Go East Young Man

Tweet So how receptive was New York yesterday when west coast shipper I Want Revenge arrived at the Big A and stole the honors away from the locals [two major NY-breds Mr. Fantasy (3rd) and Haynesfield (6th)]. Based on the pictures I saw at another blog site, didn't look like anyone was there anyway. Smokin' Joe Talamo (sounds good doesn't it?) he of the big dorky grin lost only time yesterday as he flew in from Cali for the Gotham. Revenge, obviously is best served cold on the East Coast based on yesterday's performance. The second horse in as many weeks destined to move up the PDI ladder from last week's #20 ranking. Last week Quality Road came from off the board to cop the 4th spot.

Speakin of Smokin' Joes, I'll point the Wind Gatherer there to pick up some tax-free 'gars on his next WNY jaunt.

Speaking of WG, a few months ago he sent me a text message when my namesake Geno Green was running at the Big A, who I indeed wagered on and he lost badly. This week one of my handicapping pals, Double G, sent me an email notifying me that a horse named Geno was running at the Fair Grounds on Thursday in finale, a 6 furlong maiden claimer for $16K. The exact message was "There is a horse in the last at Fairgrounds Thurs named Geno, but dont (sic) bet him, he does not look good." Of course, this time of year it's easy for me to lose track of time, so I forgot to check the odds or make a hunch bet. Ends up he goes off at 60-1 and finishes third. Needless to say, he's now in my watch list.

Hit 1 of 3 on my Public Handicapper picks yesterday with Einstein ($12.00) in the Big Cap being my only winner to keep the lifetime winnings over the mendoza line. Mr. Fantasy (3rd) and Get Rich Quick (2nd) were my other two selections. I laid off the Kilroe. Not gonna win any contests this way though.

Of course, when going to the windows for the Big Cap yesterday I keyed-boxed Cowboy Cal instead of Einstein in my exacta play with Champs Elysses underneath also...Saratoga Resident Rule #234 "when you have a gut feel, stick with it."

I'm unsure of how I feel about the Bills signing TO yesterday. While he is already creating quite a buzz around Western New York (and Southern Ontario) his impact in the locker room is definitely a concern. However, he should do wonders for Lee Evans who saw double coverage for most of the last two years. Buckle your seat belts, it should be interesting.

Surfing Efficiently

Tweet Handride's post about the TBA homepage got me thinking about my surfing habits when looking for horse racing news and tidbits (horse porn as the Space Gal puts it) and I guess it's pretty similar to most folks. I do head to the homepage to read the TBA blogs first, then usually jog around to Paulick, raceday360, equidaily, and then usually to the Albany Law School Racing and Gaming site (registration required) to see any new articles. This usually saves me from going directly to the Thoroughbred Times, Blood-horse or DRF sites to search around for articles or the like. My favorite mainstream bloggers are Steve Crist (DRF), Vic Zast and John Pricci (Horseracing Insider) and Dick Powell (Handicapping Insights), so I am usually searching for their articles. I use DRF for my horse watches and enter any of the free contests whether it's Equibase, DRF, TVG or BrisNet. The TBA homepage is great because of the Free PP's and looking posts from non-TBA bloggers by just cursing over the blogs to see if any are those I like to read. If there are any sites I am missing that are must-reads, please comment and let me know what I'm missing.

Nice to see I'm not the only racing blogger who follows Top Chef. Of course, I'm already out of our handicapping pool (went with my namesake Eugene, who failed terribly), but the Space Gal has Alan's favorite, Stefan, in the pool and is looking good based on the past two weeks. She only has to survive Hosea and Fabio to scoop a nice sized pot.

We watched Jockeys on Friday night and thought it was pretty well done. There is a lot of reality TV watching at the Space Station (hat tip to TDH for that moniker) and this one is on the rotation for sure. Other than the dubbed calls everyone is chiding, the plot was interesting in both episodes. Hopefully they cool it with the spills (now that they hooked the viewers) in future episodes.

A new Public Handicapper contest period started Saturday and we hit 2 of 4 winners (Look up Player - EquiSpace) resulting in profits of $9.60, and currently sitting chilly in 75th place. We picked Diamond Tycoon ($9.00, Leparoux on the turf) and Cowboy Cal ($8.60, Pletcher/Valesquez) and had the other two winners 2nd (Honest Man) and 3rd (Friesen Fire), so we were sniffin it. We finished the Winter of Discontent period in the black ($9.80), so maybe we can build on that.

I also played a quick Equibase (thanks to Facebook friend Craig Walker) free handicapping contest on 8 races at the Fair Grounds and finished with $38.60 good for 116th out of 1,000 or so, with 2 winners and 2 placers. So, overall not a bad handicapping weekend, trying to stay sharp as the big preps enter the picture over the next three months. Playing a little Aqueduct today, an apprentice rider Amanda Casey had a nice win in the 4th on Ed's Princess....

Have a great week.