In Other News....

Tweet The calendar has turned, and the slate has been swept clean. 2011 is here and the racing year 2010 is in the history books....well, other than that little vote to be revealed in a couple weeks in Miami Beach. So what's been cookin' in the Space Station over the holidays, you ask? Well...in other news.....

- You may have noticed that I have a new blog logo in the upper left hand sidebar. I have a couple of acquaintances in the Marketing/PR world, but I didn't want to bother them with my little blog, so I searched around to have someone design me a logo for the blog, among other things. I landed on the 48hourslogo.com website that holds contests for web designers to create logos for a minimum of $79, over a two-day period. You submit your logo specs, what look you have in mind, your price and then you receive designs to judge (my contest had 27 entries). My winning selection was from a designer in the Phillipines that kept working with me as I tweaked his logo through the structured process. I thought it was a very well run site and a great business concept. The website charges 10% on top of the logo price to host the contest. Let me know what you think....

- I joined the NHC Tour and got my arse handed to me in Sunday's online contest which featured races from Aqueduct, Fair Grounds and Santa Anita. But finishing last means the same as finishing 6th (top 5 qualified), so we'll chalk it up to a learning experience.

- Space Gal gave me Satellite Radio (Sirius) for Xmas and I'm loving it. Especially channel 126!

- I attended the US-Canada World Juniors Hockey semifinal last night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, and sat in the M&T suite (my firm's bankers) and I have to say that it was one of the best environments I've ever been in, prior to a sporting event. It was unbelievably electric and you could sense that the first goal would be a huge factor in setting the tone to the game. The crowd was a sea of red-clad Canadian fanatics who were as boisterous as any fan base I've ever been around. And I've been to Stanley Cup Finals, a World Series and an NCAA Hoop Final. They completely took over the arena, any attempt to get a USA chant going was completely drowned out by the Can-a-da chant to the same rhythm. Not to mention their boys took it to the red, white and blue all night long. After scoring the first goal three minutes into the game, they never looked back. It was an excellent experience, nonetheless.

- I spent some time studying my last three years of wagering (investing) statistics and found that my average wager increased 34%, my number of wagers was almost cut in half and I found myself in the black for the first time in three years. What do I attribute the positive results to? 1) I found that I had success at certain tracks (Gulfstream, Churchill and Saratoga) that I concentrated on; 2) My bet discipline was much better, as I focused on certain races that I felt confident in betting by taking a stand; 3) I didn't bet every race on the card; 4) I focused on Pick 3's and Pick 4's which focused myself on picking winners and; 5) I took long periods of time off to refresh in January, September and December.

- I've decided my wagering resolutions will be to stick with 2010's strategy and to stay away from tracks I don't normally play, other than a big prep race where I have some knowledge of the horses and trainers. I'm also resolved to have a winning Belmont Stakes Day for a change (haha) and avoid the annual bloodbath.

Ok....Gulfstream starts tomorrow...let's get after it...