Thursday November 20th was Opening Day at the Fair Grounds and it marked the opening of the Winter Championship Season in what I term the "Pre-Season" as Opening Day at Gulfstream is next Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. I handicapped the races while in Ohio visiting my Mom and played the races from the Sunrise Simulcast Center after we'd met with the closing agent to get our money for the purchase of our condo in Orlando. The opener at the Fair Grounds was a $15K "beaten" sprint and Hoff looked to be a short priced favorite as a lightly raced, 3x winner who'd recently beaten $20K foes. Sent off at 2/5 he was second best. WOW - hope that's not a precursor to the winter :) Race 4 was a one mile turf event where I liked Big Scully who figured to be the favorite. He was a turf winner with a 9/6-1-1 resume and 4-for-6 at the distance AND got Paco Lopez today. But his wins had come against state-breds. More concerning he looked like a "need to lead" runner with other speed in the race. So I only went in for the minimum. Cleared handily and led through the turn before being collared. Re-rallied to the front and was was desperate for the wire....PHOTO FINISH! Just in front, whew, for the first winner of the winter season!
Came right back with the first stakes score of the season when Rising Inflation rallied to blow by his rivals and draw off by daylight as much the best. Should have upped the wager but it's the first day of the winter and a Thursday afternoon at that so I showed restraint. Ran 2nd at even money in the 7th, my last bet of the day so I finished a solid 2-for-4 on the day.
Saturday saw me with selections from not only the Fair Grounds, but from Churchill Downs, Aqueduct, and Tampa Bay. Missed in the late morning opener at the Big A where a short field raced 7f in a NY Stallion Stakes. I "knew" I'd probably lose with 2nd choice Bank Frenzy but I couldn't let a horse with a 7-for-11 local record go off at a "fair price" and not bet. Third best. Followed that with a 2nd place finish at 4/5 in New York in a 2yo MSW where the horse was everyone's top choice. Sigh..... The opener at Churchill Downs was a 2yo maiden claimer and my top choice scratched. But my second choice was being pounded at the windows, so I opted in and doubled the bet on G Rocks. He'd had trouble with the break in all his previous tries but today he shot right to the front out of the gate and never looked back, the easiest kind of winner.
The second of the NY Stallion Stakes saw me on board the 2/5 favorite under Flavian Prat. Sat the perfect trip into the lane, made his move and stopped. Faded to sixth. WOW. Was a non factor in the first play from Tampa at 2/1 before winning in Louisville again. Patty Van Twinkle was coming off a seven month layoff but her LAST FOUR Beyers beat the field's best handily. Tracked three wide through the turn before moving to the front late and edging clear without really ever a worry she wouldn't get there in time.
Maybe the most "rewarding" win of the day came in Tampa's fifth. That's because I wrote in my analysis that as much as I liked the chances of Curlaine in this entry level turf route "I would never bet Wrigleyville (9/5) who sports a 1-for-12 record, with nine straight losses at this level AND ten straight races where he'd lost ground through the stretch." 'Wrigley was the prohibitive favorite and looked to be in a perfect tracking position as Curlaine saved ground on the rail into the turn. Waited patiently for an opening and shot through at the furlong pole to be just up in time while the favorite gave way to be third. Cashed for over $30 on my clever handicapping - GO ME!
Missed on the next two before hitting three straight winners. In the Caldwell Memorial, the first of the three stakes at the Fair Grounds, I thought the race would come down to a duel between Blue Fire and Secret Faith. The former had won four of five state-bred events with the lone loss being a photo finish 2nd behind Secret Faith. My pick, Secret Faith had won EIGHT of nine La-bred events with a single photo finish second behind.....Blue Fire! Blue Fire was last seen running second in the Grade 2 Eight Belles, but that was last May! Secret Faith had three recent races, including a win in a state-bred event a month ago. I was betting on the recent conditioning. Blue Fire went off favored, but Secret Faith was bet down late to be a close co-favorite. Secret Faith completely blew the break and spotted the field half a dozen lengths. Seriously? Blue Fire was in prime position into the turn but then suddenly Secret Faith came flying from the back and blew by as easily much the best and Blue Fire faded off the board. Less than fifteen minutes Greatest swung five wide into the lane in a Tampa turf route and surged to be up in the final 100 yards. WHOOO HOOOO.
