Labor of Love

Tweet This game can be a labor of love and on this cold and windy Labor Day weekend in the B-Lo, my focus was on Del Mar for a couple days. Friday night my stepfather-in-law and I were taking in the Friday night card and watching bomb after bomb come in. The TVG telecast team seemed like they had just taken a bunch of ecstasty pills before the broadcast as they were as wacky as I've ever seen them. The Space Gal even mentioned that they had lost their minds when she asked what in the world we were watching.

I stayed up and handicapped the Saturday card and the mammoth Pick 6 and actually hit 5 of 6 (missing the finale - I don't think I could ever wager on a horse with that jockey riding and expect to win) on a $192 play. I was live to the #1 (third choice) and the #8 (second choice Snovember - seemed appropriate for a Bflo boy) and it was fun following the last few races. I always find I do better when I handicap the night before for some reason.

The Toga Party Contest is heading down the stretch and looks to be a two-horse race between Floppydog (who just missed the Woodward $2 exacta by two bucks) and Tony Bada Bing, with Bada Bing looking like he may take it with a Johnny V jockey victory and the turf race points. We'll have everything tabulated by Tuesday morning and announce the winner then.

It's hard to believe the Saratoga and Del Mar meetings are coming to a close (we hardly knew ya), but there's been some exciting racing all summer and as the seasons start to change here the Fall meets at Belmont, Oak Tree, Keeneland will lead to the penultimate at Churchill in early November and the Breeders' Cup World Championships. I'm especially looking forward to the Keeneland fall meeting and their $0.50 trifecta and Pick 4 wagers, not to mention the quality fields....ok polytrack it's time we meet again.

At this time next week I'll be sitting in the Ralph, hoping the hometown Bills "squish the fish" in our opener against our arch rivals. We'll know pretty quick whether this team has anything or if they will take us to another 4-12 campaign. As usual the QB situation is tenuous at best, it's pretty bad when you get excited that Matt Leinart is on the market. At least, the Cuse came out and won their first opener in several years, beating Akron handily behind QB Ryan Nassib (dude's got a cannon).

Have a great Labor Day.