Post by peter gross on Mar 23, 2010 5:37:46 GMT -5
I admit it is boring to hear (or read about) a guy bragging of his racetrack scores, but I had two very nice moments on the simulcast gambling last weekend that served to reinforce my theory that the daily double is the best possible legal bet in this country.
On Friday, working my cash through the races at Aqueduct, I was examining the 6th race with my typical disdain for the favourite. It was an ugly race for maiden special weights trying a mile and 70 on the inner track. The crowd made Ramon Dominguez the 3-2 favourite on Bob's Pinup Girl, so I looked elsewhere and bet a couple of horses with minimal form. I included the rail horse because inside trips do very well on the inside track at Aqueduct and verily, there was # 1 Seeing Clearly and jockey Mike Luzzi roaring up in deep stretch to win by half a length at delightful odds of 13.6-1. My double strategy often buys me as many as four horses in the second half and that is what I did that Friday, so when 9-2 shot, Most Happy Fella scored by a neck, it was a very pleasing moment for me. By the way, the great pacer, Most Happy Fella has been dead since the mid-80s; this one is a thoroughbred horse, unlikely to make the same kind of impact on his species .
On Sunday, there was a daily double chaos in the off-track shops. Sounds like the start of a thingy Francis thriller doesn't it? The first race at Aqueduct was called off because trainers refused to bring their horses to the eligibility barn on time as part of a protest over New York State officials not moving fast enough on the slots program. And at the same time, the first race at Gulfstream was eliminated because of multiple scratches of horses that had come in contact with a sick horse at Calder.
As much as that threw my daily double handicapping into total bedlam, I regrouped for the fifth races, which was really the fourth. The less than knowing punters had installed Air Lord and Ramon Dominquez as the 1-2 favourite and he sure looked much the best, but these kinds get beat all the time. I was just guessing taking a couple of stabs against the choice and in late stretch, the 9-horse Hard Iron came out of nowhere to collar the odds-on choice at the wire. hard Iron was 12-1 and i had him hooked up with four horses in the second half of the double.
It was a sad bunch of special maiden weights going a mile and 70 on the dirt, but Victor Santiago is now my favourite jockey. He took Book smartly out of the gate, stalked the pace for seven furlongs, then pulled away in deep stretch for a convincing win by a length and a half. I'm sure glad that I read Book correctly. A son of Gold Token out of Spiral Binder (get it?), Book was 21-1 and helped me cash a double that paid $272.00
So in the span of three days, I hit for $151 and $272 in the double. On the Saturday night, like many other suckers, I bet $8 on the 649 lottery and come up with nothing. I have never won over $100 in the lottery, but have lost count of the number of triple digit doubles I have hit in the past three years.
On Friday, working my cash through the races at Aqueduct, I was examining the 6th race with my typical disdain for the favourite. It was an ugly race for maiden special weights trying a mile and 70 on the inner track. The crowd made Ramon Dominguez the 3-2 favourite on Bob's Pinup Girl, so I looked elsewhere and bet a couple of horses with minimal form. I included the rail horse because inside trips do very well on the inside track at Aqueduct and verily, there was # 1 Seeing Clearly and jockey Mike Luzzi roaring up in deep stretch to win by half a length at delightful odds of 13.6-1. My double strategy often buys me as many as four horses in the second half and that is what I did that Friday, so when 9-2 shot, Most Happy Fella scored by a neck, it was a very pleasing moment for me. By the way, the great pacer, Most Happy Fella has been dead since the mid-80s; this one is a thoroughbred horse, unlikely to make the same kind of impact on his species .
On Sunday, there was a daily double chaos in the off-track shops. Sounds like the start of a thingy Francis thriller doesn't it? The first race at Aqueduct was called off because trainers refused to bring their horses to the eligibility barn on time as part of a protest over New York State officials not moving fast enough on the slots program. And at the same time, the first race at Gulfstream was eliminated because of multiple scratches of horses that had come in contact with a sick horse at Calder.
As much as that threw my daily double handicapping into total bedlam, I regrouped for the fifth races, which was really the fourth. The less than knowing punters had installed Air Lord and Ramon Dominquez as the 1-2 favourite and he sure looked much the best, but these kinds get beat all the time. I was just guessing taking a couple of stabs against the choice and in late stretch, the 9-horse Hard Iron came out of nowhere to collar the odds-on choice at the wire. hard Iron was 12-1 and i had him hooked up with four horses in the second half of the double.
It was a sad bunch of special maiden weights going a mile and 70 on the dirt, but Victor Santiago is now my favourite jockey. He took Book smartly out of the gate, stalked the pace for seven furlongs, then pulled away in deep stretch for a convincing win by a length and a half. I'm sure glad that I read Book correctly. A son of Gold Token out of Spiral Binder (get it?), Book was 21-1 and helped me cash a double that paid $272.00
So in the span of three days, I hit for $151 and $272 in the double. On the Saturday night, like many other suckers, I bet $8 on the 649 lottery and come up with nothing. I have never won over $100 in the lottery, but have lost count of the number of triple digit doubles I have hit in the past three years.
 I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying. 
