That was TGAB\'s familiar battle cry after the Spa\'s 8th race yesterday as Sandyinthesun nosed out Lure of the South paying $49.20 & keying a $ 705 exacta.
The mantra was repeated again and again as he paced and chanted \" I did a Benewitz.\" For those of us who know and love TGAB it\'s an all too familiar cry as he is the undisputed king of picking BOMBS and not betting them.
I missed the seminar and arrived at the track just after the 1st race searching for Uncle Bill Spillane and the T-graph table on the carousel\'s first floor. Bill was unable to grab a table in the morning and the crew was scattered. I was in the midst of texting Alan when he walked right by me and after hello we procured a garbage can, opened up the books and proceeded with a race by race discussion of our opinions.
Alan mentioned that he really only liked 2 horses in the 8th race, the above mentioned exacta and I a made a notation on my program next to the 3 & 4. He elaborated that Sandyinthesun would remain a great price as Robbie Davis as a trainer does not get bet at all.
We grabbed a couple of the red seats in the carousel\'s simulcast area, Bill and Rocky (mathcapper) came by along with Bobby G. and after a bit of maneuvering we had a line of 6 seats. Hardly the comfort of the Carolina BBQ or even this year\'s version of a table for a base but we had a meeting point and a needed Saturday seat.
I proceeded to celebrate my 55th Birthday by going O for the day not discriminating as it was 0 for 9 at the Spa and 0 for 4 at Arlington with the distinction of starting horizontals in the Spa\'s 3rd through 8th without catching the first leg in 6 straight. OUCHIE !!!!!
Normally I would whine about my tough beat in the Arlington 6th but compared to Alan giving out a $ 49 horse and $700 exacta at the seminar and not betting it my beat wasn\'t sooooo bad. On top of the 4/3 exacta the 3rd and 4th finisher were the logical first 2 betting choices for a $ 3500 tri and a $ 9700 super. YUP HE DID A BENEWITZ.
In the spirit of my friend Julian whom all of us are missing at the Spa this year I came up with a subtle forward moving pattern in the Arlington 6th on a 30/1 shot, the 9 horse and played it as he would have with his patented 2nd exacta as he calls it. There were 2 fast horses in the race the 4 and 10 so exacta\'s were made back and forth with the 9 and tri\'s of 4,10 / 9 / ALL and 4,10 / ALL / 9.
The 4 won for fun at 6/1 and in a 3 way nose nose photo the 9 finished 4th.
A tough beat for sure but not a \" Benewitz.\"
A very legitimate DQ in the Arlington Million and as usual per this meet the Chad Brown charge was touted all over the track that he was a monster and they thought he would win the big race. Although one would have gone totally broke at this meet as the Brown boy\'s and the public seem to love everything he puts on the race track.
The Sword Dancer saw Optimizer finally have enough after not missing a dance in over a year, a surprisingly dull effort from Boisterous and a Ramsey/Brown Kitten swoop the group. Quite a day for that crew to say the least.
The Princess was very impressive in the Alabama although not in with too much competition sitting a rail trip to the final turn then just coming out and winning as easy as she pleased.
An O FER on my Birthday, although I did get the perfect gift of a nice voucher from my friend \" what else would you get the guy who has everything\"as she proceeded to hit the 7th race triple for $600 and flat bet the winners of 9,11 & 12 which resulted in a $ 443 pick 4 with the Princess!!!!! I guess I should have let her bet for me with that voucher!!!!
Good luck,
Frank D.