Gulfstream Park 2020-21 Championship Season
Opening Day
My favorite time of the racing year, but after announcing that fans WOULD be allowed on track, management has said that the target to allow fans at the races will be mid-January. I find that most interesting because if you are a VIP player (and let me say that the people I've seen captured on video don't look like VIP's, but what ever) you can go INSIDE to the simulcast area and watch & wager. And anyone, ANYONE can go INSIDE the casino and play the slots.....but no one can go OUTSIDE to watch the races where there is fresh air and you are not restricted by spacing so social distancing is so much easier. And adding to the bizzare-ness, you CAN go to the shopping part of the Gulfstream village which borders on paddock, and people can stand nearly shoulder to shoulder and watch them walk around pre-race. It's just all, ALL part of the "Covid-Craziness." So I having discovered the latter I was determined to be at Gulfstream for Opening Day because I've been every Opening Day for at least fifteen years. And as an added bonus I was in touch with my most favorite former-student, and now adult gal-pal Kimmy to come spend some time with her at her home which is less than five minutes from the track. We set a time for mid-afternoon so I'd arrive at Gulfstream midway through the card and head over in the late afternoon. The first race of the season and the day was a maiden claiming turf sprint and I liked Coin The Phrase under Paco Lopez. While she'd already lost seven times, ouch, and had backed up through the stretch in ALL of her previous starts I still thought she was the speed of the race and would wire the field. The 9/2 third choice blasted to the front and Paco sat chilly some three lengths or more off the speed to the far turn. Gathered momentum and blew by to win going away! For the fourth year in a row I had won the opener of the meet :)
I had passed the second, my pick scratched in the third, and another pass in the fourth. That took us to the fifth where I thought Angry Man looked best, a solid play. Two solid tries on the Saratoga turf made him look much the best to me. Sat near the back of the half dozen, closed stoutly but finished third in a three-way photo. I headed out for Hallandale right after that race while the sixth was being run, a pass for me. Got there just after the 7th finished where I ran third at 4/1. As I walked up I wondered if I could sneak into the racing area, but it was all blocked off with fencing.so that was a "NO."
As I walked behind the paddock/walking ring there were at least forty or fifty racing fans, you could tell because they had programs/racing forms and were obviously looking at the big jumbo screens and the horses. So I joined them and took my pics. Watched my "best" of the day fail to fire (a Todd Pletcher runner). Headed over to Kimmy's and spent the evening with her and her new boy. So enjoyed seeing her live and in person and not just on the phone or via text.
When I got home that evening I checked my last two bets of the day....in the 9th it was Ron Nicoletti's BEST and I also thought Tracy Ann's Legacy looked best in an entry level allowance sprinting five furlongs on the turf. Right to the front and never looked back for my final win of the day.
In the final bet of the day I finished second in yet another photo, sigh....still a great day to start off the winter racing season.
Thursday December 3: The First BIG Day Of The Winter
It's one of the great things about this game......you never know when or where you're going to have that big score. Sometimes it's NOT the Grade 1 national spotlight race that's the most exciting / profitable score of the day-week-month. And so we came to the second day of the new meet, just a Thursday afternoon in early December. Missed in the opener, then passed the next two. In the fourth it was a claiming event going a one-turn mile and I liked Hartling who was sent out by Saffie Joseph. Typically plunging class drops raise red flags, but with this barn they don't hesitate to drop them to what ever level they perceive is the "right" level. If they lose them to a claim, they go get another. He was a 4x winner and had near bullet works to seal the deal. Jockey Edgard Zayas - who had a great first week of the meet - had him right off the leader to the far turn, took over readily and opened up by three into the stretch. But in the final 16th he was tiring and was all out to hang on in a desperate finish.