My BET of the Weekend came in the 9th at Aqueduct, a second level allowance event. Bill Mott's talented and lightly raced Knightsbridge had begun his career like a star in the making, winning two straight with huge Beyer figures. Was a close third in his stakes debut, the Grade 3 Perryville at Keeneland finishing just behind multiple graded stakes winner Book'em Danno. Off the layoff he was the prohibitive 1/5 favorite at Gulfstream last winter as my best, but finished second after dueling on the lead going a one-turn mile. Today he was off another layoff going seven furlongs with a Todd Pletcher runner as his main competition. But that one looked to be a closer from out of the clouds, and unless jockey Junior Alvarado got caught up in a blazing speed duel I thought Knightsbridge would be easily best. Broke sharply, pressed the longshot leader to the turn. Took over without being asked and romped home under wraps as much, MUCH the best.
At this point in the day, around 3:30pm I was sailing along with an 18/8-3-2 results summary. Having a good day, right. Oh but this came can bring you back to reality pretty quickly and I missed on the next NINE selections as I only hit the board with three of them. WOW. Closed out the day with a narrow win by odds-on Nevada Beach in a Grade 3 at Del Mar that I watched from my seat at the arena before the Panthers hockey game.
Next week we get the winter season underway with the official Gulfstream Opening Day program on Thanksgiving Day Thursday. I know I'm going out for at least a little bit - not sure if Kim will come along or not, but it's a tradition to be there on Opening Day for me. Then next Friday is a big day at Churchill Downs before I'll be on track for the races Saturday in the first of many weekend adventures to Hallandale Beach!
Social Media this week......
I certainly enjoyed visiting my family in Ohio and have actual face-to=face contact with people, but I also had several interactions with my online friends, especially once I returned to South Florida. Madi was our head manager when I was coaching with my oldest son on the west coast of Florida and we built a strong connection. Recently we "celebrated" our "friend-versary" and exchanged messages.
Former student and now pretty young Mom, Jen posted a picture of her two daughters visiting with Santa this week. While it's a bit early for Christmas, there are a lot of ads on TV for the holidays and many people are already in full Christmas mode. She liked my comment on the photo.
This week we closed on the financial deal to finance our new 2nd home/vacation home - condo in Orlando. So I reached out to our realtor/gal-pal Sophia. And I shared with her my latest coloring pages. This led to a conversation about coloring. Have so enjoyed this new friendship.
My "Florida Derby girl" Chloe wished us well when I reached out about us becoming closer to being real neighbors and highlighting our upcoming Christmas Markets trip.
One of the coolest interactions of the week came when I was in Ohio watching the Florida Panthers. The sideline reporter Katie was doing her usual pre-game interview and I thought her outfit with a loosely drawn neck-tie and jacket was so cute. So I reached out to her and within minutes she replied back :)
I don't have nearly as many "conversations" with gal-pal, news anchor-reporter Teri but she does continue to show interest in what is going on in my life, especially with our travels. Such was the case when I gave her the latest preview.
And, as always, the most interaction this week was with Lauren Pastrana. While she was on air and I was watching the "local" news while in Ohio I let her know I was tuned in and got an almost immediate reaction. Lauren is the most active online of my virtual pals, and she posted a reel about what her kids were up to. She reacted to my message about her young ones. The night of our home Panther game I messaged her regarding a story they did on the low income levels of many families & how I was hoping for a "News At 11 - Panthers Win" story. Both got reactions. On Thursday the CBS Miami team wrapped the 6-6:30 segment about some areas locally already in full Christmas mode. I messaged Lauren that FOR ME I just didn't think it was "right" to begin decorating prior to Thanksgiving. Shortly there after she messaged me back that she too was "staunchly" in that corner of waiting until the Turkey Day celebration was over before beginning to rev up for Christmas. Finally - Lauren posted on a reel how she'd been a guest speaker at a young journalism school and I remarked how that must have inspired them....and later that night she did the 11pm news as a solo anchor, after which I reminded her of how much I enjoy that. She brings such a personality to the news, like it's a friend sharing what's happening in the world during a conversation in your own living room.
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