Dec. 9 - Day 3

Three More Wins!

The first full week of racing kicked off on this Wednesday afternoon and when the dust settled I'd cashed in on three more winners.  Before the racing recap, an interesting tid-bit of info.  On Sunday morning I logged into my website which shows entries and morning line odds to get the odds for Sunday's card.  I noticed that the entries were posted for December 10th, Thursday.  I also noted that the program for the previous day, Saturday, was NOT online.  Both of these things seemed odd to me because typically programs are online for about a week after the fact and regarding the Thursday program I had thought that Gulfstream was running WEDNESDAY through Sunday.  But it seemed to me that last year for the month of December they only ran Thursday through Sunday.  On Monday I thought about handicapping the Dec. 10th card, but because it was still three days away I figured I had plenty of time.  Tuesday I thought the same thing, still had another day and this would give me something to do on the porch Wednesday morning.  But later in the day I went online to the DRF to see if Friday's card was available and NOW there was a listing for Wednesday Dec. 9.  I have seen in the past tracks with a listed card when I knew they weren't running and it was because those races were all simulcasts from South America.  So I went back to my Brisnet page and sure enough NOW there was a Wednesday card with runners and odds.  Good thing I looked!  So I handicapped the card Tuesday afternoon and so here we are with the start of the racing week.  In the opener, a claiming sprint I found my first Gulfstream 40% Club play in One for Don who was going for Jorge Navarro.  He was a luke-warm 5/2 favorite and was a non-threatening third.  Passed the second.  In the third I passed again but my top pick was Naiguata and that runner scored at 5/2.  The fourth was my second investment of the day.  This claiming event was scheduled to go 8 1/2 furlongs on the turf.  A few of the races stayed on the turf this afternoon, but this was not one of them.  No matter to me, I liked Reckless Move, who was a huge 12/1 in the program, on either surface.  This horse is "one of those" that always grabs my attention because top rider Javier Castellano agreed to the mount on a what appears to be a longshot.  The fact that it came off the turf probably played well for Reckless Move.  Castellano had him stalking the leaders into the far turn, eased outside the front-runner as they turned for home and blew by to win comfortably! 

I only had the minimum on, and probably should have upped the wager after he was bet strongly to 5/2 as the second choice.  But, I'll take the win and the $7.40 payoff which resulted in a near $20 pay day for my twinspires account.  In the fifth it was a Maiden Special sprint for two-year-olds.  Duh, is there a Pletcher runner?  You betcha - #10 Broadway Gal.  Better yet, she was a debuting filly with John Velazquez on board.  In the short meet there have been two Pletcher FTS juveniles, both ridden by John Velazquez, and BOTH winners.  The crowd initially hammered Broadway Gal down to 1/5 odds in the early betting and I considered upping the bet.  But I held on to my double investment.  Part of that decision came after Pletcher was interviewed in the paddock by Gabby Gaudet and he said that they felt Broadway Gal would run better when allowed to stretch out to a route of ground, but they believed she'd be quick enough to handle a sprint distance.  At post time she'd floated up to what I considered a fair price of even money.  Velazquez had her stalking the leader into the far turn, glided up effortlessly to the front and was clear at the furlong marker.  But inside the final sixteenth the closers were coming.....it was close, but it was obvious she was the winner, I thought.  It was officially ruled a photo finish.  While I did win, it was a lot closer than I'd thought it was.  But hey, a win is a win is a win! 

The payoff was a more-than-fair $4.20 considering it was Pletcher in a MSW at Gulfstream.  My double investment returned over $20 and I'm having a very nice day!  I was surprised in the sixth when Strike Up The Band, my second Club play of the day, faded badly after stalking the leaders into the far turn on the turf as the prohibitive 3/5 chalk under Javier Castellano.  A distant 10th.  Passed the seventh.  The eighth was scheduled for the turf, but like the earlier races it was moved to the dirt with the first finish line.  Several turf runners scratched which meant my choice, Tinto Mesa would slide much farther inside than the initial 14 post position draw.  As I wrote in my analysis, Tinto Mesa was FAR from one of the stars of the Pletcher stable, obviously running in a 2-lifetime spot like this, but despite his star runners Pletcher does very well with claiming types on the rare occasion he has one.  Much like Broadway Gal the crowd was all over this guy and he was still around 1/5 as they approached the gate.  Fortunately at post time he floated up a little to 2/5, but that was way too short of a price for his legitimate chances.  He cruised to the front and won driving while pulling away with each and every stride.  My THIRD win on the day!  WHOOO HOOOO!

The $2.80 payoff meant I would receive less than $15 but I told myself at this early stage of the meet it's about building wins and the money would take care of itself.  Besides, I had a REALLY good start to the meet over the weekend and the chances of having that kind of financial success at a tough meet like this is unlikely.  Ride the wave while it lasts!  In the 9th we were back on the turf and my pick, Change of Command was near the back, out of the television picture until mid-way on the far turn.  Then he was FLYING but with a full field of runners ahead of him.  He went wide for clear run, but that forced him at least six wide which did in any chance of him winning.  A better than it looked fourth at solid 5/1 odds.  The finale was a maiden claimer for juveniles and I supported Joe Sharp's Flowers For Lisa.  A fair 3/1 price and she was running well late on the class drop, but not well enough, third.  So the day ended with a 3-for-7 record, that's better than 40% my friends, and who can complain about that?  I made a promise to myself that once Gulfstream's Championship Meet opened I would take advantage of it by coming out once a week during the week - I'm retired, I have the time and always said when I was working that "if I were retired I'd be at Gulfstream today" - so I'm heading out for a couple of the races tomorrow early afternoon!