Linda's in. Orbs is out.

[Mall]

Heartfelt congrats to Linda on qualifying for the NHC. Looks like you beat your friend Judy to the punch this yr, & that the boys will be facing another formidable distaffer next Jan.

It\'s always sad when racing loses a devoted fan, especially one as humble & unassuming as Orbs, who was not the kind of guy to pontificate on this Bd re his theory of photography handicapping, the practice of which has me wondering what will become of his extensive collection of photographs of the old Longacres\' toteboard.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002339399_weborbs17.html

[TGJB]

Richie-- it was the roaches that ruined my golf swing. Fortunately, one of the cats is now taking an interest, but I fear it\'s too late.

Mall-- how do you find this stuff. Yeah, that\'s a different take on handicapping.

Congratulations to Linda, double if she\'s one of ours.

[jbelfior]

I\'m still looking for that camera from the TWILIGHT ZONE; you know...the one that took and developed a picture of an event that would happen in 5 minutes.

Got to love Rod Serling, who I think liked to bet a few nickels on the ponies. For those of you that are not Twilight Zone fans or have never seen the episode,Serling takes the camera story to, of course, the racetrack. You can probably figure out the rest,including the greed part.


Good Luck,
Joe B.    

[Mall]

Not sure if Linda\'s eligible for a double yet, although I\'m pretty sure she & Judy signed up for something with your man Bill not long ago. Judy,btw,told me recently that she hasn\'t used the other guy\'s product for two yrs or more. Her current focus is finding longshots based on breeding, which is how she hit a cap horse in the last race, & won the RD contest & $10k last yr. She\'s well aware of the difference between the two when it comes to finding that kind of horse.

That twilight zone episode, jbelfior, is exactly what came to my mind when I read Orbs\' obit, & there were more than a few people at the regular Wed CD contest today who thought I used one of those cameras to come up with the 40-1 winner of the 6th. It was enough to qualify me for their big July 7 contest, & erase the memory of having the winner of the last & missing by a measly 60 cents when I attended for the 1st time a week ago. CD\'s last Wed contest is on the 29th, & I\'d be more than willing to explain the drill(there\'s nothing on their site) to anyone who\'s thinking about going. You can\'t beat the price, especially if you\'re a TSC member, & it can really be a lot of fun....sometimes.

P.S. For those of you who recall the descendant of Jimmy Winkfield I mentioned previously, he was there today as well, & after sweating out the last hung on to become the final qualifier. My palms are still a little red from the high fives.          

[bdhsheets]

Mall:

Would you mind describing the parameters involved with their contest? Thinking seriously of making the trip.

Nice pick with Letsrunfellows [40-1], 3rd or 4th fastest horse, forward moving pattern [never gone back to boot!]. She didn\'t look bad in the pp\'s either [the M10k at Indy Downs didn\'t inspire the public]

Thanks!

[Linda]

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.

[Mall]

It\'s basically a \"satellite\" contest, consisting of imaginary $2 win/place bets, which don\'t have to be on the same horse, on CD live races 3 through 8. Both weeks I was there approx 225 contestants entered, & you qualify for the July 7 contest if you\'re in 15th or better when the dust settles. It\'s $25 per entry with a three entry max & a $5 per entry discount if you\'re a member of the Twin Spires Club, although you can circumvent the max by bringing someone along. In addition to the contest, your entry fee buys you lunch & a drf.

As of next Wed there will have been 8 of the Wed contests so, depending on the number of ties for 15th, there should be approx 120-50 in the July 7 contest, which offers 2 qualifying spots & $10k. According to the guys who ran the contest last week, the winner of the July 7 contest is eligible for the $1 million bonus, though after looking at their site that\'s something that needs to be double checked. Under the CD rules, one becomes eligible for the bonus by winning a CD contest, even if the winner has already qualified at another track, which would make the July 7 contest a good percentage play, relatively speaking. My best guess is that it is going to be extremely difficult to win one of the other contests which make one eligible for the bonus. The 1st was last week at Hol, where they were expecting a 1000 or more to enter. Next up is Hoosier, which doesn\'t have any limit on either the number of people who can enter or the number of entries each person can buy, so my best guess is that there will be more than 1000 entries there, making it a cross between an internet contest & a bingo game, imo.

Let me know if you decide to make the trip, as there\'s a 50-50 chance I\'ll be able to convince someone to tag along & act as my \"beard.\" If nothing else, we should be able to have a few laughs.