Paid a generous $7.20 so I collected over $35. Liked my pick in the fifth alot, but she ran 2nd when closing in a turf sprint behind a runaway front runner. In the sixth I liked Red Crescent, enough to wager, but not enough to up that bet even a little. His past performances showed NINE stakes tries and in the three non-stakes events, like this second level allowance, he'd scored twice and been a close second....all with big figures. Was the class of the field in my opinion. He sat off the pace to the turn, rallied three-to-four wide and then began to drift. By mid-stretch he was some ten-wide into the lane but rolled by the leaders to be up in time! The best part, the price......
Cashed for nearly $40! NICE :) Missed in the 7th, passed the eighth. Then came the best play of the day. In the ninth we were sprinting on the turf under claiming conditions. Awsum Roar obviously loves the Gulfstream grass with a 6-for-14 mark. Her past performances were made up of eight allowance events and four claiming races, like today. In those four races: WIN, WIN, WIN, and WIN! Uh oh. Into the far turn he was outsprinted and lay tenth of the eleven. This was concerning to me because he'd looked like either a pace setter or at least an up close stalker. He began to pick off horses as they swung through the turn. As they turned for home he was so wide he was out of the picture. WHERE IS HE? Announcer Pete Aiello called the rallying horses in the four and five path as we hit the sixteenth pole and then suddenly there was the blur of a red saddle cloth as he Awsum Roar blew by to win going away. WOW. But not only was the race exciting, but the price was a big 6/1 and I'd doubled the bet....WHOOOO HOOOO.
Cashed out for $70 and a BIG winning day!
Another big event today was that Pegasus World Cup tickets went on sale. Several weeks ago when I reached out to Gulfstream about going to the races they had said I'd hear from them via email about the big events. So when I saw on Wednesday that today these tickets would go on sale I thought I'd get an email. Late Wednesday I went online in the morning and could get into the ticket area but you were asked for a password. When I didn't have an email by about 9:30 am I decided to call, but before dialing I thought I'd check one more time. Got in! I was surprised that the only options to sit trackside and WATCH the races were to get dining reservations on the terrace - where the old grandstand used to be, at $450 per seat....ummmm, no. Or to get a table on the apron. Here the tickets were about half that price, but you were required to get the entire table of four and only Keith and I were going. But what ever, so I got a table. When I went to check out I noted there wasn't any mention of parking and in the past you were required to have pre-paid parking if you wanted to park on the property. I double and triple checked, but nothing. So I bought the tickets. I then scanned through my emails because last year I'd had to inquire about parking. Found it and reached out to "Shari" in the GP ticket office. She wrote back right away and said because of the reduced number of people attending that parking would be complimentary unless you wanted valet. I wrote back and thanked her for the quick response and the info. Then I asked, just because, that I had not seen any grandstand seating available.....I continued that I assumed this was because of the virus/social distancing thing, but asked if I'd just missed it. Within minutes she wrote back and said they DID have limited grandstand seats but because there were so few they did not put them online, would I like them? I told her yes, and that I really only wanted two tickets. Got them - so not only do we have better and cheaper seats, but after sitting in the elevated grandstand last year we discovered the best place to be is in the last row, and that's where we are! WHOOP WHOOP!
Longshot Friday: December 4
Went 0-for on the day, but I'd imagine most players did NOT have a good day today either....
Saturday December 5
Claiming Crown Day
The first BIG Saturday of the meet came and I was very disappointed I was not at the races today - not only for the action, but it was a Chamber of Commerce kind of weather day. There were eleven races on the local card and NINE of them were Claiming Crown Stakes events. The other two were 2yo maiden turf routes. Missed on the first of those, then scored at Laurel where Commissioner Biggs was simply too good for the field. I knew he'd be a very short price and offer no value, so just the minimum play to pad the win stats :) Missed in the first stakes, the Glass Slipper when favored Liza Star dueled and stopped to finish fifth. Missed again at Aqueduct, then again with the "other" 2yo maiden turf race at GP and missed with my first play at Tampa in the Inaugural Stakes. The fourth at Gulfstream was the Claiming Crown Express and it looked to me like Krysto Skye would wire the field from inside post. You only had to have run for an $8K tag to get in but he was exiting back-to-back graded stakes. My plan had been to double the bet but he was being so well played that I upped the bet. Rocketed to the front and never looked back as an EASY winner.
