Betting Made Harder: Blinkers On

 

With the retirement of Ramon Dominguez in New York racing picking a winner is that much harder.  Ramon was always good for at least three wins a day and instilled confidence in punters.  His presence is greatly missed.  I wish him all the best.
That, toppled with the difficulty of obtaining race day information is making betting impossible.  I guess when the casinos come in for real it will kill horse racing altogether.  Ironic isn't it that my blog page won't allow me to have advertising on it because they consider my site has gambling content, yet people have less of a problem with sitting in front of machines and losing their money?  I don't like gambling as much as I like horses.  Some days I have the horse racing channel on at home and the sound turned down just because it's a nice backdrop.
When I say I like horse racing, people always ask me if I go to casinos but I don't.  They don't appreciate the difference between betting on a beautiful live animal and sitting at a table simply watching cards or dice.  There is no comparison and not worth explaining to people who just don't get it.  They probably wouldn't enjoy a trip the the museum to see a Monet either, so why waist your breath.  The only time you will ever see me cry by-the-way is at a major horse race and sometimes in the presence of great art.
Mondays and Tuesdays are my favorite days to dabble.  I like watching Ernie Munick and Richard Migliore on Raceday.  If I want to play Parx now I have to go out and buy a Daily Racing Program for $6 or a Form for $7.50.  Both give me cards from all over the country but I only want to play the main local east coast tracks I can see on my home TV; like Parx, Finger Lakes and Delaware.  That's enough opportunities to lose money and when I'm done I can cook dinner.  It's not like I have to watch all the west coast races into the night.
Last week I thoroughly enjoyed the hurdle races at Parx, what a treat that was to have three on the same card.  I was sick all week with a nasty sinus infection but went downtown to the one and only store that sells racing forms and lotto to get one.  It's always a worry I'll get mugged around there but what can I do.  The Post no longer prints a simple entries page with the past three performances, The Daily News at least does that for Belmont but not for Parx.  All we get is the name of the horse and the price which isn't any help.  The price is going to change a lot by post time so what good is that?  Would it kill them to put three simple numbers or an x after the horses name.  It's not like these papers print any other ground breaking news: golf manages to get front page and Kim fxxxxxx Kardashian.  I could buy the form on the computer from Equibase but unless I print it out it's difficult to constantly switch back from their screen to my online betting account.  There's not enough time to place the bet if I see something, or get a tip on the telie that changes my mind.  It was simply easier to mark up the newspaper and bet on one device.  The sole reason I bought the Post or Daily News was for the horse racing and if anyone saw me with either I would quickly tell them so.

I grew up in a country that loves horse racing, Australia.  I took my first transistor radio to school with me at age six to listen to the Melbourne Cup.  Class used to stop so all the kids could listen to the race. The entire country stops for the running of "The Melbourne Cup".  I learnt to read the paper from back to front like most everyone I knew, starting at the back cover page where the horse racing articles and pictures where.  And, I might not have learnt to read at all if it wasn't for the enticing photographs of race horses on those pages.
When I came to America I couldn't understand why I had to plough through pages and pages of ball sports in the hopes of finding something about a race. I was utterly disgusted when the major races didn't make the front page.  People thought I was odd but I was raised with Phar Lap syndrome: crying over a horse that died 27 years before I was born.  I never stopped crying over him, Phar Lap syndrome is incurable.  In my birth country they are putting Black Caviar on a coin and a stamp.  The whole country has turned salmon with black spots, another incurable affliction we are proud of.  That's how we honor a racing legend.
Today, I have a Bachelor's in English Lit. and a Masters in Writing.  I read the complete works of Shakespeare and still say the most enjoyable book I ever read was William Nack's, Secretariat: The Making of a Champion.

PHAR LAP IN HIS GLASS CASE AT THE MELBOURNE MUSEUM

His taxidermied body on display in the paddock at Belmont Park NY 1932

(Photo from: The History of Thoroughbred Racing in America).

 

PALACE MALICE AND THE OO'S AFTER HIS NAME: OXBOW AND ORB

Palace Malice after winning the 2013 Belmont Stakes

Todd Pletcher trained Palace Malice with Mike Smith aboard.

O: Oxbow (2nd in The Belmont).

O no: Orb (3rd in The Belmont).

Orb

Saturday's 145th running of the Belmont Stakes left me feeling like Christmas was over and Santa didn't bring me anything.  Although, the only money I made all day was on Oxbow who I couldn't believe went off at 10/1 after winning the Preakness and being trained but D. Wayne Lukas.  I guess some people were still peeved about the second jewel.  Get over it.  The first rule of betting on horses is, "NO EMOTIONAL BETTING" or you'll go broke.  You can't bet horses simply because you like the connections, or female jockey, or color of the horse, or his name and you can't not bet them for the same reasons.  A rule I need to remember to get my head out of my ass.  It cost me money yesterday.
Firstly the atmosphere this year wasn't anything like last year and the day before's weather had damped my spirits. I opted not to back Integrity because I've got a lot of it and it has never done me any good.  Next bad choice was being a moron and not backing Moreno because his name was screaming out to me also.

Moreno, (who paid $18.80)

Power Broker, definitely looked the best horse in the Easy Goer but had drawn the two hole and if the boys of New York, boxed Rosie in down on the fence, she would never get around them; that's how they are here.  So she went to the front early and as assistant trainer, John Terranova said, "kept him out of trouble" to win.  It only works if you have a horse that can do it.  As much as I love Rosie there's a reason she quit riding in New York full-time.  It has nothing to do with being a woman, the jocks here don't let any outsiders into their colony.  How many Triple Crown prospects have we seen come unstuck because of them?  The words to the song should read: "New York, New York you can make it anywhere, just not here."

