Day 43

THREE WINS Including the BEST of the DAY!

The highlights of the day came early in the day as I scored with three of my first four selections.  The disappointment came at the end of the day in the last two races as neither of the two added investments could come home to win and give me a profit on the day.  Here's how it played out.......In the opener my top pick won as the favorite, but it was not a race I wanted to bet on.  In the second it was my first bet of the day and I liked Kitchen Police who had been in front after six furlongs at this class level in his last, but weakened in the final sixteenth of the 6 1/2 furlong test to be second.  Since then he had fired a bullet work and with the turn back he looked best to me.  When the betting opened someone had pounded the #5 horse who wasn't even in my top three and made him 1-5, while Kitchen Police was a hugely inflated 10/1!  I could only dream of such a price.  As they went into the gate fifteen minutes later the "educated" bettors had made him the very chalky 3/5 favorite.  He went right to the front and opened up on the turn and drew off with every stride through the lane.  The paltry $3.20 payoff was not a big money-maker for me, but hey..... a win is a win at the always tough Gulfstream meet! 

I came right back in the third with Accelerare in a Maiden Special event for older.  This one was out of the Todd Pletcher barn and had top rider Javier Castellano on board.  He'd finished second and third in his first two starts last summer nearly pairing Beyers (77-76).  The only question today was that his first two starts were both over off-tracks, so how he'd run over a fast strip.  He dueled to the turn, engaged the leader turning for home, but could not get by!  It was one head up and one head down, but I was behind on every jump.  But in the final fifty yards he surged to the wire to WIN!  Unfortunately he too was a short price, leaving the gate at 4/5.  But at least this time I'd doubled the bet and cashed for nearly $20. 

The third was a big disappointment.  Tappintothemusic was trained by Peter Walder and I've scored several times on his horses when they have multiple Gulfstream 40% Club angles and Javier Castellano on board.  That was the case here and he was sent off as the 3/2 favorite.  He was close, but sixth early....through the turn....and faded to a distant sixth on the wire.  Not good.  My pick for the 5th was only if it came off the turf, but bright blue skies and sunny 80 degree temps today, unlike all our friends and family in Louisville where it was snow and ice covered!  The 6th was a pass for me - a maiden claimer on the turf.  My second choice scored at nearly 5/2.  The 7th we were back on the turf and it was my BEST Bet of the day.  Burn The Mortgage had been claimed two back by trainer Michael Maker and he'd put him into a dirt stakes.  No good.....today he was back on the turf where he'd won six times already in his career.  The drop back into claiming company meant that the Gulfstream 40% Club angle was in play.....Maker has won with an amazing 50% of his runners dropping in class over the last two winters. Jockey Javier Castellano had Burn The Mortgage sitting mid-pack through mediocre fractions and I was a tad bit concerned that he'd not have enough pace to close into.  As they approached the far turn he started his run and was inhaling horses.  He was four wide through the turn but had worked his way to third as they hit the top of the lane.  He had a clear path down the middle of the course and it was all over.....accelerated to the wire and was an emphatic winner.  I was surprised he was NOT odds-on and happily cashed for nearly $50 with my "prime time" bet! 

No bet in the 8th.  I was going to close the day with two triple investments.  That would put me behind for the day by a mere $7, so a win in either - and I felt pretty good about both of them.  And I was hopeful that my pick in the 9th, Waterway Run might just be a price.  She was a Euro import for trainer Chad Brown and an owner who'd done this three years running and the filly in each instance turned out to be a multiple stakes winner and ran in the Breeders' Cup - winning one year and taking the Grade 1 Beverly D on Arlington Million Day the other year.  The pace was not especially fast and Waterway was way, WAY back.  She started accelerating at the top of the far turn and was inhaling horses with every stride.  But to get by the entire field and have a clean trip she had to circle the field, going at LEAST EIGHT wide on the turn - see below.  She was gaining on the leader late, but to much ground to make up and way too much lost on the turn.  Sigh......that would have made the day, I would have won over $50 for the day :( 

The finale was a disappointment as multiple turf sprint winner Wire Funds dueled and then gave way late to be fourth.  The first of two big days of stakes action tomorrow......I am very much looking forward to Game On Dude's 2014 debut in the Grade 2 San Antonio at Santa Anita on Saturday's card.