire - JUST caught the long time leader in the final strides for my FOURTH win of the day!
Finally, some momentum heading into the big day!
Saturday March 11
Our Florida Panthers are fighting for their playoff lives so I stayed in town to go to the game Friday (Kim had left for Daytona Beach on Thursday afternoon for a "girls' getaway weekend). I just knew if I left to spend Friday night with my in-laws in Englewood that the 'Cats would win and I'd regret it. It was a great game and we took a 5-4 lead early in the third, then caved, again, and lost 7-4. I set the alarm and was up at 5, on the road by 5:20 and reached Englewood about 8:30. Picked up my father-in-law Ed and we were off for the big adventure. See the results and read the stories of the day on my Tampa Bay Derby page......
Click HERE
Tampa Bay Derby Day Highlights
Sunday March 12
Because I knew I'd be up so early and driving all day Saturday, then turning right around to drive back on Sunday AND working on my recap of the Derby Day adventure I made the power decision to pass the day's races. Back at it on Wednesday trying to build on the momentum I've generated over the last two days of racing.
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