I'm gonna draw a line through Union Rags' race, for physicality reasons. I dunno what you call that soapy looking foamy crap that horses sometimes get between their hind legs, but I'd not seen it on that horse before and noted it was there today. Often the mere sight of it signals an off race is forthcoming imo.

HC,that is called kidney sweat when they foam like that. I didnt see it myself but i was all over the place today and will trust your eye. It is usually an indication of nervousness from what i have heard about it,but honestly do not know if that is correct 1st hand. I know Shackleford always looked like that in the post parade and had a hell of a mid summer winning the Preakness. I rewatched the race,and still dont like JL's ride at all,and thought he had plenty of opportunity to get UR in a better position plenty earlier in the race.

You have the best horse in the field, you have to put the horse in a position to exert his/her will over it. This was my same arguement about the way he was riden in the Juvenile. It's too late now the Derby's coming up....will be interesting to see where he is set up in the Derby.

Also interested as how this will impact the prices on derby day......Take Charge Indy, with borel aboard? and a Florida Derby win? He's going to go off way to short a price to play. Nice horse but this race set up ideally.

I wonder if people are sweating the Union Rags Future derby bets? (Pool 1/2) he may go off at better odds in the KD.

Half correct, but just w/capt obv types. Wow. The 8 & 9 were indeed a lot faster than everyone else. The 3, who was the reason I woke up at the crack o' dawn and prompted me to try, might still be running as I type this.

Fair Grounds Race 9 $60 win #1 Willyconker at 5/2 or better.

There's not a lot of pace on in this heat. It'll likely be set by #8 Mr. Vegas & while he appears to have a tactical edge he isn't my selection. The 1 should be in 2nd or 3rd and will have to collar the lone frontrunner. For one, I think he's better than his foes. Mr. Commons who he just beat would be 1/5 in this race & Compari would be 1-1. Secondly, note Rosario makes the trip to ride and is up in some allowance race, but none of the other stakes. They're serious about winning.

Santa Anita Race 4 #7 La Mano Nera(Pass today).It's unlikely many will care about a horse running who we should bookmark to win next out, but this is for the few who might. Won a CA-MSW a nose in November at HOL and has been off since, 2 to 3. Comes in with just 6 weekly drills for an open ALW try and turf debut, where he needs to find 3 1/2 length improvement to win. He's probably short. Note the owner trainer and breeder are all Kruljacs. Thinking this is a prep for HOL in a few weeks, more likely in a CA-ALW try. Hoping for a speed and fade. His win is a highly flattered race, where the 2 through 4 finishers all won MSW's next out. If he actually wins today I'll be a little bummed, but I'm taking the stance that he needs one.

Well, Joel had him in a perfect spot tracking the pace. Asked him to run and there was no horse to be found. Tough game.

wow, LA Derby. crazy

I been busy as heck didn't get to play much of the horses. Soooooo sick!! I went 5/6 in the Pick 6 at Gulfstream that paid $791,000. I even had the 70/1 winner in the 2nd leg. I'll post if someone wants to see it. I only spent $75. Damn ohhh so close.

Turns out...someone in Las Vegas hit the ticket on a $2.40 play!

yea i read that article this morning..thats pretty sick

I'd think Take Charge Indy at 20/1 right now is a +EV. Because you have to figure his odds will be MUCH lower on KD day. He will have so much Calvin Borel money and could possibly go off the favorite.

Pretty insane that the 109/1 winner of the LA Derby...won't make it to the Kentucky Derby. He wasn't nominated for the TC and entry's have been closed.

I know i would,your redboarding now...LOL...Yes i am kidding...JO my man you're good...It struck me funny because you showed your tickets for oh $40k,i would say you could tell us your santa,and i would tell my pals tomorrow (yes i used plural we know i only have 1) i have an inside come December.

I didnt have a very good weekend wagering myself. Had El Padrino in the FL Derby (Hope Chromakey got home safe),took a few shots at SA sat eve and only hit the last because there was a horse named He's real quick or some s^!t,and remebered a girlfriend saying that about me before... Believe i was down about $300 for the weekend.

doh, was really looking forward to capping the must-pay gulfstream p6 next weekend.. didn't think there could be a single winning ticket with the pool that big!

I thought the same thing too you'd think more then one person would of hit that. I mean that Pick 6 was TOOOOOO HARD. I myself went 5/6. The 70/1 was a maiden race which everyone spreads deep and he wasn't impossible to play. I went 5 deep that race and did have the 70/1. Was shocked of those odds. The only race I lost was the first race. It was too hard for me to come up with that horse. I had the 7 on my ticket who ran second.

But in reality...the pool is $791,000 with only about $100,000-$200,000 being wagered into it. Of course with $791,000 10 cent Pick 6's it would be hit. But only about $100,000-$200,000 was actually wagered that day.

Just like in poker. It's easy to play when you catch the cards.

Who is your Derby horse?

I am still on the Bodemeister bandwagon. Love his last workout of 6F in 1:10. But allow me to make my main choice after the SA Derby please.

Well i was thinking before the FL Derby that our true derby champion has yet to reveal himself,ofcorse with my Silvio voice ...I with you will reserve judgement till after the SA,and Bluegrass. Right now if i had to be pinned down i would still go UR.

just the SA Derby. Maybe the Wood

Brief TR for Florida Derby:

My father and uncle have been going to Miami for a number of years to stay with my dad's cousin and attend the Florida Derby. Last year I started joining them so this was my second year with them.

We arrived via Jet Blue on Wednesday night around 9:30. I text my cousin to say that we're taxiing to the terminal. He replies "I'm at the Hard Rock". So after we pick up the rental, we go right to the casino. My cousin is probably down $6k playing $500/hand blackjack. He tells us to go to the bar in the high roller lounge and talk to "Big Jim". We oblige.

