Day 18

December 31 - Boys Day At The Races

On Monday afternoon our oldest son, Jeff, arrived in Ft. Lauderdale with his wife and our grandson Cameron.  We have SOOOOO enjoyed having them here and Cameron is so happy here.  We are looking forward to celebrating his birthday with a "Cars" themed party tomorrow.  But today was a day that Jeff was really looking forward to, a day at Gulfstream Park.  On the way there we both agreed that the outcome of the day would be determined by money management as we felt we had a fair share of winners, but would we profit?  Well, that was the way the day went as by the time the last race had finished I'd selected 32% winners on the day.  Unfortunately neither of us came out in the black.  For Jeff however, he'd brought $200 to Florida to go to the casino in Tampa (before they came to South Florida) and to spend at the races.  When he heads back he'll have the original $200 AND an $85 profit, so you can't argue with that outcome for two days of entertainment.  I knew, and I'd told Jeff, that I had a lot of odds-on runners who just seemed obvious.  But that's always a dangerous thing on a weekday card like today.  In the first race on our sheet, the opener at Gulfstream, Sweet Aimee was running for Kirk Ziadie and was going from turf to dirt, a 45% winning angle.  She just ran away from the field in hand.....although there was a runner flying late that had the race been six furlongs instead of 5 1/2 we may have found ourselves tossing the ticket! 

Over the next two hours we suffered through six losses, three of them odds on as we ran third at 8/5, 6th at 8/5 and 4th at 2/5.  We had a chance at Laurel at 2/1, but came up second best.  Finally in the Fair Grounds opener we clicked again.  This race was my "BEST" of the day in New Orleans.  It was the Louisiana Futurity Stakes for two-year-old fillies and my top choice was Wind Chill Factor.  She had score for me when we were in Ohio over the Thanksgiving holiday and then again on December 13 as part of a 15-win day in the Louisiana Lassie.  In both those races she was NOT he favorite, but today she was meeting only one legitimate rival and she'd beaten that one last time out.  She swooped to the lead turning for home and proved again why she is currently the best juvenile filly in the state of Louisiana.  I had $20 to win and was just happy - as was Jeff - to be back in the winner's circle.  Our next win came minutes later at Hawthorne when Fearless Bayless ran to her numbers.  As I wrote in my analysis, typically last race Beyer figures of 33 and 36 would not be anything to write home about, but in this field it made her look like a Breeders' Cup Champion.  Two runners exited races where they earned a -0 Beyer; another had earned a 4 and a 5 in her last two.  Two debut runners came from barns that were winless with first-time starters.  And the only threat - on numbers - had already been beaten by Fearless Bayless not once, not twice, but three times.  She rallied down the middle of the track to collar the leader at the furlong marker and drew off easily.  At Tampa we finished fourth before running second at Laurel.  But we picked up our next win at the Fair Grounds on the turf when Another Blue blew the doors off his rivals at even money in a 2-lifetime event.  She had figured off of back-to-back seconds in allowance company before dropping into this restricted claiming race.  At Hawthorne Jazzy Jan looked even more certain that Fearless Bayless, but did NOT get the job done, second at 3/5 after looking home free at 3/5 in mid-stretch.  Jeff and I got our second winner on track when Highland Sara dueled with Sylviasgivenangel the length of the stretch.  They were my top two choices in my analysis, but I'd given the nod to 'Sara because of the presence of Javier Castellano.  Trainer Kirk Ziadie almost made me pay as 'Sylvia battle all the way to the wire in a photo finish.  Standing on the rail neither Jeff or I were sure who'd won, but we were hopeful, and proved to be right when the photo came up!  WHOOOO HOOOOO! 

Like most of the selections on the day Highland Sara didn't pay much ($5.60) as even going off as the second choice she was a short number.  Within fifteen minutes we'd hit pay dirt again, this time in Aqueduct's feature, the Alex M. Robb Stakes.  My top choice was Big Business who was 8-for-9 in the money over his last sequence of races and all of those were against better or at this level.  The lone off-the-board finish came in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile last out.  He stalked the leaders into the stretch and forged to a lead of nearly a length, but a closer was coming and it was close at the wire, but we knew we'd won again - our sixth of the day! 

At Gulfstream I had what I thought was a legitimate price play in Margin who left the gate at 7/1.  Was positioned well heading into the far turn, but then had nothing for the run to the wire, sixth.  The races were gearing up out west and it was minutes to post time when I went to make a bet.  When I came back Jeff said, "Did you see that?"  What?  "You just won at Santa Anita!"  Somehow I'd lost track of the racing going to the post and was in line betting when Eltoninadress dominated the second in a claiming sprint out west.  I'd doubled the bet and cashed for nearly $20.  The "funniest" story of the day came with our last winner.  When we were walking into the facility I told Jeff that Antonio Gallarado was winning nearly every race at Tampa.  But throughout the day we always had "a better idea."  Finally in the 9th we went with him on Maggie Sue.  The race was originally scheduled for the grass, but was now on the main track.  Unbeknownst to each other we both doubled our original bet as Gallardo was shooting for his FIFTH win of the day.  And he dominated the race.  The crowd wasn't fooled and bet Maggie Sue down to 8/5; still the $5.40 payoff generated nearly $30 to us.  The day ended with seven losses, but FOUR of them, including the last three, all saw my horse run second!  Still, 32% wins on the day and spending the entire day at the races with my son is always a winning day.  We enjoyed a New Year's feast of crab legs with the rest of the family and stayed up to see the ball drop in New York's Time Square!

Check out the highlights of our day at the races: