As big as Pegasus Day was, today was even bigger. Nearly as big a day locally but there were stakes races abound all over the country - my selection sheet had 24 stakes races listed! But, the schedule this week, as has become the norm, kicked off with a Wednesday card. The opener was a maiden claiming event for 3yo going a mile-70 on the all-weather and A Palace For Mom was a stand out. The only concern would be why was she dropping in class so much - but regardless, she looked so much the best under Irad Ortiz. In the end a win, is a win....even at 1/9 in a five horse field. In hand to the stretch, split rivals and ran away.
After a second at 4/5 I backed Chad Brown's Delahaye in an entry level turf event as she was coming off of a layoff since November. I upped the bet. Right to the front, controlled the pace and wired the field.
Thursday I had another pair of wins, unfortunately for monetary purposes they were both minimum bets. Gridlock was debuting for Mark Casse and as the horses went to the gate the FanDuel TV people were noting that the barn was on an 0-for-35 skid with firsters. Still, looked best to me. Dueled to the lane and edged clear late at 2/1. Followed that with a wire-to-wire score in another maiden event, this one a mile on the tuf with Song on the Radio. He was a front runner who'd quit multiple times, but in spite of the adage, "a quitter, is a quitter, is a quitter" I STILL thought he could wire the field. Right to the front and long gone.
Friday saw me score twice more again. Much like on Thursday the opener saw the favorite who was plunging in class for a maiden win. Irad was up and again I thought he was the best horse in the field. Went right to the front and Breezer walked with it. Came right back in a Maiden Special three-year-old event. Was a there a Todd Pletcher - sure was, Refueled with Luis Saez up. Right to the front in this turf sprint and wired the field. The chalk right? Nope, three-to-one....what were people thinking? Thanks for the $40 plus payoff :)
Saturday: Holy Bull Day
Things got off with a big win on this gorgeous, Chamber of Commerce Saturday. Trainer Terri Pompay had sent out Khozall for her debut in a Maiden Optional Claiming event going 6 furlongs and was a gaining second. Looked primed for the score and she was sent off as the favorite. Pressed the pace to the turn, opened up and was easily best......one-for-one on the day :) Followed that up minutes later with a win in the early Oaklawn Park opener on their Southwest Stakes Day card when No Coincidences was a daylight winner. Was interesting as this was a 3yo filly beating older maidens.
After skidding through five races, two of them locally, I had Todd Pletcher's Bail Us Out in a maiden special event for 3yo in the fourth. This two turn synthetic race looked ideal for the colt, but I had my concerns as he'd debuted at a cold 11/1 and ran like it. Still, I thought he was a "good bet" to win. But the crowd pounded him down to even money. JUST up in time - whew that was close. About this time my oldest boy Jeff arrived with his good coaching pal David Beatty and Beatty's cute wife Raynee. We spent a good part of the day comparing notes from race to race. And good for Ms. Raynee who hit a couple of longshots and exactas!
After the GP score I missed on four out of town events and the next Gulfstream race. In the fifth at Oaklawn I liked Stage Left alot for David Jacobson. This was a starter event going six furlongs and he'd won this exact kind of race last time out for a $50K qualifying tag - this one was for $30K. But later, handicapping the Aqueduct card I'd seen the horse was cross-entered in the Grade 3 Toboggan Stakes. I felt pretty sure he'd run here as it looked like a much more likely win spot. But just in case I noted that the #3, Jackman would be a likely winner should Stage Left stay in NY. Well he did. I kept the same triple investment on Jackman and that looked solid as he turned for home with a daylight lead. But he was tiring late and the wire came JUST in time!
Todd Pletcher's entries looked loaded today at Gulfstream and in the sixth he sent out 3yo Born Noble who had been SO impressive on debut that I had made the comment he COULD be my Derby horse. This entry level allowance looked to be all about him and turning for home at 2/1 he was nearly six in front. It appeared to me that jockey Irad Ortiz geared him down and didn't see that the rest of the field had not given up. With one hundred yards to go - too late - he saw the closer. Second as a "prime time bet" for me. Ouch. But I bounced back with a win in a MSW for 3yo at Oaklawn when Dimatic opened up in the stretch.
