Over 34,000 came out on an absolutely beautiful day; 78 degress, low humidity, 2 Grade I stakes and the Arlington Million made for an appetizing menu. Almost as appetizing as the new Carolina BBQ sensation; the pot roast sandwich which has been perfected through taste testing to now include onions and horse radish. A real winner and the deck favorite of the boy\'s and girls that is a must try.
TGJB was primed for the seminar off a new top in the thro graph open on the links the day before. Per moosepalm a very suspicious move up that had Jerry seen in the Jamie Ness barn early that morning?
Yours truly was salvating over 2 very big price ML\'s that ended each pick 4 and could not wait for some verification on his opinions as well as the correct fill in the blanks horses.
Race 1: TGJB\'s opinion here was one that I love and have caught some great verticals on over the years. The 3 favorites were all plays against and the correct combination without them could be rewarding. the 5 & 8 were tosses and the 7 was a use but not on top; the 3,4,9,10 were all discussed and some made the correct combo as it came 9,7,3,5 for a 1300 tri & 3500 super if you got lucky.
Race 2: Described as chaos \" we don\'t know anymore than the public\" was the hosts quote. Lemon Drop Dream was crushed at the windows but thoro graph users also saw that the 8 horse had some strong route numbers on the dam\'s side and had already run a mile on the grass at Ellis Park. 2 numbers to use for the horizontal plays 6/1 & 4/5, the price on the 8 required the phone to be dialed @ $ 15.40 and we just took out 75 % of the pick 4 tickets.
Race 3: Was abysmal with a 17 probably good enoug to win it, why not the Galluscio first timer, why not the other Galluscio horse who flashed some speed, why not all?
Race 4: Was the key to the pick 4 and the day as Violence was the 600,000 Pletcher de jour @ 4/5 and the Lukas horse had run a stake like 7 in his 2 yr old debut was a strong 5/1. Again phones were dialed for win bets, exacta protection was covered and the reality if the Lukas horse knocks off the favorite were in for a big pay day as 2 4/5 shots bounced from a pick 4 doesn\'t leave many slices of the pie to share! Story of the meet as we lead every step of the way but the last 2.
Race 5: Was a wide open affair and when TGJB expressed the same strong opinion on 20/1 ML Moneyinyour Pocket as myself and then richiebee & topcat both rang out as all of our papers had similair 1st Lasix, blinkers, 2nd turf, already run as fast as anyone else in the race notations we knew there were 2 logical conclusions. We either had the perfect storm or this horse was carrying a ridiculous amount of weight! 2,3,& 9 were the must use horses and the savers for the pick 4 as Nelson Avenue went coast to coast and the pick came back 1400 plus. The payout with the 4 was 3500 and if we beat Pletcher in the 4th we get 5000 on the saver and 10k plus on the 4 if he ran. He did not as he took a 3W tour of the Spa @ 9/1.
Race 6: The host said it was a 4 horse race 1,2,7,9 the board concurred as Midwest Thoroughbreds got their first Cox/Ness winner of the meet and the 9,2,7 tri came back $158, those that went 9/1,2,7/1,2,7/ALL were rewarded with a nice super.
No great opinions on the 7th.
Race 8: Strong Impact was given out as the most likey winner of the day and a gut wretching stretch drive to start the pick 4 with a single! The 3,4,&7 were used behind for a $ 48.00 exacta or a 1/ 3,4,7/ All nice triple.
Race 9: What can we say about Brilliant Speed except that I\'m done with him so the rest of \" you\'se guy\'s\" will probably get 10/1 as he runs a new top next out.
He is a bigger tease than Madona, number power, kool aide you all know the drill as most sheet players of either variety were all over him AGAIN.
Point of Entry was a play against as he needed a new top to get into the exacta, he got it. The host gave out 1,8,9, I used them and an all in the pick 4. Don\'t ya just hate going all and a 6/5 shot runs a new top!
Race 10: The Alabama was Grace Hall, Questing & Zo Impressive.Questing ran a monster race in incredible fractions for a mile and a quarter. A simply breath taking performance that made you watch the reply a few times to believe it.
Race 11: Were alive with an 0-2-X, whose getting weight, inside and the fastest horse in the race. I advertised this as a tote bag race; for those unfamiliar I planned on collecting soooo much money when GA Express wrecked this suspect field that I would need to go to the gift shop and buy a Saratoga tote bag to bring it home. My opinion was verified by the host and the Rudy 7 horse was used as a saver. I saved a trip to the gift shop for another day.
At Arlington Bayrir was bet and very impressive in the Secetariat and Silver Max who had won 6 in a row could not stand my weight and run 2nd. An uninspiring Million with 3rd string Euro\'s letting Little Mike walk aroud the grass course.
A push wagering wise for the day, a gorgeous day that saw a host of board posters come out to the new Saratoga destination of the Carolina BBQ. It\'s the Saturday and Sunday place to be for the thoro graph boy\'s as I\'ve heard miff is applying for a kool aide stand license for next year.
It was great to see richiebee, topcat, Michael D, magicnight, rezlegal, moosepalm as well as a host of shy non posters who venture over for the wagering adventures.
Good luck,
Frank D.
