Wednesday October 9

What an A - M - A - Z - N - G Day!

Well, as often as the journals and stories from my racing days are often "that's a first" kind of thing, today was TRULY one of those days.  I can't ever remember having this kind of day where the events of the day combined like they did today.  I decided to go (a) just because I can now that I'm retired and haven't taken advantage of that very much this fall; and (b) because there was a nice graded stakes at Keeneland so it would make for a good day of racing I thought.  It also didn't hurt that I had not been out of the house to go anywhere for many a day during the week.  The first thing that was interesting came on Tuesday when I went to buy the Daily Racing Form.  When I was in Ohio and the first day I picked up my Mom's daily newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch I was surprised that it was now the size of a magazine, or smaller.  Well, when I went to get the Form it too was now a small sized publication. 

I can't decide how I feel about it.  It is convenient, it is the size of a typical race program; and the font actually seems a little larger.  The paper is supposedly  brighter white in color to make for easier reading.  And there are some additional handicapping tools.  Regardless, I handicapped for Belmont, Keeneland, Laurel, and Delaware Park. 

The first race on my sheet was at Belmont and I was the event money favorite......2nd.  Little did I know this was foreshadowing for the day!  I ran 6th at 7/5, then 3rd at 9/5 and a very disappointing 6th at 2/5 at Laurel.  Interestingly, much like Saturday when Calder did not carry Indiana Downs, today they didn't carry Laurel's signal.  Which made little sense because there are very few tracks running midweek....what ever  Finally a winner, but oh what a winner and a story!

The race was the 3rd at Keeneland, a typical Wednesday afternoon race, and non-winners of two lifetime for juvenile fillies.  We were going a mile on the turf.  As I looked through the past performances of the entries nothing jumped out at me.  There were about three logical runners, but nothing that looked like a horse with a solid advantage to bet on them.  Then on the second pass through the field I saw the #6-Street Sailing.  And in particular I noticed her trainer stats.....

Note the highlighted areas - while Street Sailing had never been on the turf the trainer earns $3.42 for every $2 bet on his first time turf runners.  When that number is over $2 it's a big number, so $3.42 is a HUGE number!  But can she turf?  In the car box, you'll note that she has Tomlinson numbers of over 400 for both distance and turf......a "300" means a horse is well suited to the surface or distance, so she is truly bred for turf an distance.  With all her career starts being sprints I thought she'd show some speed, in a race without much speed.  And finally, the two other trainer stats that leaped off the page - moving a horse from synthetic to turf produced an ROI of $4.57 and the best stat of all is when the barn has a horse stretch out to a route after two sprints they win an amazing 60% and they pay an average of $14.88 for every $2!  This barn wins with longshots!  Add in the fact that she debuted against the boys and ran second, then beat Maiden Specials in her second start.  The fact that her connections brought her off the shelf in a stakes told me they thought highly of her, so today's non-winners of 2 lifetime was a very comfortable spot for her if they were right.  The program odds were 15/1, but she left the gate at 16/1.  Right away I was hopeful as she was pressing the pace into the backstretch.  When the field hit the far turn she and the leader were separated from the field and the rider had no asked yet.  The closers began to accelerate as they straightened for home, but then Street Sailing was given her cue and she EXPLODED.  She opened up to, as track announcer Kurt Becker called it, "CRUSH the field!"  She won by about ten WIDENING lengths.  The $2 payoff was posted at $34.80 and I was ready to cash for over $85!  I posed for a celebration photo and posted it on Facebook for all my friends and followers!  WHOOO HOOO! 

 

After the big win I had back-to-back scratches, so my next race was in the 4th at Keeneland.  Unfortunately the same pattern as earlier in the day started all over again as I went TEN straight without a win before heading for home.  At Keeneland I was third with a first-off-the-claim for Michael Maker and owners Ken & Sarah Ramsey, normally a near 30% win proposition;  third again at 3/5 at Delaware and a miserable 7th as the 2/1 favorite with German import Ay No Digas on the turf.  No surprise when 34/1 upset shot Viramundo showed little to finish last at Keeneland.  And then "the streak" started after a 6th over the Delaware turf.  I looked at the remaining races and thought, "....if I hit 30% today then I'm about to win at least five of the last nine picks today..."  At Laure I was 2nd at 8/5 with a first-off-the-claim runner for Jamie Ness (a 38% winning angle).  Then in a photo finish at Keeneland I was second, again, at 2/1 when Tropic of Artie could not finish the deal after taking a brief lead at the top of the lane.