The "win one, miss on several" pattern continued as I missed on the next four. The first of the multiple Gulfstream stakes came up next, the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant for 3yo fillies on the turf. I thought Pletcher's Life's An Audible would take a step forward off her second place return effort in December. Began picking off horses on the far turn but went at least six if not eight-or-nine wide into the lane. Kicked into another gear and was up in the shadow of the wire! The triple investment allowed me to cash for over $40. And then BOOM - the second at Santa Anita saw Island Cruiser wire the field; and BOOM BOOM at Tampa I got my lone win in Oldsmar when Chad Brown's Equitize drew clear through the stretch. OK....here we go I thought.
I had the even money favorite in the NY Derby prep, the Gr 3 Withers but ran third. Sigh....But the first of the stakes events came up next at Oaklawn, the King Cotton Stakes. Both Skelly and Tejano Twist had won for me this winter, and BOTH had won graded stakes here previously. And so, who to back here. That was quickly an easy decision. Despite the fact that Oaklawn has been playing largely to off the pace running styles, Skelly looked like he could wire the field but also could press the pace and finish from an up close spot while Tejano Twist was a dead closer. The final angle came when noting that the Grade 3 Count Fleet that Skelly had won last year had been at the expense of the 9/5 favorite that day......Tejano Twist! Burst out of the gate and quickly put multiple lengths on the field. Must admit I was a tad concerned when the teletimer flashed :21 and change and :44 and change. But once into the lane the rider shook the reins and he was LONG gone. Tejano Twist rallied late but was never a danger to the top choice. Cashed for over $35 with my "prime time" bet!
Again the "hit and miss" sequence as I missed on the next five before they were headed into the gate in the first of the multiple stakes at Santa Anita, the Grade 3 Megahertz going a mile on the turf. And in the analysis for this race, it was nearly identical to that of the King Cotton. The top two choices were Bellabel and Closing Remarks. And like the Oaklawn stakes, one - Bellabel - was a front runner and Closing Remarks was a closer. Typically the So Cal course is friendly to early speed types and the tight turns make it more difficult for closers. Also, top rider Flavian Prat was on Bellabel. Lastly, trainer Carla Gaines, who trained Closing Remarks was on an 0-for-18 skid. The crowd disagreed with me and made 'Remarks the 3/2 favorite - bad idea :) Right to the front and a wire-to-wire winner that paid $5.80 so I collected nearly $30.
Missed in the Grade 3 Kitten's Joy when Noted failed to produce despite being the favorite for Todd Pletcher. Came right back in the next stakes at Oaklawn, the American Beauty. As solid as Skelly had looked, Avila Star looked better in this spot. Of the combined 101 Beyers earned by her rivals, NONE of them would be good enough to beat her LAST THREE figures. YOWZA. Also meant we wouldn't get much of a price. Quickly in front and gone.
In what turned out to be THE best 3yo colt performance of the day, Bob Baffert's Nysos looked to be the prohibitive favorite in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis going a two-turn mile. And that was the only question I had, and the only thing that prevented me from making him THE bet of the day. Really irritates me that Churchill Downs continues to block Baffert runners from running in the Derby, but this guy is going to be odds-on in the Preakness after his dazzling show here. Rated professionally behind the top three to the turn. Asked to run by he glided by without taking a deep breath and ran off as easily the best. Just needs to stay happy and healthy to move onto the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby (or the Grade 1 Oaklawn Derby) and then the Preakness.
