Day 40

Best Bet SAVES The Day!

Today brought down the curtain on the racing week and I had six selections on the Gulfstream card.  I had thought the weather was to be clear and sunny, but it was overcast and looked like rain in the morning....I was hoping we were on the turf because my "best" was on the grass in the finale.  As the day started I kept thinking about the ten seconds yesterday and the five close calls that cost me over $200.  Boy, racing is such a game of inches, and it is such a thin line between winning and losing.  I also was hoping for a winning day to make the week a winning week overall.  The first selection was in the second, a 6 1/2 furlong spring for non-winners of two lifetime.  His form was "darkened" but it was clear to me he was a very likely winner.  First he was coming off the claim for Jamie Ness and Midwest Thoroughbreds, a 32% win angle.  Second, if you drew a line through his turf races and synthetic tries you were left with three very strong dirt races, two of which were 70+ on the Beyer scale here.....those kind of numbers would win for fun today.  I was hoping for a bit of a price because his last two races saw him losing by nearly fifty combined lengths.  The crowd wasn't fooled, he was bet down to 6/5 favoritism.  He stalked the pace and then drew off with ease to score by daylight.  I cashed for $11 to start the day! 

In th3rd Dominant Jeannes was my pick from the Jason Servis barn.  He was dropping out of a good second in a Claiming Crown Stakes, and his last three speed figures (88-85-89) would win comfortably.  He dueled through a :44 and 1:09 pace duel and had nothing to offer the off-the-pace winner, but held second as the 6/5 favorite.  In the 4th it was my upset of the day.  Master Achievement was 10/1 in the program and I thought he had a real chance to steal it from post 4.  The jockey did not hustle him out and an outside runner beat him to the front.  All chances of the upset were lost.....pressed the pace to the turn and gave up the ghost, 6th.  I came back in the 6th when we were on the turf with Maiden Special three year-olds.  Javier Castellano rode for Shug McGaughey and was bet down to 5/2, but never was a threat, 6th all the way around the track.  My front-running upset choice scratched out of the 8th and in the 9th my top pick, State Visit had a perfect stalking trip off soft fractions.  But when John Velazquez asked the Juddmonte filly for run she had nothing, fading to fifth.  Finally, the last race of the day, the 11th was a Maiden Claimer for three year olds.  I thought it was a slam dunk with Patsy's Holiday.  This filly had multiple Gulfstream Park 40% Club angles for top trainer Todd Pletcher.  Coming off a 31-60 day break wins at a 45% clip; class droppers, a big 47% - and today's drop from MSW to MC is the most powerful drop for ANY horse in ANY barn.  I also liked that she had not been on the turf yet, though her connections had tried in her first two starts of her sophomore season, but both Fair Ground turf events were rained off.  And even more to my liking was that today Patsy's Holiday made her first start since switching to the Pletcher barn.  It seems like nearly every time this happens the horse runs a career best as though Pletcher wants to make an immediate impression on the connections that they've made a wise choice bringing their runner to him.  As the race started Patsy's Holiday was bet down to 3/2 favoritism.  Castellano tried to send her quickly into a stalking position but was squeezed back and then carried wide into the first turn.  He let four of them go on with it and had dropped into a pocket on the inside down the backstretch.  As they hit the turn he was pinned in by the second choice so Castellano wisely waited for a seam to open.  At about the furlong marker there was an opening and he accelerated to get free, but the runner pressing the leader began to lug out through the lane.  Wisely instead of running free on the outside and being carried wide, he dove between horses and gave Patsy the "GO" signal.  She burst to the front at the 16th pole and seemed on her way to a convincing win, but she seemed to idle instead of picking up steam.  Here came a 6/1 longshot, wide down the stretch.....it was going to be C-L-O-S-E.....PHOTO FINISH!  I thought I'd won by the narrowest of margins live, and in the two slo-mo replays I till thought I'd won.  But on the turf the finish line is partially obstructed by the "Finish" line pole for the main track AND he camera is at an angle.  It's always tough to tell in a photo on the turf.  It took several minutes and finally it was official...... 

How ironic after all the photo finishes yesterday that a photo finish goes my way and gives me a winning day!  My "Prime Time" bet had netted me a return of $50 to make me 2-for-6 on the day (33%) and an eleven dollar profit.  It also made me a winner for the week, see below, WHOOO HOOO!

63 Selections / 18 WINS (33.9%) / ROI = $2.06
($17 profit)