Probably because Apple is well known to be anti-gambling!

From the DRF:

All starters were scheduled to carry 126 pounds. But Uptowncharlybrown had lead weights fall out of his saddle pad during the race and he returned with less than the required weight, so Belmont Park stewards disqualified him and placed him last

Plus, the numbers change if you are getting a rebate on your show bet.

I thought the thread on betting as a profession where kentsmith was quite sure that betting on the races couldn\'t ever be profitable long-term was great and the responses showing him why and how playing the races could be profitable were well thought out.

Rebates were mentioned several times and an important factor but something happened to me a couple of weeks ago and I am wondering if anyone else has had this happen.  I currently bet via a US site that rebates between 2% and 11% (depending on track/type of bet).  I have had enough history with them where I am sure, should they care, that they have identified me as a winning player (my return over the last several years, before rebates has varies between 7- 15%).

Anyway, one of the tracks I concentrate on I know very, very well.  It is a small track with limited pools.  What I mean by that is I know pretty much exactly what payoffs to expect based on the results and it is common for there to be very few, sometimes no tickets alive, for example in the pick 3 or pick 5, despite a favorite winning in the sequence combined very playable mid-priced winners.   A couple of weeks ago, after a series of \"upsets,\" I was alive to a single in the last leg of the pick 5.  This horse was not the morning line favorite and wasn\'t the actual favorite at the close of betting.  Before seeing the probable payoffs, I was sure I was going to be the only live ticket.  However, instead of getting \"x\" for a payoff, I was getting \"1/3x\" as there were two other live tickets to my horse in addition to mine.  There were no other live tickets to any other horses in the race.  I was stunned.  It made no sense to me and if you saw the prior pick 3 payoffs during this pick 5 sequence and the winning horses race by race, you would probably also be stunned.

Obviously I know that some fluke could have happened, someone played their numbers, or liked the names, or who knows.  But another thought I had, was, what if the betting site I was using identified winning players and \"piggybacked\" onto those players and basically duplicated the bets made by that player?  I am sure, in the past, many a bookie made a living by booking the action of the guys/gals that lost, but layed off the action of the few that won.

So now, in the age of computer betting, why wouldn\'t those companies do the same or am I just paraniod?

According to an article at the bloodhorse.com here is what Lava Man\'s treatment consisted of:

\"Lava Man's recovery treatment at the Alamo Pintado Equine Clinic in Los Olivos was multi-faceted. It consisted of surgery to remove fragments in his ankles; five separate stem cell treatments that started about a year ago and ended in September; arthroscopic evaluation of both fetlock joints; chip fracture removal of the left front ankle, and cartilage scoring evaluation. He also was treated with bone marrow injections to help in the revitalization of cartilage.\"

Some names I have given horses:

The Dude Abides (after The Big Lebowski)
I\'m Not Dead Yet (after Monty Python and the Holy Grail)
Ogieogilthorpe (After slap shot)

I asked some DRF people about publishing the stewards rulings -- the stopped about ten years ago or so, I was told the racetracks didn\'t want it published, so the drf stopped publishing them.  Of course, if you go to the commission office, they are usually posted on a board.

I have a box at Santa Anita for both Breeders Cup days, the box is #516, located about 7-10 yards just before the finish line.  It seats six, but I am using only three seats.  Great seats!  The face value of the tickets for each day is $410 per ticket.  If you are interested in one, two or all three tickets for one or both days, please let me know.  I will look at all offers for the seats.  

You can view the location of the box at the link below, click the green box parallel to the finish line and scroll to box 516.

http://sa1.seatadvisor.com/sabo/servlets/SeriesSeatMap?selectedSeriesId=35053&numTickets=2&scaleIndex=2&action=new&useFilteredPriceScales=1&init=true#

Thanks, John (stormyraystomper@msn.com)