Minutes later I was at the first finish line at Gulfstream as two-year-old Eclipse Award champion Fierceness, the winner of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile was sent off as the prohibitive 2/5 favorite in the featured Grade 3 Holy Bull. Tracked the leaders to the turn, made his move to draw nearly even with the longshot front runner.....then flattened out to be THIRD. WOW. Two significant points here - first, this result coupled with upsets in the Withers in New York and the Southwest at Oaklawn WOULD have put the spotlight clearly on Nysos. But he can't run in Louisville. So at THIS point the star 3yo will not run in the Derby. Black eye for Churchill Downs and racing in general. Second - my son Jeff, the consummate gambler opted to try and beat Fierceness. He went $20 across the board on Paco Lopez to wire the field and then played a small number of runners in the exacta and trifecta. Hit them all and cashed for $1200. He and girlfriend Trista told the rest of us that dinner at the Yardhouse right there at Gulfstream for the six of us was on them. And that's where we headed. Had a G-R-E-A-T time with the two football buddies and their girls. Made me wish Kim would come out on days like today AND made me want to find a way to allow her to be at the Florida Derby instead of monitoring our grandson who will be in town that day. At dinner Beatty was asking me how I'd done for the day and I told him I was far from done as there were later stakes races at not only Santa Anita but at small Delta Downs in Louisiana which was hosting Louisiana Premier Night. As we were eating dinner I watched 1/9 favorite Free Like A Girl get caught in deep stretch in the first of the Delta stakes events. That's not good. But when I got home I watched four of my six selections - all in stakes WIN! At Santa Anita former Gulfstream maiden & allowance winner Three Witches was much the best in the Grade 2 Santa Monica; Muchmorethanready was more than a dozen lengths behind down the short back stretch at Delta before she inhaled the two front runners in the Ladies' Starter. Then in the BET of the Day, Touchuponastar walked around the track on the front end as much, MUCH, M-U-C-H the best in the Louisiana Premier Championship. That went official at about 9pm And I had to wait until 10:40 for my final stakes bet, the Louisiana Premier Sprint. Bron and Brow had won the race last year and he went into the gate as the 3/5 favorite for the abbreviated five furlong sprint. Right out of the gate, dead last by multiple lengths. As the field went down the backstretch, not even on the TV picture. The field hit the far turn with the short stretch run, STILL not in the picture. "So it goes" I thought. Then I see this blur of a horse flying up the rail on the turn. An opening on the rail and he blows by the field to win going away in the most remarkable race of the day!
Holy Bull Day Highlights
Totals For The Day
Sunday the weather forecast called for storms and so Jeff brought his boys over, since their flag football games were cancelled. As they enjoyed the "day off" the three adult boys watched and wagered on the races. Both Jeff & Keith played several out of town races but I stuck to Gulfstream. Missed on the first two, then upped the bet on Epona's Hope in the 8th, a five furlong synthetic sprint. Paco took her right to the front and sizzled into the lane. JUST enough left to reach the wire and I was ahead for the day. I went back and forth about making the final bet which I labeled as my "Upset Special" - I thought Prevalence DID have a shot, but not a good one. Being ahead for the day I was so close to backing off. Then two of the FanDuel TV analysts picked him and I thought, "I'll be so irritated if he wins at 7/1 and I didn't bet. So I put the bet in. Never fired. Gotta love racing! Not sure how next weekend will go - there is a single stakes race here and most of the rest of the country is pretty quiet. BUT at Tampa Bay Downs it's their "Festival Preview Day" - with the preps for next month's Tampa Bay Derby Day stakes schedule. AND there's a hockey game at 6pm and there's a possibility that my daughter Julie will be in town. We'll see how that plays out!
SIX WINS when visiting Tampa Bay Downs For Festival Preview Day In 2021
Social Media this week......
I had several exchanges with gal-pal Lauren Pastrana. First, she reacted to my question about the cool weather for coffee-in-a-hoodie in the morning. And she reposted my photo of her in a snug, blue top that looked very good on her, about those coolish temps. She and co-anchor Elliot Rodriguez did a spot about the Super Bowl and I re-asked would the two of them do an "alternate broadcast" and she answered me right back :) But my favorite exchange came on Sunday when Lauren posted she was celebrating her birthday. I reached out to her on Instagram with birthday wishes and she wrote a thank you back :)
Clearly and I mean C-L-E-A-R-L-Y the BEST social media exchange came on Saturday while I was at the races. Gal-pal Kimmy used to live close to Gulfstream and every time I go I think about her, and on nearly every visit I make to Gulfstream I reach out to her with a pic of how nice it is and that I'd be stopping by if only she were here. She always replies and every once in a while will send a photo - of their back yard or some scene. Such was the case this Saturday. So I immediately wrote back and pointed out that MY photo had me in it.....within minutes my girl sent me a pic of them on their porch. Made my day :)
The CBS-Miami weekend team Teri & KC interacted with me as well. Teri was on the morning anchor desk all week long and she replied when I noted how I had enjoyed that. Then both of them reacted to my coffee-watching-the-news pic and both messaged me to have a good Saturday :)
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