Post by Peter Gross on Mar 30, 2010 5:01:36 GMT -5
Woodbine's Glenn Crouter calls ( about once a week in March) to remind us that Opening Day of the thoroughbred meet at Woodbine is the surest sign that spring has arrived - certainly it's a far more reliable barometer than the spring equinox!
Apparently God is a horse-player. According to forecasts, there could be a record high in the mid 20s when the players reconvene at Woodbine on Good Friday. The money guys at WEG are relieved; the winter play on the harness races was depressingly slow - for the first time since maybe the bronze age, handles regularly dropped below a $ million a night and that is the point where Woodbine suggests it's a losing proposition. Expect the bettors to pour close to $3 million through the windows on Friday.
I have a better reason than usual to pay closer attention to race results this year. Arthur Silvera trains a two year-old colt by Max Forever (who?) and this youngster is owned by David Cassidy, a horse lover famous for being Keith Partridge of the Partridge Family tv series. Cassidy apparently is a huge radio listener and a big fan of Down The Stretch, Canada's most informative and entertaining horse racing newspaper, so when it came time to name this two year-old, Cassidy was adamant.
"We have to name him after Peter Gross!" he insisted. Cassidy recalls his co-star, the very beautiful Susan Dey, talking to him constantly in the 70s about me and it aroused his curiousity (I'm taking some liberties with the truth here).
Anyway, for whatever reasons, there is now a horse working out at Woodbine called Peter The Gross. I visited barn 35 on Sunday morning to meet my namesake and he is a very good-looking horse. Silvera advised me not to get too excited about the horse's short turn prospects.
"He's got four white socks," pointed out Silvera. "Some people think that's the kiss of death." Peter The Gross, however does have a very attractive chestnut colt and is expected to make his racing debut as early as May. My ego being what it is, I can't help think of the fame and attention I would receive if next year, Peter The Gross should win the Queen's Plate, or Kentucky Derby or even....the Breeders' Cup Classic. I could go to the race, get a pass for the celebrity parties, renew my romance with Susan Dey.
Some great racing on the weekend with some spectacular payoffs and boy did I get screwed. Handicapping the races from Dubai is very difficult because so few horses have actually run at that track. Take the 6th race on Dubai Cup day..the winner was Al Shemali who paid a dazzling $292 to win. I was watching this stuff at home and when the $10,000,000 Dubai Cup was loading into the gate, I attempted to bet $2 win/show on the five-horse, Gloria de Campeao, because I noticed the horse did have one good race on the track. When I tried to punch in the bet, the disemboweled voice at HPI advised me,
"Win/show is not available at Dubai for race eight. You may hang up at anytime."
I didn't want to hang up. I wanted a bet on Gloria De Campeao. But at the races at Meydan, win/show doesn't exist. If you bet to place, you can finish third and cash. I didn't know that. By the time I re-entered my bet, the race was off and I got shut out. I think you know how this ends...Gloria de Campeao went off at 25-1 led all the way, opened up two lengths in mid-stretch and then a 40-1 shot, Lizard's Desire came flying up late and to the naked eye, appeared to nail Gloria de Campeao on the wire. In fact, the jockey on Lizard's Desire was pounding the air in celebration for his shocking win. However, after a long look at the photo, the judges were able to see that Gloria de Campeao's nose was a good eighth of a inch ahead at the wire. It paid $52.40 to win an d$15.50 to place and I didn't get a dime.
I was also close in the Louisiana Derby on Saturday. I took a horse called A Little Warm on top in exactors. Ridden by David Cohen, A Little Warm went off just a shade under 7-1 and took the lead down the backstretch in this $750,000 Stakes race at a mile and an eighth. A Little Warm led all the way down the lane and looked like the winner until Mission Impazible under Rajiv Maragh came flying up late to win by less than a length. The exactor paid $123, leaving me asking the age-old handicapping question - Why didn't I take my horse on the bottom?
The Sam-Son Farms hopeful, Hotep, trained by Mark Frostad went off at 25-1, but ridden by Patrick Husbands, he had no punch, loitering near the back of the field and finishing 11th.
The winner, Mission Impazible, a son of Unbridled's Song, is trained by Todd Pletcher for Twin Creeks Racing Stable. So far no one horse has emerged as a clear Kentucky Derby Candidate, but I would be willing to take another shot on A Little Warm. In the Derby, with as many as 20 horses, you do want one that can clear the mob early and stay out of trouble.