At Belmont I was SECOND at 5/2 with Wonderfully Wild.  At Delaware I was SECOND with Revocation at 3/5 and just before I left I was S-E-C-O-N-D AGAIN at Keeneland when Gal About Town couldn't win as the 3/5 favorite.  I made my last four bets and headed home, shaking my head at the great score, offset by the MULTIPLE losses, especially the parade of runner-up finishes.  As soon as I got home I turned on the TVG recorded races and watched my pick in Belmont's featured Coastal Stakes, Todd Pletcher's Midnight Taboo, run SECOND at 3/1.  Wow.....how long can this go on?  Mercifully I was 4th and NOT second at Laurel when Stephanoatsee lost at in an allowance spot. 

When I had cashed the big ticket I first had a thought I should profit for the day; but I counted up the bets for the remainder of the day - and remember that win came at 2:00 in just my fifth selection of the day - I calculated I "only" needed to collect $85 to come out a winner for the day.  Of course, I had no way of knowing that I'd pile up all the second place finishes late in the day.  But I was clinging to the small hope of maybe getting close to even if I could cash on my "BEST" of the day.  That was coming in the featured Gr 3 Jessamine at Keeneland. When I had checked my Facebook account before even leaving for the track Keeneland had posted the question to their followers, "Who do you like in the Jessamine Stakes today."  I responded that not only did I like Kitten Kaboodle, but she was my "BEST" of the day (note the "LIKE" to my comment - this came from the Keeneland facebook administrator :)

Here was my thinking......in her debut, this Ramsey filly had raced at Saratoga at this distance over the turf.  She rallied strongly through the lane, but was steadied in traffic late costing her the victory.  She still was second, beaten slightly more than a length in spite of the troubled trip.  She was the even money favorite in her next start in mid-August, facing one of today's rivals, Candy Kitty.  But that day this Pletcher filly went to the front and somehow was allowed to set what DRF analyst Byron King termed a "comical" pace of :27.2, :53.4, and 1:17.4 all alone on the lead.  Any chance of Kitten Kaboodle rallying into that pace were slim to none.  Add on to this the fact that my filly had also stumbled out of the gate and you'd have to admit that her ability to finish a best-of-the-rest second was remarkable indeed.  She legitimately could have won BOTH races.  Well, since that start she'd moved into Chad Brown's barn and he's a super trainer, especially on the turf.  His winning numbers with horses making their first start after transferring into his barn....30%!  With a much stronger pace anticipated today, I thought she had an excellent chance to win and made her my "BET of the Day."  I turned to see what DRF's Byron King had to say, and interestingly she was HIS "Best."

As I got to the start of the race on TVG two of the analysts were saying they both felt that Kitten Kaboodle was the one to beat.  But luckily the odds were a juicy 7/2!  She sat a perfect tracking trip, saving ground along the rail.  As the came through the turn several closers began to move and the field was stacked up at least five across the track as they began to turn heads for home.  But at this moment the front-runner didn't corner well, opening up a seam on the inside, and then veered outside for a stride or more, parting the seas on the inside with an open invitation to Kitten Kaboodle to make her run. Jockey Alan Garcia shook the reins and it was over.  Not only did she have the best trip, but she was CLEARLY the best filly as she drew off to win by nearly five widening lengths! 

The best news came when prices were posted on the board.  She had held her odds and the payoff for a $2 bet was $9.40.  With my $20 "Prime Time" investment I was going to cash for $94.00!  WHOOOO HOOOOO!  Combine that with the other payout of $86 and I am a profitable winner for the day of a clean Andrew Jackson $20!  The fact that The Lady Says Yes ran second, yes second again, was inconsequential to me.  My numbers for the day, a less-than-inspiring 19 selections, 2 wins, EIGHT SECONDS, and 3 thirds.  But for a profit of $20 for the day!  Check out my handicapping video and race replays of the two big wins below.......