Thank you for scratching and not smoking...

[JohnTChance]

A fortuitous episode:

Two minutes before the final leg of Belmont’s early Pick-5 went off today, NYRA’s John Imbriale announced that the #14 horse, a hopeless 50-1 shot I’d used in my Pick-5 ticket was a late scratch. Those who had the #14 would automatically get that selection switched to the favorite. I already had the favorite among the 4 horses in the final leg of my ticket. And I had the 50-1 bum too.

The favorite won. So I get $1,600+ for that. But I pocket a SECOND $1,600+ because of the 14 scratching to the favorite! Totally found money! I just couldn’t believe the gift. Though I used her, the #14 really had no shot: A second-timer off a 300-day layoff after a DNF debut. She was a total roach. The pick was a dumb total pie-in-the-sky flyer. After putting in my Pick-5 ticket, I regretted using her.

Had she the strength to endure another 100 seconds, enter the starting gate and run her race - probably a poor effort - I would not have doubled up.