Maybe I'll bet $2 win/place.
Apparently God is a horse-player. According to forecasts, there could be a record high in the mid 20s when the players reconvene at Woodbine on Good Friday. The money guys at WEG are relieved; the winter play on the harness races was depressingly slow - for the first time since maybe the bronze age, handles regularly dropped below a $ million a night and that is the point where Woodbine suggests it's a losing proposition. Expect the bettors to pour close to $3 million through the windows on Friday.
I have a better reason than usual to pay closer attention to race results this year. Arthur Silvera trains a two year-old colt by Max Forever (who?) and this youngster is owned by David Cassidy, a horse lover famous for being Keith Partridge of the Partridge Family tv series. Cassidy apparently is a huge radio listener and a big fan of Down The Stretch, Canada's most informative and entertaining horse racing newspaper, so when it came time to name this two year-old, Cassidy was adamant.
"We have to name him after Peter Gross!" he insisted. Cassidy recalls his co-star, the very beautiful Susan Dey, talking to him constantly in the 70s about me and it aroused his curiousity (I'm taking some liberties with the truth here).
Anyway, for whatever reasons, there is now a horse working out at Woodbine called Peter The Gross. I visited barn 35 on Sunday morning to meet my namesake and he is a very good-looking horse. Silvera advised me not to get too excited about the horse's short turn prospects.
"He's got four white socks," pointed out Silvera. "Some people think that's the kiss of death." Peter The Gross, however does have a very attractive chestnut colt and is expected to make his racing debut as early as May. My ego being what it is, I can't help think of the fame and attention I would receive if next year, Peter The Gross should win the Queen's Plate, or Kentucky Derby or even....the Breeders' Cup Classic. I could go to the race, get a pass for the celebrity parties, renew my romance with Susan Dey.
Some great racing on the weekend with some spectacular payoffs and boy did I get screwed. Handicapping the races from Dubai is very difficult because so few horses have actually run at that track. Take the 6th race on Dubai Cup day..the winner was Al Shemali who paid a dazzling $292 to win. I was watching this stuff at home and when the $10,000,000 Dubai Cup was loading into the gate, I attempted to bet $2 win/show on the five-horse, Gloria de Campeao, because I noticed the horse did have one good race on the track. When I tried to punch in the bet, the disemboweled voice at HPI advised me,
"Win/show is not available at Dubai for race eight. You may hang up at anytime."
I didn't want to hang up. I wanted a bet on Gloria De Campeao. But at the races at Meydan, win/show doesn't exist. If you bet to place, you can finish third and cash. I didn't know that. By the time I re-entered my bet, the race was off and I got shut out. I think you know how this ends...Gloria de Campeao went off at 25-1 led all the way, opened up two lengths in mid-stretch and then a 40-1 shot, Lizard's Desire came flying up late and to the naked eye, appeared to nail Gloria de Campeao on the wire. In fact, the jockey on Lizard's Desire was pounding the air in celebration for his shocking win. However, after a long look at the photo, the judges were able to see that Gloria de Campeao's nose was a good eighth of a inch ahead at the wire. It paid $52.40 to win an d$15.50 to place and I didn't get a dime.
I was also close in the Louisiana Derby on Saturday. I took a horse called A Little Warm on top in exactors. Ridden by David Cohen, A Little Warm went off just a shade under 7-1 and took the lead down the backstretch in this $750,000 Stakes race at a mile and an eighth. A Little Warm led all the way down the lane and looked like the winner until Mission Impazible under Rajiv Maragh came flying up late to win by less than a length. The exactor paid $123, leaving me asking the age-old handicapping question - Why didn't I take my horse on the bottom?
The Sam-Son Farms hopeful, Hotep, trained by Mark Frostad went off at 25-1, but ridden by Patrick Husbands, he had no punch, loitering near the back of the field and finishing 11th.
The winner, Mission Impazible, a son of Unbridled's Song, is trained by Todd Pletcher for Twin Creeks Racing Stable. So far no one horse has emerged as a clear Kentucky Derby Candidate, but I would be willing to take another shot on A Little Warm. In the Derby, with as many as 20 horses, you do want one that can clear the mob early and stay out of trouble.
Maybe I'll bet $2 win/place.
