Wise Dan Superfecta

[P-Dub]

I was getting my a$$ throughly handed to me this weekend. Friday I couldn\'t hit a thing until the Goldencents superfecta and tri, which returned about $300 combined. Hit the 7-9 P3 that was ok. Tough beat with Blueskysnrainbows. Had a live p3/4 to Royal Delta and Autheticity that bombed.  Thankfully I was only down around $500 for the day.  Stayed at the Commerce this weekend, and won around $600 playing 20/40 later that evening so that took the sting away of the racetrack losses.  I was feeling pretty good.

Then came Saturday.

There was a big P5 carryover, so I put about $160 into that, only to watch it flame out in the first race. Brilliant.

Race 2: Played the 3/5 in P3s, hoping to beat Flashback at 2/5.  Zeewat wins, and I have the 1,3,6,12 in the middle leg.  Also played DDs keying Zeewat to them.  This go up in flames, as Pontchatrain rolls home as the favorite in Race 3.

Race 4: I go down to the paddock for the Juvenile, and run into Frank Mirahmadi. His buddy owns a piece of Smiling Tiger, expects him to run big. OK, I figure that must be an omen.  I play Smiling Tiger and Rosalind in a decent exacta punch, put them both in a P3/4.  ST wins and gets DQ\'d. Awesome. My wife asked me to play a 4/10 exacta box. One gets DQ\'d, the other one gets put down on the track.

She was done betting after that.
 

On to Race 5, where Marketing Mix is an overlaid 8/1 with Stevens. Sounds good. Win ticket and exacta boxes, extra punch with Alterite. No punch in the lane, runs out.  I did have one P3 ticket with Dank going forward. Yippee.

Race 6 and Groupie Doll looks very solid. So I play Summer Applause, because it makes too  much sense to play the horse thats the most likely winner. I look at my pick sheet, and see Groupie Doll as the only A horse (I usually key these). The other 5 horses I listed underneath help comprise a $2369 super. Nothing like a self inflicted gunshot wound.

Race 7 is the wide open downhill turf sprint. Tightend Touchdown is 18/1 and I make my biggest win bet of the day ($200, a lot for me) on him.  $20 boxed ex with Renee, $10 box with 14, $5 box with 11. Started a P3, played Doubles. I got excited until I see my guy Mike Smith roll by with the favorite Mizdirection.  That one hurt.  

Race 8 whiffed with Mexikoma and assorted tickets with him. More nothingness.

Race 9: No win tickets, just played some P3/4 and watched the 1st Lasix Euro win at 12/1. I agree with PapaChach, I will never omit a Euro horse on the turf again. Ever, I don\'t care what his freaking figures are.

Race 10: I am pitching a shutout. At this point, I\'m embarrassed to tell my wife what horse I\'m playing. She must be thinking.....\"this guy spent several hours last night handicapping, writing down his picks, highlighting stuff, and he hasn\'t cashed one ticket.\"  It didn\'t help that the 4 young guys in front of us were cashing tickets, having a great time.  They had their data, binder clips, pens, all that stuff. She was fully aware of this, and wondering why I can\'t even cash one ticket. Well guess what honey??  Neither the eff can I.

I figured this would be the last, best shot at a decent price.  I really liked Gentleman\'s Bet, and put my second $200 win ticket of the day on him. I again played a $20 box with Laugh Track, $10 with Private Zone, and $5 with Justin Phillips. We all saw what happened, GB cuts the corner, has a couple lengths, Laugh Track comes closing, and the Baffert on 3 weeks rest nails them both. Again, turning for home I really thought that I was finally going to hit something, only to take yet another kick in the teeth.

Race 11, and the 4/5 Wise Dan.  I\'m done banging my head against the wall.  Wise Dan was the A horse, and I only put down 3 other horses on my list.  The 2,3,10. I already missed a nicer Super earlier on Groupie Doll, so I play a simple tri and super ticket. Wise Dan over those 3. Za Aproval and Silentio are long, so I figure its worth a shot.

It comes in and I figure the tri may pay $200 max, the super maybe 3x that. I would still be stuck for the day, but it would lessen the blow. It comes back $1446. I was in utter shock.

Race 12 and I play Last Gunfighter, box with MMM, Fort Larned, and Palace Malice. Didn\'t cash, and didn\'t really care.  Watching one of the greats, giving a classic Stevens ride, win a thrilling photo finish was just an awesome way to end the day. Stevens is just behind Mike Smith on my favorite jockey list (My buddies and I call him G Money), and was happy to see him wrap up his incredible comeback year by winning the biggest race on both days.

Went back to the hotel, had dinner.  I went downstairs to play more 20/40, took a brutal beat on a $1400 pot (Guy hits a miracle gut shot), had to buy another $500, cashed out for $1900 and a $900 win.

Back to the room where I am probably boring some of you with this post. I love Santa Anita and the Breeders\' Cup, live racing and carved sandwiches, cold beer and warm weather, tough beats and thrilling wins on the track and at the table.

I didn\'t throw a fit when I lost a tough race or hand of poker. I am lucky to have the opportunity to do both. Thanks PapaChach for reminding me to keep things in perspective.

Win or lose, I hope you all enjoyed the racing this weekend.

PS: Finally had the chance to meet Jim Covello Friday after his filly ran. What an \"awesome\" guy. Had a nice visit with him and can say that he is truly one of the good guys. Very down to earth, easy to talk to. I come rolling up in shorts and sandals, his group is suited up, and he treats me like one of the fellas. Really happy for your success this weekend Jim, couldn\'t have happened to a nicer guy.