Our single single did not win, our longshot backup ran dead last, and we wound up with only one winner in four. But the giant cloud we laid did have a silver lining.
RACE 8
We advised playing # 4 Night Maneuver (Final Odds 7.30) at any odds above 9-2; hopefully you all heeded that advice, as it would prove to be our only correct call of the day. Note that we weren't the only ones with an eye on this gelding, as Trainer Gary Contessa scooped him up for the $62,500 claiming price.
RACE 9
We went five deep in this one; it wasn't enough; not enough by a neck; as # 5 Noosh's Tale (5.00) couldn't quite get to # 11 Lawyer Jim (25.25). Had this been our only loss it would have been tough to take; but later events would show this to simply be where it all began to unravel.
RACE 10
# 2 Dreaming of Julia (0.20*) slept walked (sleepwalked?) through the Mother Goose Stakes; it's a testament to her overall ability that she was still able to take the Place despite making no real effort to run during most of the event. Since the Todd Pletcher barn isn't known for sending horses out onto the track that aren't in condition to win, it can be presumed that Dreaming of Julia has (at least, for the time being) lost interest in competing.
Congratulations to the connections of # 3 Close Hatches (4.30) and to the filly herself, who put in a fine effort in winning comfortably by over seven lengths. And, for the record, I did throw a literal buck on # 5 Sister Slate (15.70) who showed some early interest, but decided to call it a day long before they came to the wire.
RACE 11
We went three deep in this one, and all three found their way into the Superfecta. Unfortunately, they filled the bottom three slots of the Super; as we did not cover the horse on top, # 6 Sir Leslie (9.90), who passed # 9 Mike and Rob (3.85) in the stretch to win by a neck. For Sir Leslie, this was not just his first Win, but his first in the money finish, in this his eighth career start; a career that included three prior tries on the Belmont turf, along with four previous attempts at this distance (again, without ever finishing better than fourth). Perhaps the difference this time for Sir Leslie was the presence for the first time of Jockey Junior Alvarado; remember we saw this same thing in last Saturday's finale, with Alvarado guiding Song of Aspen (11.60) home to victory.
So in the final tally we had just one winner in four tries; but, if you're only going to have one winner, it's good for it to be the one that you advised everyone to play separately. As for the full winning sequence, those who correctly played 4 / 11 / 3 / 6 were rewarded with a payout of $6,774.50 for every fifty cents that they wagered. May God bless them as they spend their winnings.
Oh well; onto the next race.
Peace and Love,
Jimbo
No comments:
Post a Comment