July 18

One of the B-E-S-T Days Of The Summer!

Opening Day At Saratoga

In addition to it being Opening Day at my most-favorite summer track, Saratoga, there were several other reasons that today has to go down as one of the best days of the Summer of 2014.....First, and MOST importantly today was THE DAY I'd been waiting for all summer, the day that all three of my kids would arrive for the weekend.  Don't get me wrong, I love my two daughter-in-laws so much, but, this weekend it was going to be the first time in I don't know how long that it would be just our kids and us!  Jeff was arriving from Croatia (where he, Cameron, and Antoinette had been visiting her family), Julie and Brad driving down from Orlando.  Second, and this was Kim's idea, we had invited our old hockey buddy Enzo to come over to dinner (with his wife).  When the kids were younger it was "what we did" as a family EVERY time they came over literally all year long - we played "kids vs. adults" in roller hockey, with the culmination being our version of a family Stanley Cup championship series.  Well, one day we were playing and this 20-something guy was watching us, so I skated over and asked if he wanted to play on the "adult" team.  We became best of friends with Enzo.  Now he's married with three little ones.  When we were sitting around looking at Jeff's newsletters (he'd type & print a weekly account of our games, and I'd saved them all) we were trying to remember how long ago this all took place.....SEVENTEEN years ago!  Wow.  So I got out jerseys - the adults were always the Florida Panthers and the kids were always the Mighty Ducks - and we posed for a throw-back team picture: 

And third, today was a winning day overall, at Monmouth, AND at Saratoga!  At Monmouth Park my first bet was in the second race, a maiden claiming sprint.  Moe's Dove Hunt was part of an entry, but he was the one I was betting - if he scratched, all bets were off.  They both ran and Moe was the winner after stalking the leader to the turn, then drew off.  His entry-mate closed late to be up in time to complete the exacta.  In my next selection on the card I doubled the bet on Dodging, going against the 4/5 favorite.  The favorite looked to have the best trip, sitting just off the longshot front runner, took over and opened up on the turn.  But Dodging, went off at a nice 5/2, had been stalking in fourth made his move.  He collared the favorite in deep stretch and edged clear to WIN! 

The healthy $7.60 payoff guaranteed a winning day on the Jersey Shore!  In the 6th I was on Killington, the 3/5 favorite on the turf.  Trailed early, moved strongly on the turn and opened up by two lengths in mid-stretch.....but was caught late, second in a photo finish.  Booooo.  In the last two selections on the card my pick ran poorly to be 8th in both races (at 3/5 - sigh - and at 3/1).  So for the day at Monmouth.....

5/2-1-0 - Bet $40 / Cashed $45.50 

Next, Saratoga.....fifth in the Spa Opener (not the way I was hoping to start the day here!).  The next race was the traditional opening day feature, the Grade 2 Schuylerville for two-year-old fillies.  Fashion Alert was my BET of the DAY.....she was trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, so you know she'd be the favorite on just those facts.  But Pletcher, typically conservative with his placement of runners had sent out Fashion Alert for her MAIDEN DEBUT in the $100K Astoria Stakes at Belmont a month ago!  She broke behind the field, but rushed up to be in front by the time they'd gone a quarter of a mile and in spite of a swift pace, she ran away from the field to score.  She looked to be a special kind of filly, so I went "prime time" with my investment.  One other interesting side note - all of the Monmouth races and all the OTHER Saratoga races I watched later online on my twinspires replay station.  But the Schuylerville I was able to log into my phone to watch the replay on "Horseracing Now" app while we were at Miami International waiting for Jeff to clear customs.  She broke slowly again, but not as slowly and was quickly dueling with a longshot on the front end.  This was NOT GOOD as today the fillies were stretching out to six furlongs for the first time and you know all the riders were wanting to try to ration the speed......a quarter in :22.2 then a half in a swift :45 and change with the two dueling one head up and one head down.  As I watched I thought this sets up for a closer and as they turned for home the second choice was revving up from off the pace.  But as they hit the 16th pole Fashion Alert exerted her class and talent and pulled clear late!  WHOOO HOOOO! 

Granted the price was short, but as I've said many times, while I like making money (who doesn't?), I handicap to be right and in a case like this it is a "rush" to put my money on the line in relation to my confidence level and the reward is simply being right.  In the 4th doubled the bet on Mumtaazah who had been second to subsequent multiple graded stakes winning Onlyforyou in her debut in spite of breaking slowly.  She was 6/5 but never picked up her feet, a disappointing 7th.  In the seventh race we were on the turf and Joe's Blazing Aaron - a Ken & Sarah Ramsey front-runner - looked to be long gone without any challengers to him on the pace.  He set an easy pace under Javier Castellano through the far turn and when the presser made his move Joe dug in and was clear to the wire!  He too went off at a short price, but Id doubled the bet and collected nearly $20.  The score of the day came in my final bet, the very next race.  The 8th was a five and a half turf sprint and I liked Adventure Love.  Here's what I liked....she had built an 8/2-4-1 record in turf sprints IN EUROPE.  European turf runners nearly always find North American runners a notch below them.  When she made her first two starts in the US she'd been sent two turns at Gulfstream and understandably did not run well.  In her last she was in a $50K optional claiming event at Arlington and drew off with authority.  The last angle, today she got top Euro rider Frankie Dettori.  Right to the front, just as I thought, set a sizzling pace (:21.3 and :44.1) and then was the class of the race to win by daylight for Dettori's first-ever win at the Spa!  The one thing I did not expect was the price......

She paid a generous $7.80 and with my double investment I cashed for nearly $40 and was a winner on the day at the Spa: 

5/3-0-0  - Bet $65 / Cashed $82.00

And the day's totals:

10/5-1-0 - Bet $105 / Cashed $127.50 - PROFIT $22.50