As per breakfast at the BC, Mott says Sovereignty spiked a fever. On the fence now and may not run. (And if he does, worth noting Mott is 4% at DMR).

That \"crew\" was working Race 5. Sally\'s Got Gold 18-1 loading into the gate. Final odds: 9.9-1.

I am saddened by this news. Bill was soft spoken - a man of few words. I only met him 3 times (once when he came to visit me at Parx for the PA Derby. I apppreciated that) but we chatted on the phone regularly as he was my/our field supervisor. \"Mark, my boy...\" would often be the first words of our chats. I enjoyed working with him, viewing races together and chatting about his broodmares. I appreciated his advice (look for a 3yo in spring to be making his 2nd forward move) and his confidence in my abilty to teach other trackmen and women our \"new\" data entry system a couple of years ago. I will miss his daily reviews of my work, his last review titled \"excellence\".

There is a void now. We have lost a TG legend and he will be sorely missed. It is comforting to read all of the nice things the TG group has said about him here. I offer my heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. RIP Bill.

In April of 1997 while employed as the bugler at Delaware Park, I received a phone call from Alan asking me if I would like to work for TG as a trackman. He’d read the story of my pick 6 score in Andy Beyer’s book “Beyer On Speed” and thought I’d be a good fit for the company. I accepted his offer and this would begin our rather unique 27 year relationship - over the phone. I have met Alan only 2 times: once when he was giving a seminar at Delaware Park and I was his ride to and from the Amtrak station. Another was when I dropped into the office at Varick Street to meet the guys and put faces on the voices I was conversing with.

I did not ever want to get a phone call from Alan. This was laid out in the guiidelines when I was hired and it usually spelled trouble. I had screwed up somehow.  And the times I needed to call the office were just as stressful.  Alan was all business. There was no small talk involved. My calls to the office were usually to let Alan know that he screwed up my paycheck by paying me $100 too much. We would always square up the next week. This happened often enough that he eventually developed a sense of trust in me.

One day in 2016 I found myself in state prison for my landlord’s crime. (This is a story begging for a Hollywood screenwriter). My landlord had set me up by staging a robbery of my home, which led police to his marijuana growing operation in his garage on the property where I was renting a bungalow. The cops found it, contacted him and he said it was mine. I would spend the next 96 hours living my worst nightmare - in prison, blamed for something I did not do. I was 100% sure Alan would fire me. He surely didn’t need this BS going on with an employee he’d only met twice and only dealt with over the phone. But no. Alan did something I don’t think anyone else I have ever known would ever do for me. Alan bailed me out of jail over the internet.

My bail was $25,000 and he had to put up the standard 10%. I got out of prison, got a lawyer, got the charges dropped and I sued the landlord for the max AND got paid. (The SOB had to sell one of his other properties in order to pay me).

 I then sent Alan a check for $3,000. It was the last $3,000 I had in my account. Upon receiving the check, Alan calls me and says “Mark, what’s this?” I replied, “That’s the bail money plus another $500 for helping me out.” He says “Mark, I don’t need the money.” I said “Well, you saved my ass and I wanted to thank you the only way I could.” (BTW, when you get your bail money back, you don’t. You get a percentage - in my case $1500.)

This opened up a new door for the two of us and we subsequently had a few more conversations I would describe as very friendly. There was a change in his demeanor and I liked that.  He told me “this will all be water under the bridge one day and yeah, it sucks, but at least you will have a good story to tell.” We had a few more conversations as his health began to decline and he marveled at the relief he got from medical marijuana. That made me very happy.

I will never forget what Alan did for me and I will always be grateful to him for his kindness and generosity to me at my lowest moment. My deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and the crew at TG. RIP Alan.

Only surprise for me was the figure Beholder got. In a race that contentious, I could not imagine her winning the way she did, let alone getting back to her top which she hadn\'t run in a year......How does Mandella do it??

All but 3 horses (the winner, the last place finisher and the #4 horse) went off at odds higher than the ML, with 2nd place finisher at 27-1 - up from 10-1 ML. I see your point, Miff.

I witnessed the whole thing on TVG. Horse in question (#6) was 30-1 ML opened at 8-5 and finished last. The winner (#5) was the postime favorite and won. Why can\'t this just be a screwup on the part of the bettor (bet the wrong horse and corrected it when he/she found the mistake)??

Now if you want to talk about Mountaineer, that\'s a different story.

PICK 4:

I purchased 3 tickets:

Main ticket: 3-7-9/1-3-7-9/8/ALL - Cost= $66.00

3-Twilight Eclipse; 7-The Fugue; 9- Indy Point/
1-Justin Phillip; 3-Gentlemen\'s Bet; 7- Private Zone; 9- Secret Circle/
8- Wise Dan/
Every Horse in the Breeders\' Cup Classic....

Backup Ticket #1: 7-9/1-3-7-9-12/2-3-4-5/1-6-7-8-9 - cost = $100.00

2nd leg backup horse 12 - Laugh Track
3rd leg horses: 2-Silentio; 3- Silver Max; 4- Obviously; 5- Olympic Glory
last leg (CLassic) horses: 1- Last Gunfighter; 6- Mucho Macho Man;
7- Fort Larned; 8- Palace Malice; 9- Game On Dude.

Backup Ticket #2: 1-2-4-5-6-8-10-11-12/ 1-3-7-9-12/ 8/ 6-7. Cost $45.00

1st leg - every other horse in the race.

So, no matter what happens in the 1st leg, I\'m alive to 4 and 5 horses in the 2nd leg.

Total cost $211.00. Could get interesting as Johnny Velasquez was injured. Might not ride Wise Dan, but if he does, he\'s likely hurting and at a disadvantage.

Tough crowd......

problem seems to have been solved. Thumbs up!

Awfully quiet regarding the NYSRWB\'s \"investigation\".

From DRF:

In hindsight, McGaughey felt the rail post did hurt Orb's chances. Since 1961, there has been only one horse – the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Tabasco Cat in 1994 – to win from the rail.

"When I look at it now, it probably did hurt us because we couldn't get him out," McGaughey said. "I think he probably would have had a little more clear shot than he had today."

Before the draw, Shug on record saying he wanted the 8 post.

After the draw : \"Oh well, we\'ll be alright\".

I think the best horse won, but Castellano moved a bit too soon, cost him 3rd, maybe 2nd.

I opened a twin spires acoount 2 weeks ago so I could enjoy the benefits of wagering from living room downs. Up until about an hour ago, I was quite pleased.