I know this is flippant, but I went to bed liking 2 Goes the Clown (10-1) in the Churchill finale Saturday, and you go and mention \"Clown\" or \"Clowns\" a buncha times here.

Is that a nudge, or what?.......lol

Hello Silver,

I know stats can be useful. I have never embraced them, but know they have a place in the equation.

I also don\'t have a great memory, and am too lazy to do research. But didn\'t Six Perfections and Karakontie win from post 13? Must have been elsewhere, but still.......

I\'m not speaking to the chances of anyone specific running this weekend.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I feed off other opinions. I like 3 Goal Oriented (6-1) and hope the ML is off. He has lost 3 times in a row for Flavien and Irad. I hope for longer odds.
Of course the sire is a hook, as are his numbers. Family of Lady Eli and going farther back, Blushing Groom. If there are negatives, please tell me.

Hello Silver,

I wanted to know why Mystik Dan is going in the Mile instead of the Classic.

Sorry if this has been sorted out before. I can\'t keep up with everything.

I have no patience or discipline. Before I retired I mostly played once a week. You think I\'m gonna sit there and watch on my day to play (lol)?

It hasn\'t improved much these days, especially where I live. Entertainment options are limited. So I play and play.

The reason the Rainbow Six keeps carrying over is that it is in the Jackpot format. The pool carries unless a single ticket cashes. In SoCal, you could not have a more ridiculous premise. I\'m glad they changed it, but I already left.

How about Nash (6-1) in the Vosburgh? I notice history repeated in that he was compromised at the start again - both Toga starts. I speculate sometimes if a horse\'s memory can recall a bad event at a certain place. I\'ll say this - he took a lot of dirt last time. Prat is hitting .600 for Brad at the Big A in recent past. How\'s that for good?

Hello Silver

I have been playing for over 50 years. I\'m sure I\'m down many thousands of dollars over the years. I don\'t have regrets except for my reluctance to change what wasn\'t working. I remember clearly when rolling pick threes came to AP. Unfortunately, I had a tremendous day not long afterwards, and thought this would continue. What a mistake.
Don\'t get me wrong, some of my best scores have been horizontal. I bought furniture for my house thanks to a day at the Kee fall meet 1998.

But those kind of scores are rare. My favorite line ever was uttered by a P6 winner. He said \"It couldn\'t have rained on a drier crop.\" Can you relate? I can.

I may have finally learned my lesson - the right one. Vertical betting. Have you ever started a horizontal with a nice price only to see it die on the vine later? Didn\'t score on that good opinion? That is/was me.

That won\'t happen again. I hardly play horizontal beyond doubles. If I must, I place a $10 limit on such wagers. It is a defensive position that allows the \"lightning strikes\" possibility. I recently cashed 5/6 on a $3 ticket at NYRA. It paid $12k with the one I missed. I do not say \"what if\".

My conversion has been recent, and not without loss lessons. But these days I can play a race for $6 with a chance to get 20-1 or better every time. Few supers pay less than $10 for a dime. That is 100-1. Of course I\'m not playing it straight, but I can find a key. Early results are promising.

Think about it. The game is full of players who do well hitting at 20%. I\'m talking about jockeys/trainers, but you could apply the same logic to baseball, etc.... What are the chances a batter will get five straight hits? Not very good. When you start spreading you risk playing \"not to lose\" instead of going for the win. It is so great after a race that doesn\'t go your (my) way to simply turn the page and start it all again instead of trying to begin another PickN that is subject to the randomness and misreads that will always be part of the game.
Rich C recently made a key point - \"How good are you?\" Know your limits.

Silver,

I hope this is your audition to \"The Onion\" newspaper. I\'ve always pooh-poohed the \"end of racing\" stuff, but this is really warped.

Brings to mind the old - \"Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?\" line.

Hello Fairmount,

Good information on the family. I regularly do this type of research, time permitting. I also note TG has family performance numbers when possible.

At one point maybe 2 years ago it occurred to me that the fly in the ointment is the trainer variable. It is rare to find all the siblings going to the same conditioner. To quote Tom Ainslie - \"Training beats breeding\". This goes against the \"controlled environment\" that research values.

I think the kind of information you researched is useful. I only wanted to point out this (training) factor that I didn\'t take into account for a long time.

Silver,

Too few people put their opinions out there, for whatever reason. I think a lot of people don\'t have the nuts.
I like seeing your point of view, and if I don\'t agree, or see something not discussed - I\'ll likely respond. You will see me do it over there sometimes.

When I do a race rundown, the disappointing thing to me is not the result (win or lose) - it is the lack of comment prior to the running. How can people have nothing to say? I don\'t get it.

Yeah - I blew that one. Thanks Jerry.

Having a command of language is important. So is spelling, lol.

Thanks for addressing my question. A thumb race, that earlier CD affair.

I\'m not so inclined to use the digit with colts. More likely with distaffers.

You eschew confidence, as opposed to doubt, the bane of crushing a race. Good on you.

I heard Mercante will scratch, and that is a pace factor. I have been critical of OXO, mostly because of some suspect buys - but at some point you must acknowledge success. It looks like Instagrand has a chance as a sire. I\'m hoping there is enough pace for Irad to run them down on Event Detail (8-1). He really had no chance the way the last race was run.

Will Walden has emerged as a trainer to be reckoned with, just as his Dad was. I\'m wondering if he can get two stakes wins on the card. That OXO in the last certainly gets a look. Electric burst to win last race.

Hello Silver,

Fort Washington (6-1) raced one time at CD, a bit over a year ago. It was the first race of 2024, and he never picked up his feet after breaking funny.

Is that a \"thumb\" race in your opinion? He ran super in his next start at Monmouth. It gives me pause when a runner doesn\'t perform on a surface he returns to. I will sometimes employ my thumb. What do you think?

Careful, friend.

While I do not think Mr Carey reads this bb, there are several nefarious characters who might. If they put their heads together, they might figure out who you are. You will certainly lose your rewards card. Groan....

Mediocrity hates criticism. Beware.

Say hello to Skip at the program stand for me. I\'m the guy who gave him all my horsey books before departing last year.

Robertino ran one yesterday at CD. Race 4 ---  Great Escape ran last.

According to the Equineline pace numbers, Citizen Bull was never that fast.

I\'m thinking Brad sends the 8 Gunmetal again, who got caught up in that Swale pace meltdown. Patch might benefit.

My dough is on the Madaket runner, who puts the hood on, but hopefully can rate, as he did when he broke his maiden. He\'s sprint bred under, so maybe that is what he wants. That is my hope.....

I love Bob Baffert......for the record.