One thing in your recent post is wrong Mall. The reason I didn\'t see this earlier is because my workload at the office since I got back makes me eligible for a double, or two, or three!  Seriously, thanks to JB and Mall for the congrats and thanks to the author of the ROTW and the posters who have shared insights and helped my handicapping.

I assume that your including the link to an oddball\'s obituary wassn\'t because Orbs\' boss said that his only vice was on pay day \"he\'d blow all his money on women\".  That\'s exactly as it should be, although he should have saved a few shekels to play the ponies.

I would like to know how anyone could confuse me with someone like classhandicapper. I must say I don\'t consider it a compliment. I know I\'m what you guys call a lurker because I haven\'t posted very often. That\'s because I agree with the gentleman who says it would be better if people only posted when they had something interesting to say. The times I did post I thought people agreed with what I had to say. Maybe you guys haven\'t noticed there are some very good trainers jockeys and owners who are women. Does the name Judy Wagner ring a bell with anyone? I know Judy and I think she could handicap the pants off some of the guys who post and post and post and post the same thing over and over again. Others, I\'m not so sure. Intuition is important for handicapping and a lot of you guys should already know to always, and I mean always, trust a woman\'s intuition.

On qualifying for the National Championship and pocketing a nice check at Churchill\'s big contest at the Trackside OTB in Louisville. You deserve to be there Mall, and you know I\'ll be pulling for you to win it all. Good Luck when you get to Las Vegas!

If you can handicap races as good as you handicap the weather, you should have a very good today. I don\'t know if the slop at Big Sandy is unusual enough to slow Smarty down. I\'m reading that there is an 80% chance of light rain, but see no details regarding when it is supposed to arrive. What\'s the latest detailed forcast?

I\'m sorry to be the one to break the news that your question falls below the Mendoza line for handicappers.

I happened to be listening to a horse racing show on a local radio station on the way to CD today, and none other than the one you guys call Ando was a featured guest. He described how he arranged for the racetrack chaplain to administer a special blessing so that Smarty Jones will win the Derby. The people I\'ve talked to say he needs it. Smarty has a skin rash and has sweated profusely ever time he\'s on the track. There\'s also talk that QGR is a head case who quits if he is surrounded by horses. Might be a bit of a problem in a 20 horse field, don\'t you think?

Very nice showings by tgab,tgjb, derby1592,one other regular who I may see later today,and kev,in that order. I\'m impressed by the fact that you all used your regular identities and given my showing am glad I entered under an assumed name. Congratulations to each one of you.

Don\'t underestimate the role of the foreign turf numbers in your sales. I had dinner Friday night in Kentucky with a successful young trainer who has become almost like a son to me since he moved here from England and married someone who was already very close to me. Since he has trained in both places, I asked his advice on which of the two sets of sheets my girlfriend and I that we should rely on, and he said Thorograph\'s read on the foreign horses was much better. He scolded us for also buying a local tip called The Professor, but that\'s another story.

Horses are individuals. It is possible for a trainer to discover a horse\'s \"hole card\" and improve its ability level. It is next to impossible to do so time and time again overnight. Isn\'t it \"objective evidence\" when almost every horse in a large stable improves the same amount at the same time? When most of the horses the trainer gets from other good trainers improve close to this same amount in their first start with him? On Saturday, didn\'t many of these horses back up roughly the same amount, which wasn\'t that far off the improvement this trainer routinely gets in their first start in his barn?

Assuming it\'s done the same way as last yr, it\'s a paramutuel bet which produces ridiculously low payoffs. If I could get Volponi at even money against FC, I\'d feel reasonably confident I could get out for the day no matter how the earlier races went.

I\'m confused. There was an article just before the Derby in the Lexington Herald Leader where Frankel was quoted endorsing Thorograph. If he trains using Ragozin theories, doesn\'t he know from Robes\' Preakness analysis that he is compromising Empire Maker\'s chances by running him in a race less than two weeks before the Belmont? Can\'t he see that Empire Maker would end up running on the same kind of \"short rest\" that Funny Cide and all but two winners of the Preakness has run on in the last twenty or more years? To borrow one of Frankel\'s many inappropriate comments after the Derby and before the Preakness, is it possible that it is Brooklyn Bobby and not Barclay Tagg who is unravelling because of the pressure of training a Triple Crown prospect? Or is there another explanation?

Two year old races are risky. You also cashed on the race because you are a brilliant handicapper. You got a tip once which didn\'t work out. The all button is there if you can\'t make a decision. Who\'s writing your material anyway? BTW, do you think it\'s possible that you completely missed the point of the post you were responding to?

For the love of God, please ignore the surreal ridiculousness and stupidity of Mr. Alesi, as his mood and self-esteem spiral ever downward. This all started many years ago when the people in an adjoining apartment detonated a roach \"bomb\" while little Beau was sleeping next door. An enterprising roach decided to nest in his ear, and I can still remember the screams while the roach was being extracted with a pair of tweezers. Beau has not had a decent night\'s sleep since that fateful day, and I have waged a continuous if unsuccessful war against these vengeful and sinister creatures ever since. So while it may very well be true that Mr. Alesi has a tiny brain, there is an explanation for his conduct and there is no need to continue to dwell on the matter.

The article in the form said it was because of the brothers\' financial situation. It also stated that whoever paid the fee would recieve the additional purse money for a nominated horse for the following year. Using your purse numbers and making an estimate of the additional purses translates into a very large bet at about 9-1 or so on Bonapaw to win.

You mean Oscar is still alive? I thought he bought a first class ticket to the Resurrection. The two brothers who own Bonapaw are trying to convince someone to pay the supplemental fee in exchange for most or all of the purse. I\'m not sure what the odds would be in a match up between Orientate and Bonapaw, but I don\'t think Orientate would have much of a chance.