Two misses at Laurel and the Fair Grounds before the fifth at Gulfstream, the Claiming Crown Distaff Dash. This race was all, ALL about Jakarta who was drawn wide. In her last three turf sprints she'd put up Beyers of 91, 88 and 98 while pounding starter foes, running second in a stakes and finishing a big third behind multiple graded stakes filly Got Stormy. Jockey Luis Saez sat patiently in third to the turn, but Jakarta just didn't seem to be interested at all. But the one thing about Saez is he NEVER gives up on trying. Into the stretch Jakarta got into the clear and she found her best stride and blew on by to win going away. Much like the previous GP stakes, the betting had been so solid on her that I had upped the bet here another notch as well - well played Mr. Mark!
Ran third in the Grade 3 Go For Wand at Aqueduct. Next up was the Claiming Crown Jewel and I really wanted to go against likely odds-on favorite Jesus' Team who I thought would be overrated and a vulnerable favorite. But after looking over the field I just couldn't find anyone who made sense to beat him - either take the short price or pass. He'd beaten a starter field, then ran third in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga at a big price; next was a third in the Grade 1 Preakness (WOW) and last time out was second at 60/1 in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Looked more to me like a runner who likes to get close to ANY kind of competition without winning. And supposedly this starter stakes was going to be a prep for the big Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup. He'll never win there. He stalked the pace and as they turned for home he wasn't making up any ground. But again, Luis Saez would not give in....kept grinding and grinding and finally edged to the front in the final 100 yards. My THIRD win at GP today - MAN I wish I was on track :(
The sixth at Tampa was a maiden 2yo turf event and I really liked Domain Expertise who was trained by Chad Brown. I've found over the last several years that when Brown sends a young turf runner to Tampa, he's serious. One example was Digital Age who won his maiden, a turf event then was a big price winner in the Grade 2 American Turf and came back last year to score in the Grade 1 Turf Classic again at a nice price. Domain Expertise had top rider Antonio Gallardo up and he went to the front, was pressured to the far turn and then he let him go. With each stride he lengthened the lead and was an ultra-impressive winner....tripled the bet for a nice score :)
Missed on my next three picks - including the Claiming Crown Emerald which was won by High Noon Rider who'd won for me last spring at a fair price....today he paid a whopping $113.00 for a $2 bet! This brought me to the first of two juvenile stakes at Laurel. Street Lute had won her first three races, including two stakes, then was upset last time out in the Maryland Million Juvenile Filly. She faced the same foe today but I thought she looked too good for these and would get her revenge. She ran away with it at a nice price allowing me to cash for $30.
Missed in the Claiming Crown Rapid Transit when I was a well-beaten tenth behind a 6/1 winner. The next race on the selection sheet was my BET of the Day, the Grade 2 Demoiselle for two-year-old fillies going nine furlongs at Aqueduct. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY liked Todd Pletcher's $1 Million daughter of champion Curlin. She'd won going seven furlongs in her debut, then blasted foes by daylight, under wraps in the one mile Tempted Stakes. With the rail under John Velazquez she appeared to be the lone speed and LONG gone. I hesitated to make the full $30 WIN bet as I just am not as comfortable going above the $20 "prime time" play online, but then decided that was the play and I was making it. The gates opened and she hesitated and was outrun to the front. That's not good. Johnny V - showing why he's a Hall of Famer - sat patiently tracking the pace in third on the rail. On the turn she not only did not accelerate when asked, but was passed and was fourth as they spun into the lane. Velazquez kept pushing and got her outside. Finally began to make up some ground but she was four lengths back with a little over a sixteenth to go. Found a whole other gear and BLEW by to win as easily best. The first real "WOW" performance of the day.
