Holiday Nuggets

Tweet I spent Sunday afternoon at Fort Erie Race Track under beautiful skies and awesome spring weather in Western New York/Southern Ontario. I walked away from a great day at the track (a day at the track is better than any day at the office), albeit a few dollars lighter, but enjoyed the sunshine and the bridge traffic wasn't all too bad (better than the 30-60 minute delays projected on the boards above the highway). I did learn by the end of the day to notice whatever ride apprentice jock Melanie Pinto was on. She was fantastic all day riding mid-to high priced horses. I will be watching her progress closely as the meet progresses. I played mostly Pick 3's all day and ended up with two bad beats that pretty much closed down the day. My 5-1 in the second lost a photo to a 5-2, and when my back ends held up it made it all the worse. The second bad beat was actually quite humorous as a man in the paddock asked me what I thought about a certain race and I told him I liked the longest shot (17-1) in the field going with first time lasix and good route pedigree. I told him I also liked Pinto's horse (at 6-1) who had been tearing them up all day. So don't I reverse those two in my trifecta play and the longshot takes second and Pinto's third, with an easy single on top....ugh. Anyways, there was a decent crowd on hand and it was comfortable moving around and enjoying the outdoors.

Gotta love the all Central New York lax final today in Foxborough, let's go Orrrr-ange! Hopefully it's a good day all around for SU...rooting for Carmelo and the Nuggets will take down Kobe and the Lake Show.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for Rene Douglas, looks like it might be 10 days or so to see if his situation will improve from his horrific fall on Saturday. The horse that fell on top of him was euthanized on Sunday. I watched some late afternoon action from Hollywood on TVG when I got home. I really enjoyed their all-access afternoon, wherein jockeys, trainers and even the starter were miked for sound and Simon Bray was roving around interviewing connections. This is something I'd definitely love to see more of. Every jock interviewed mentioned Douglas and that he was in their prayers. Impressive win by Monterrey Jazz in the Laz Barrera breaking a track record in the process.

I'm definitely going to take some handicapping lessons from the Turk, I've enjoyed reading his approach to the game. I, too often, end up straying from my handicapping and make bad wagers. I feel I can handicap decently, I just don't structure the wagers correctly most times. Starting today, we're retooling.

Just missed the Helio-Danica exacta (she finished third) at the Brickyard. Now there's some real "horsepower." (that was the Saratoga Resident's line, I just stole it).

I think the Met Mile field today is fantastic. I'm leaning towards My Pal Charlie (I think he'll like the distance) and old fav Smooth Air. Regardless, it should be a super race to watch.

The Space Gal and I survived the first two days of the Monmouth Survival at the Shore. Space Gal (bankroll $27.80) had a win (Kiawah Cat) and a show (My Magic Moment) and I had two placings (Abuela and La Rocca) to jump my bankroll to $61.00. 954 players were eliminated after the first two days, almost a quarter of the field, and 3,272 have "survived."

Enjoy the rest of your holiday, I hope you're having great weather like we are enjoying in our little corner of the world.