 The kind eye of Power Broker

The beautiful Power Broker and Rosie Napravnik.

(If a woman doesn't make a fool of you a horse will). 

Stephanie's Kitten, was a no brainer I didn't expect to pay that well in the Just a Game Stakes.  Declan's Warrior, beaten in the Woody Stephens by the good-looking Forty Tails, I had won on last time out when he only just got the money.

Declan's Warrior looking very calm.

Point of Entry and Optimizer in that order, were a given written in stone but paid poorly in the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap.  I was more than ready for a Woodford's but friends don't let friends drink and gamble.

Point of Entry, just another Phipps champion superhorse.

It would seem I just can't multitask at the track.  I can't concentrate on betting and taking pictures at the same time and vice versa.  My camera skills however with the new equipment might have improved since the Preakness and I finally got a shot of Orb.  I'm looking forward to seeing these horses over the summer at Saratoga.  Many contenders yesterday show good potential and the ability to improve making for an interesting carnival at the Spa.

Freedom Child supporters

 The Paddock at Belmont on the 40th Anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown win.

(He gets a blanket of white carnations every year, and no he is not buried here.  He's at Claiborne Farm outside the office window).

 Me in a vintage pillbox going against the fashion trend of big hats and looking kind of frumpy.

The outrider's horses were fabulous with white carnations in their braids.

THE BELMONT: CRYING IN THE RAIN

Well, I like to think that the weather doesn't matter and good horses win in spite of the rain but tomorrow's Belmont Stakes is looking a wash already.  I stopped at Belmont on my way home on Wednesday, long enough to watch a couple and win a couple.  It was a beautiful afternoon, the parking lots were packed more than usual and the grounds were a buzz with Belmont fever in the air.  It was great to see the track this way.  I even picked up a nice T-shirt at the gift shop in case they sold out.
Someone at the paddock fence told me bad weather was expected for the big one on Saturday and I said, "good."  That means less of a crowd to deal with but not great for the race and I felt bad having said that.  On Friday afternoon I watched the races on TV.  The bloody rain hadn't quit all day.  I only went out to get The Post for The Belmont fields and turned in to see how bad it really was.
I was on the verge of tears.  There was no one in the stands as heavy rain poured straight down and visibility was poor.  A lack of wind isn't going to help it dry out any if this keeps up all night as it is forecast, I thought.  The only light was the reflection from the blanket of white carnations bouncing of Secretariat's bronze statue in the paddock.
There had been major scratchings of course and odds were short, and very long, so you could still make money.  Those horses that could handle it as the caller said, "have sailed to the wire."  It's as if they just don't sink like the others.  Sense of  a Woman won by 13 lengths and Inquiring, who ran second, paid $9.80 for the place so it wasn't all bad.  And Lisalisalee simple skipped across the mud like a stone skips over water when thrown right.  In the Jaipur Stakes however, it was raining heavier than it had all day and looked like the horses were struggling to stay straight in their lanes, which resulted in a disqualification for Big Screen.
The last race of the day, The Brooklyn Handicap, was what we wait for, what on a shity day is a fans big pay off, the thrill and feel-good that makes it all worth while.  Calidoscopio, who paid $17 for the win was at least 20 lengths behind the field coming into the far turn, around the turn he started to move up fast taking then down one at a time until he finally reached Percussion, who had been on the lead all the way, and in the closing strides, a ten-year-old horse that you might have torn up your tickets on got to the wire first making up 25 lengths in a field on 8.  He looked good for ten, he looked good for any age, nicely rounded with great top-line, "in good nick" as we say where I'm from.  That's the stuff I love that makes me cry.  

There will be a winner of the 145 Belmont tomorrow rain or shine.
How is the field looking?  Things are changing.  Horses that look good in the slop: Orb, Freedom Child, and Revolutionary.
Freedom Child, another Malibu Moon, is the new buzz because he is coming off a huge win in the Peter Pan which is a prep race for the Belmont and it was run in the slop.
Orb, won the Derby on an off track, so it won't worry him.
Revolutionary, ran third in the Derby and a lot of people like him.
But are we forgetting who ran a monstrous second in that same sloppy Derby?  Golden Soul, who is now my long shot horse.  This morning my long shot horse was Incognito, who I wouldn't rule out of a place or show bet.  He is bred for an off track and impressed me a few weeks back with his courage when he tripped in a race, got up and pushed through horses to win.  He is big strong grey by AP Indy out of an Unbridled Song mare.
Then there is Oxbow and if anyone can get a horse back up to the Belmont it's Lukas.  I remember how good Editor's Note looked when he won in 1996.  And Lukas's other horse, Will Take Charge, is another big beauty who looks strong enough to handle anything.
I'm sticking with Orb to win but my exotics and place, show bets have changed en light of the wet.  My long shot is Golden Soul and I'll have something on Incognito to show.  Remember sometimes a place or show bets will pay better than the winner which is what happened last year when Union Rags won.
I have rethought my outfit several times this afternoon but no one looks cool with a brolly (umbrella) and Wellington boots.  The rain isn't going to stop me from going though.  I have planned to wear blue and white in honor of the 40th anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown win.
I just can't wait for the ride home on the L.I.E. that, will be the worst part of the day.