Dec. 27 - Day 15

Close Holiday Racing With THREE WINS

We continued our winter holiday trip in Ohio today with a shopping excursion and then spent the afternoon and evening at my sisters.  I did not anticipate our staying so long there and did not take my computer.  About 6 pm I was wondering about checking my race results when it occurred to me that the Gulfstream replays were on YouTube and I get that on my phone, so I pulled up my selections on the Internet via my phone and then flipped screens to the YouTube app and began to watch the replays - technology, wow.  The opener was a maiden claimer for two-year-olds and if there is anything I have learned is that you just cannot dismiss any Pletcher juvenile in December in a maiden race, regardless of their apparent form.  Such was the case with Big Paul.  He had debuted at Monmouth Park going today's one-mile distance - although on the Jersey Shore that's a two-turn event - and he had shown speed to the stretch before weakening to be a well-beaten fifth.  Then off the shelf he was in an off-the-turf Belmont mile and a sixteenth race where he was a dismal as the weather, running seventh of eight throughout and finish a distant, and I mean DISTANT 35 lengths off the winner.  But both these were in MSW company and today Big Paul was dropping into a $35K race, getting Javier Castellano and was a first-time gelding.  He didn't look the part of a favorite, but Pletcher ALWAYS has his maidens ready for Gulfstream.  He broke sharply, stalked the pace into the stretch and drew off like he was a Derby contender! 

And the best part was that the crowd took that last race as a reason to dismiss and Big Paul left the gate at a generous 5/2.  The $7.40 payoff meant I would collect nearly $40 for the first win of the day!  WHOOOO HOOOOO!  I passed the second race.  The third race today was the featured Windley Key Stakes, a $75K added money event.  Here's another thing I've learned from the Gulfstream Championship Meet......when the racing office creates a stakes race, typically for $50K to $75K and run it on a Sunday or a week day, it's a race that appears to be written specifically for one (maybe two) stakes runners who are making their return to the races.  Such was the case with this five furlong sprint and the horse this appeared to be written for was Jewel of a Cat.  This five-year-old mare had won the Sunshine Millions Turf Sprint Preview last fall but her signature effort had been a best-of-the-rest second behind the very talented Lady Shipman in the Klassy Briefcase at Monmouth last summer.  I thought the race looked wide open, and as I mentioned yesterday, turf sprints are typically not what I'm best at.  Jewel of a Cat broke sharply and pressed the 3/1 front runner through the turn.  As they turned for home I thought she looked like she'd yet to be asked, but the sprint to the wire was an all-out duel and in deep stretch the closers were coming.......PHOTO FINISH!  But I was fairly certain my nose had been in front at the wire.......

WINNER!  Jewel of a Cat went off as the 7/5 favorite and I only had the minimum, but still, despite earning less than $15 I was now a perfect two-for-two!  The fourth was a Maiden Special for two-year-olds going a one-turn mile and yes, there was a Pletcher runner listed at a juicy 8/1 but here's my quote from my analysis...."Oh I'm gonna hate myself for picking 9-Awesome Dame in a 2yo MSW here at Gulfstream while leaving Todd Pletcher's filly with Javier Castellano at 8/1 out of the top spot."  What am I thinking?  Well, first of all, the Pletcher filly had run second in her MSW debut, which is not bad at all, EXCEPT the race was run at Gulfstream Park West and it's been my experience that this bridge meet does not have strong competition so if a maiden can't win there, it's unlikely they will win here at the Championship Meet AND Pletcher runs his best maidens her for their wins not across town.  More importantly, even though Awesome Dame had run second in all three career starts, two back she was a best-of-the-rest second behind Pletcher's Rachel's Valentina who exited that to win a Grade 1 at the Spa and then run second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies to early Kentucky Oaks favorite Songbird.  And her last out second came with the comment that she was "....checked and impeded...." at the 16th pole.  The crowd was all over the place with their betting and somehow made the favorite a filly that had run fifth behind Awesome Dame and Rachel's Valentina - go figure.  But it was Awesome Dame and the Pletcher filly, Miss Meteor who shook free from the field and went at it into the stretch.  But 'Dame dismissed that one and set sail for the wire.  She drifted way, WAY out into the center of the track but was still daylight clear for the win. 

With the betting all over the place I was very fortunate to get a nice $7.80 payoff and again would cash for nearly $40 as I ran my Sunday record to a perfect three-for-three!  But, that was the end of the winning ways for the week.  I ran second in the fifth with One Eyed Ray on the turf - looked ready to blow by on the turn but was no match for the winner; then I was a ninth with Royal Knowledge at 3/1 in the 6th.  In my final pick of the day Conquest Misbehave was 3/1 in a turf allowance going 7 1/2 furlongs and took the lead after a half mile.....but gave way and faded to sixth, though beaten less than three lengths.  So for the day I was an excellent 3-for-6 and had made close to $50 to close out the week!  Tomorrow we head out to Pennsylvania and are hopeful that (a) the weather is not too icy or snowy on the drive to my in-law's lake-side home but (b) we ARE hopeful to see some of the "white stuff" while in Keystone state.