The hits just keep on coming

Here are the results for saturday: http://www.drf.com/drfPDFChartRacesIndexAction.do?TRK=CD&CTY=USA&DATE=20080510&RN=99.



Race one we already covered. Race 2 I have no idea why I didn't like the 1 horse. Looking at him now his credentials leap off the page but my understanding is that the tracks don't allow you to bet after the race is run. He went off as the favorite and with good reason. I attribute it to sloppy handicapping on my part.



Race 3 my pick scratched at the starting gate so we'll never know. I will say that the horse that won, I had thrown out so I would not have had him anyway.



Race 4 I missed the winner. He shows all the signs of a horse that is ready to win and I missed them. Both my picks ran up the track and exhibited characteristics that I normally shy away from in my picks. The lack of recent works by my picks and the stellar work pattern of the winner just compound my frustration. Sloppy work.



Race 5 we came in 3rd by 3/4 of a length. The winner was stepping up in class off a race where he had an easy lead. No recent works or activity in 20 days so we steered clear of him but he proved better than I thought.



Race 6 I couldn't decide between the two and they completed the exacta. Had we boxed it, it would have paid 13.80 for $4. 3to1 is not too bad of a payoff.



Race 7 Fate takes a Hand ran poorly as the 3rd choice at under 3to1. Birbirdistheword ran back to his form from 2 years ago with no works or races in over 3 weeks so this is just one of those races where you scratch your head and press on. It happens.



Overall, handicapping is still sloppy. Finding favorites and second choices is not hard to do. Betting undervalued horses hurts in the long run. Picking winners and putting your money on them are two different things. Need to work on eliminating more losers from our initial handicapping and developing a betting strategy.



In other news, talked to a trainer today and have a meeting set up for next saturday to observe her operation and get a feel for the business. $65/day for training expenses plus monthly vet and farrier bills. She has a close relationship with a local breeder and he regularly supplies her with decent stock in the $20,000-$40,000 range. She says she is happy with him and trusts his operation and product. No guarantees of course.



Until next time, never bet on a three legged horse.

P.S. So I am a dumb ass. Apparently Blogger saved the file as a draft before it crashed.