Day 45

February 6: Finally, one of "THOSE" days!

I had a lone win on the Thursday card and today I had six selections. It always seems like I have better results if I watch the replays after the day's racing.....seems like anytime I watch the races live throughout the afternoon on HRTV I do not do well - yesterday being a case in point. So today I made my selections and spent the rest of the day handicapping for tomorrow's big day at the races - Donn Handicap Day. Around 4:30 pm Kim and I went out to dinner and on the way back she told me she wanted to run a couple of errands before we settled in for the evening, so I said that worked for me as I had my race replays to watch. In the 2nd I liked Artemus Coalmine. He was sent off as the co-second choice at 2/1. As they hit the far turn he seemed to have his sights set on the leaders, but when heads turned for home he gradually was left behind......fifth. Then in the 3rd I had Walk Away slow who was the 8/5 second choice. He stalked my second choice to mid-stretch, was gaining on him with every stride, but in the final 100 yards could not get by......oh-so-close second. Wow. In the fourth I had the even money favorite Upon Reflection. He was three wide into the lane and then just blew by the field to open up by three. Looked home free until the final two hundred yards......here came a closer, where's the wire? CAUGHT in the final jumps to be second again. WOW......0-for-3 and things are not looking good. But then..............In the fifth race I had tripled the bet on Defense article. He was the first Gulfstream 40% Club play of the day for trainer Jorge Navarro. He was dropping from $30K to $16K and looked to have this field over the barrel. Swooped up on the outside as they moved through the turn and accelerated to the wire, widening his winning margin with each stride. It was THIRTEEN lengths on the final chart! WHOOO HOOOO! Now I'm back in the hunt. The 7th was my "BET of the Day" with Javier Castellano riding for Chad Brown on the turf. Upgrade was listed at 5/1 in the program and I wrote that if he went off at half that it would be stealing. As the last horse walked into the gate and I clicked over to the final odds before they started I could not believe my eyes......Upgrade was NOT the post-time favorite and had been allowed to leave the gate at better than 3/1! I thought there would be a three way speed duel to set up his stalking style. Well, half right....the longshot did set the pace but the other two pace players allowed him to set a slow pace. Castellano had Upgrade in the catbird's seat on the rail right behind the four of them as they swept through the turn. Time to go as they straightened for home and Castellano split horses. The other two pace runners had something left, but not enough to keep up with Upgrade. The winning payoff of $8.20 saw me cash for over $80! OH MY!

You'd think I couldn't be more fortunate, but in my final selection of the day, Whispering Angel - a Todd Pletcher three-year-old was allowed to go off at 7/2! He'd debuted at Gulfstream Park West and scored at first asking - duh, big surprise - earning a field-best figure of 74. In her first try against winners the race was rained off to the main track. Today she got back on the grass and most significantly she got a HUGE rider upgrade from Joe Bravo - who's won only five of 90 mounts this winter - to leading rider Javier Castellano! She made a big move on the far turn, sweeping by the field five wide and opened up into the lane. It looked like she might have moved too soon as the other contenders closed in but at the 16th pole she found another gear and maintained her lead to the wire! The winning payoff was $9.60 and I'd doubled the bet! Nearly another $50 into the bankroll. WHAT A GREAT DAY.  In the end - as you can see above - I was 3-for-6 (with two seconds) and had collected over $161 for my $65 bet.....a winning day of nearly $100 from only six bets! Some days I play for hours with over thirty selections and can only bring home a profit of half of that......one of the great things about this game that I enjoy so much - you never know where your next winning day is going to come from! WHOOOO HOOOOOO - hoping this is a prelude to a big day at the races tomorrow!