Post by Peter Gross on Aug 7, 2009 5:13:01 GMT -5
I've been absent for awhile from this blog, but I have a very good excuse. Last week was the annual trek to Saratoga. I bet copious amounts of expendable cash and hit a few modest winners, but it's really not about the profit (or lack thereof). Saratoga for me and my partners Jim McKenny and Clint Nickerson is a temple that beckons for 11 months and three weeks of the year and we count down until the day we can go. In fact, Clint flies in from Victoria, which is not as simple as it sounds. He flew to Seattle and from there to New York and from there to Rochester, where we picked him up last Monday morning. Clint had thoughtfully booked us into 18 holes at the Ravenwood Golf Course outside Rochester. This was excellent because it was a fine course, but even better, it was just a couple miles from Finger Lakes racetrack. Mind you, Finger Lakes is pretty well the polar opposite to Saratoga. The purses are just a fraction of those at the 'Spa' and the horses and jockeys simply are not in the same class. Still it was something to bet on, just to whet our appetites for opening day, Wednesday July 29. Needless to say, none of us cashed.
We drove on after the last race for our next anticipated appointment - two nights at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona NY. We had scheduled 18 holes for Tuesday on the sumptuous Shenandoah Golf Course, which the pros sometimes play. I'm a crappy golfer - McKenny is quite good and Nickerson is close to him, but I thrashed about and was practically knocked out at the end of 18 holes.
Not too whacked to play several hours of black jack and Caribbean Stud poker in the luxurious Turning Stone Casino. How did I do? I got killed on Monday, but made a nice comeback on Tuesday, winning back almost half my losses.
We pulled into Saratoga just before noon on the Wednesday and there is something almost impossible to describe about that first walk through the gates each year. I call it heaven for horseplayers - if you don't bet the ponies, you won't understand, but for six weeks each year, the best horses and jockeys come here and having a win at Saratoga on your resume is ....priceless.
Wednesday was my only winning day. I hit the first winner, ridden home by last year's Saratoga champion jockey Alan Garcia and parlayed that into a winning daily double ($31). I won about $100 at Saratoga and about $300 more on the first few races at Del Mar, brought in by the magic of satellite.
It didn't go quite so well the next four days, which were all losing adventures. At one point on thursday I was alive with five horses in a pick-three and four of my choices were paying over $1000. I didn't get a sniff...none of my horses finished in the top three.
The Sunday card dealt more of the same - money bet, money lost, but there was a small hit of redemption. Rachel Alexandra, the superfilly was in the Haskell Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth racetrack in New Jersey. Much as I disdain favourites, I took her at the end of some pick threes and keyed her in triactors. I spend $4 in the pick-threes and when she won by many lengths over a field of overmatched colts, I cashed $32 on the picks and just $24 more from the $16 I had bet in the triactors. Still, on a technicality, I left Saratoga not completely broke and there would be one more magic moment.
We stopped once more at Turning Stone on our return trip and with just minutes to go until our agreed return time to the car, I was up about $50 at the black jack table. I increased my base bet to $20 and won, so I let the $40 ride. The dealer gave me a 10 and a 2 and showed a 10 card. The guy beside me had 15 and asked for a card. He got a two for 17 and I started scratching for my card. Incredibly though, the man beside me asked for another card. The dealer asked carefully - "you want to hit on 17?" and the guy said yes.
The dealer gave him a ten; it should have been my bust card. I asked for one and got an 8 and my 20 beat the dealer's 18. I took this as a message from the Casino. I grabbed my chips, ran to the window and cashed in. I had made a profit of $140...not quite compensating me for a wild week of betting at Saratoga, but putting a nice flavour at the end of a thoroughly thrilling week.
We drove on after the last race for our next anticipated appointment - two nights at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona NY. We had scheduled 18 holes for Tuesday on the sumptuous Shenandoah Golf Course, which the pros sometimes play. I'm a crappy golfer - McKenny is quite good and Nickerson is close to him, but I thrashed about and was practically knocked out at the end of 18 holes.
Not too whacked to play several hours of black jack and Caribbean Stud poker in the luxurious Turning Stone Casino. How did I do? I got killed on Monday, but made a nice comeback on Tuesday, winning back almost half my losses.
We pulled into Saratoga just before noon on the Wednesday and there is something almost impossible to describe about that first walk through the gates each year. I call it heaven for horseplayers - if you don't bet the ponies, you won't understand, but for six weeks each year, the best horses and jockeys come here and having a win at Saratoga on your resume is ....priceless.
Wednesday was my only winning day. I hit the first winner, ridden home by last year's Saratoga champion jockey Alan Garcia and parlayed that into a winning daily double ($31). I won about $100 at Saratoga and about $300 more on the first few races at Del Mar, brought in by the magic of satellite.
It didn't go quite so well the next four days, which were all losing adventures. At one point on thursday I was alive with five horses in a pick-three and four of my choices were paying over $1000. I didn't get a sniff...none of my horses finished in the top three.
The Sunday card dealt more of the same - money bet, money lost, but there was a small hit of redemption. Rachel Alexandra, the superfilly was in the Haskell Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth racetrack in New Jersey. Much as I disdain favourites, I took her at the end of some pick threes and keyed her in triactors. I spend $4 in the pick-threes and when she won by many lengths over a field of overmatched colts, I cashed $32 on the picks and just $24 more from the $16 I had bet in the triactors. Still, on a technicality, I left Saratoga not completely broke and there would be one more magic moment.
We stopped once more at Turning Stone on our return trip and with just minutes to go until our agreed return time to the car, I was up about $50 at the black jack table. I increased my base bet to $20 and won, so I let the $40 ride. The dealer gave me a 10 and a 2 and showed a 10 card. The guy beside me had 15 and asked for a card. He got a two for 17 and I started scratching for my card. Incredibly though, the man beside me asked for another card. The dealer asked carefully - "you want to hit on 17?" and the guy said yes.
The dealer gave him a ten; it should have been my bust card. I asked for one and got an 8 and my 20 beat the dealer's 18. I took this as a message from the Casino. I grabbed my chips, ran to the window and cashed in. I had made a profit of $140...not quite compensating me for a wild week of betting at Saratoga, but putting a nice flavour at the end of a thoroughly thrilling week.