The eighth at Laurel was the other juvenile stake, the Maryland Juvenile Futurity. As I said in my analysis while they were lightly raced two-year-olds this was ALL about Jaxon Traveler who was unbeaten in two starts, had faced sixteen rivals in those two events and had NEVER been behind any of them AND he was the controlling speed. Right to the front, looked like a runaway winner at the furlong pole but then he began to tire and a closer was getting to him....but the wire came first and I had my second stakes win in Maryland :)
Missed at Tampa right before it was post time for the Claiming Crown Tiara on the turf at Gulfstream. It seemed clear to me that the top two win candidates were the two morning line favorites, but Queens Embrace seemed EASILY the best choice. She'd won five of six starts before trying the Grade 2 Lake Placid where she was a sharp third. Ran well in a $500K stakes at Saratoga then was entered in a rich nw1x allowance in NY, and she'd already won that condition so she was entered for the $80K tag....and trainer Danny Gargan CLAIMED her for that whopping price tag. That in and of itself was a big indicator that she thought she had talent. But then I saw the number..... first off the claim the Gargan barn wins at a huge 46% ..... well duh! She sat eighth to the far turn and when the other favorite (who was the 3/2 post time choice) began to circle horses jockey Luis Saez followed. The two favorites arrived at the top of the stretch one-two, but the chalk opened up. Then Saez straightened her out and kicked it into high gear. Ran right on by with my TRIPLE investment on her, as she paid a generous - in my opinion - $6.60 allowing me to collect another near $50 on my fourth win of the day at Gulfstream.....all in stakes events :)
Went through the longest drought of the day when missing on five in a row before it was time for the Gulfstream finale, the Claiming Crown Iron Horse going a mile and a sixteenth. The rail horse, Frost or Frippery had Saez, who had FIVE wins already, and he looked to be the speed on the rail. He'd been the odds-on favorite in SEVEN straight since claimed by trainer Brad Cox who usually is stabled at the Fair Grounds, but he also has a string here this winter. Noteworthy that Cox - when he ships in - has won at a 44% clip over the last two years. Add all this up and that 'Frost was a 10x winner at the distance and it was a duh, hello pick. But much like Malathaat in NY earlier, he broke a step slowly but then an outside "need to lead" runner gunned over to the rail and Saez had to check Frost or Frippery sharply, jerking his head up and back and he was quickly fifth. As if this wasn't bad enough, when they reached the far turn he was still fifth and as the back markers began moving he was stuck in neutral. I knew it was over, so I took my pen and began writing on my selection sheet, "Checked sharply first turn, denied the early lead...." and as I finished that last word I heard Announcer Pete calling "HEEEERE Comes Frost or Frippery down the middle of the track!" He made the lead but then another closer was flying even faster, PHOTO FINISH!!!!
I watched the slo-mo replay and thought MAYBE I'd won....I did :) Cruised to the front handily in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Starlet with Princess Noor, then she pulled up. Boooo, seems ok after they got her back to the barn I read later. Missed in the Fair Grounds stakes, but won their finale to finish with eleven wins, including FIVE STAKES at Gulfstream. A great Saturday, even if I did have to spend it at the Sunrise Simulcast Center!
Sunday December 6
WOW......saved $8 when I would have cashed for almost $200; had I played both bets for a total of $24 I would have cashed ($1 exacta) for nearly $300. But at least I "saved" $24....sigh. Still it was a very good first week of action at Gulfstream.
Week One Gulfstream Highlights: December 2 - 6
And I must mention as an aside, in addition to the great time I spent with my girl Kimmy I also got to have a virtual hook-up with my "Disney Girl," Amanda who I had earlier than Kimmy at Western High. We talked for nearly two hours on Thursday night via Face Time. And finally, I had several "hook ups" via social media with my most favorite newscaster, social-media girlfriend Lauren Pastrana....
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