Fast Start Friday / Washout Saturday
I could not have been more delighted as the racing kicked off for the final weekend in February....but then could not have been more disappointed the way it ended. But to be fair, we still have Sunday's racing to go -but it is the new month and kicks off the final month of the Championship meet. In the opener Friday, one of my favorite Gulfstream horses was running - Courtney Ryan. She is a TEN-time winner over the Gulfstream surface and was coming off a convincing win again in her last. But today I was against her - WHAT!!!??? You see, first of all she seems to have lost a step as she lost both of her first two starts at the meet, but she did win like the "old Courtney" in her latest so that's a mixed review. The main reason I was against her was that in her last, she won going a mile and at that distance she owns an 11-for-26 record (from an overall record of 61/20-16-9). And she has proven successful cutting back to seven furlongs in the past (showing 3 wins in 4 tries on her current pp's). But today the race was at SIX furlongs. And at this distance she's only 2-for-6. There is a big difference between the six and seven furlong sprint distances my friend. And when I considered how she's run at the meet AND the distance I was willing to look elsewhere. I didn't have to look far because Satan's Mistress jumped off the page at me. She was being sent out by trainer Jane Cibelli and she had last been seen in a stakes race. Over the last two winters class droppers have won at better than 40% making this a Gulfstream Park 40% Club play! AND, according to the DRF, over the last two years when Jose Lezcano was riding for Cibelli they had won at an even bigger 44%. With morning line odds of 5/1 and a vulnerable favorite, I was all in! As the gate sprung open Satan's Mistress exploded out and was two in front before the others even had their feet underneath of them. As I've said many times, there are three keys to winning wire-to-wire, especially with price plays: (1) actually get the lead out of the gate, (2) maintain the lead through the turn, and (3) have a spurt turning for home to open some distance. So far so good! As they it the turn and you could tell the other riders knew they were in trouble. They began to ask for run, but they made up no ground! Heads turned for home and Satan's Mistress extended the lead to about three lengths heading for the final furlong marker. But now the serious late runners were making up ground. It seemed like I had enough cushion and that proved right!
The post-time odds of 9/2 generated a $2 payoff of $11.20 and with my double investment I cashed for $56! What a great way to start the day and the weekend's racing! But that proved to be it for the day. Purpose was the 6/5 favorite in the second and stalked the front-runner into the stretch apparently biding his time, but had no kick, second. One Eyed Candyride was the prohibitive 3/5 favorite in the 5th and was in complete control turning for home, being handled under a confident hand ride while two clear. It looked to me like jockey Joel Rosario simply thought he could coast home and didn't see the closer coming. By the time he was collared at the 16th pole Candyride was galloping and the longshot was in full flight for the wire. Too late to ask for run - second again. In the 6th Tohopekaliga was the 8/5 favorite and was outrun from the opening bell, 5th. Gunderson was the 9/5 mild favorite on the turf in the 8th and pressed the leader into the lane then took the lead. Outfinished after a stretch duel, second AGAIN! In the 9th I picked Previous on top, but thought it was a risky investment. I noticed before the racing began that she was the bet of all three Gulfstream handicappers and the "best" bet of the guy who picks for the newspaper. Briefly considered betting but didn't - she won! Then in the nightcap Killer Crossover was a generous 3/1 for top rider Javier Castellano on the turf. Right to the BACK and never made a move, 14th. Wow. But, the big win early enabled me to have a minimum loss for the day and I was excited about taking my Mom out to the races on Saturday for a big day.
Saturday February 28
The Saturday card featured three graded stakes - two on the turf and the seven furlong Swale Stakes which marked the return of Grade 1 Champagne winner, Daredevil. In that race the Todd Pletcher colt had run the fastest Beyer figure of any two-year-old in all of 2014 and I was excited to see him run. I was also excited to bet a maiden race earlier on the card. In the 7th race on the card Wisecracker was running. That name doesn't mean anything to you, and it didn't to me until I saw his past performances. In his debut he had dueled on the lead before weakening to finish second while daylight clear of the show runner who was EIGHT clear of the field. All good enough to point him out, but the horse he trailed that day was none other than Khozan who romped in his next and now is one of the favorites for the Florida Derby! Well, the weather forecast had said all week that there was a chance for "passing showers" on Saturday. Friday I looked at the weather and sure enough, the chances were over 60% - but wait, that was for Sunrise. The weather forecast for Hallandale Beach (where Gulfstream Park is located) called for only a 20%. As I told my Mom as we headed out, I thought we might have a little bit of light rain early in the afternoon, but it rarely rained - especially during the winter months - at the track which is located near the beach. As we arrived it was not a light rain, but a steady rain. Hmmmm, this isn't right. As we waited for the races to start I struck up a conversation with a guy who told me he was from New Jersey and he'd been waiting 30 years to make the trip to Gulfstream. I told him not to worry, the rain would clear up. And I shared with him that I waited my whole handicapping career until I retired from teaching to go to Saratoga and on that day it had poured (see above photo)! Before the first race started they took the first couple of races off the turf; then the two turf stake races. I told my Mom that the only good news was that Daredevil LOVED the sloppy going and would be a HUGE favorite now. We went to our seats - which I had won in the photo contest earlier in the meet - and they were soaked so we moved up two rows. The rain continued, and soon it was a deluge, the likes we haven't seen in So Fla since last summer! The satellite signals were lost so there was not watching any races from any other track and the rain was so bad you couldn't see the horses on the TV (much less live) AND the little number chicklets were inaccurate. I told my Mom, "when have you ever heard me say this, but I think we should leave the track." She agreed and I sloshed to the car knee deep - and that is NOT an exaggeration - in water. As we were leaving the parking lot Jeff called and asked if we were still at Gulfstream. I told him we were headed out, why. He said that HRTV had just announced Gulfstream was cancelling the rest of the day's races! That night the weather report showed that we had received nearly SEVEN inches of rain and most of So Fla was flooded. Part of Hallandale Beach Blvd was so bad that traffic was blocked - that must have been right after we left because that is the road we were on! A complete washout......sigh. But, we got home in time to see the Panthers come back from a 0-2 deficit (we'd given up our tickets, and we would have been flooded in that parking lot had we gone!) to win 5-3, and we agreed we'd head back to the races on Wednesday. So ends February....
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