Four jack on the rocks later and losing $200 at BJ later, we realize it's 4:30AM. Courtesy of my cousin, we get a food comp and wind up eating breakfast. Following my cousin home, he falls asleep at a red light. We eventually get back to his condo when my dad reminds me "we have a tee time at 10AM, you might want to cancel it". Saying "it's 5:30AM, no one's going to be there", I pass out and elect to eat the $100 charge for the unused green fees and wake up around noon. Nursing a hangover, we follow my cousin on his scooter ("you bought a ****ing scooter?!") to the jewish deli/breakfast joint next to Gulfstream park. Unfortunately, this place was REALLY jewish and I couldn't get bacon to make my hangover go away.

As far as tracks go, I've been to Suffolk Downs, Saratoga, and Belmont. Gulfstream is definitely the easiest on the eyes, but there is almost no seating ever since the casino reservation. This presented a problem for us last year since we couldn't even stand around the track for the Derby it was so packed. We wound up watching it from the Irish bar in the complex which defeats THE WHOLE PURPOSE of the trip to Miami. However, I love Gulfstream on non-Derby days. Easy to move around, easy to put a bet in, great weather, good jumbotrons, and the paddock is beautiful.

We eventually make it into Gulfstream around the 4th race. Now, bear in mind, I'm a fan of horse racing first and a handicapper second. What this means is, I generally play every race. In this case, it meant I went on to LOSE every race. Neither my father nor I cashed a ticket the whole afternoon as the trend for the weekend at GP was set: chalk, chalk, chalk.

After the nightcap, we back to the condo and order Papa Johns. Normally I don't mind take out pizza, but this was pretty bad even by chain pizza standards. We eventually head over to the airport to pickup my uncle and wind up drinking wine at the condo until 3AM despite the fact that we're planning on playing golf in the morning.

Next morning we truck over to Hollywood Golf Resort and I proceed to play the worst 16 holes of golf in my life. Yes, 16. Around the 12th hole I got a call from work and yelled at the poor guy who called me. Once we got to the 17th tee, we said "**** it, let's get to gulfstream in time for the late pick 4". Alas, the chalk trend would continue. I hit one exacta for a net profit of $13 on the ticket and a net loss of around $200 on the day. The whole weekend if I had just played Julian Leparoux and Pletcher horses, I would've made out pretty well (Union Rags/El Padrino excluded). We decided to head to the Hard Rock again for dinner and the place is mobbed. I played about 30 minutes of blackjack and thankfully left up about $140.

Derby Day. We head to the jewish deli again around 11AM and get in around 11:45. The place is already starting to fill up. For about the first 3 races I could get out to watch the horses actually cross the finish line, but after that my father and I are relegated to the simulcast area. God only knows where my uncle is since he forgot his cell phone and we lost him within 5 minutes of getting in the park. Again, I lose about $200, but I did cash a ticket when I hit the exacta with Fort Larned breaking the track record for about $70. I had El Padrino heavy in the Derby and he just decided not to show up that day. Union Rags had a lot of traffic down the stretch, but looked like he had a lot in the tank. I'm off UR for the Derby now since in the BC Juvenile and the FD he couldn't handle the traffic and you sure as **** can expect a lot of traffic in a 20 horse field.

Highlights of the day: seeing Awesome Maria, Brilliant Speed, the Derby itself (ldo), Pletcher, Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens, and Boooooorel shocking the world and winning the damn thing.

Lowlights: $3.50 for a bottle of water, 15 minute lines to get a bet in, parents pushing kids around in strollers amongst the mobs (seriously!), my dad getting shoved by an 85 year old guy trying to get a bet in, seeing a couple shoving matches, seeing a horse/rider go down in the 6th, and my uncle trolling us by somehow managing to snag a seat near the finish line the whole freaking day.

We stay for the nightcap and are pleasantly surprised by a free concert by the Gypsy Kings. After that, the place is almost completely cleared out, so we hit up Christina Lee's for expensive chinese food and beautiful views of the track.

My dad wakes up early on Sunday to take my uncle to the airport and after another jewish breakfast, we're at the track again. This time I decide I want to play poker the whole day and my dad decides to play the races. Now, almost EVERY race up to this point was won by the favorite or 5-2 odds or less. Sunday was bombs away and I didn't play a single freaking ticket. After 5 hours of poker, I lost $20 (KK run into AA, open ended straight + 4 flush getting 4-1 = miss, etc etc wah wah wah). I saw the 70-1 come in and the place went nuts. Around 5:30 I rack up, we hit Cadillac Ranch for dinner, and then I'm at the airport back to the grind.

Julian Leparoux aboard Rogue Romance (1st race on Derby Day):


Awesome Maria in the paddock:


Julian Leparoux aboard Fort Larned:


Calvin Borel aboard Take Charge Indy in the post parade:


Julian Leparoux aboard Union Rags in the post parade:


Javier Castellano aboard El Padrino in the post parade:


Degens from Boston (chromakey in the middle). Look for us claiming horses at Suffolk next year....

well done! nice report.

Yeah, minus everything you did, except I also had Papa John's Pizza and it was pretty bad - Balla ITT

All eyes will be on Hansen but, I want to see how Gemologist comes out of this one.

I think the Florida Derby wasn't a disaster for Rags.

Gems and Rags are the two I'm leaning towards.

Chromakey holy cow my man,freaking awesome TR and great add for the thread thanks. That's how to take it to each day...Boston also i would expect nothing less

Hi Kev

Buncha random thoughts...

Chroakey's GP trip has all the elements good and bad of live racing on BIG days. Sounds like they cater to casino gamblers more than horseplayers, which I disagree with. I attended one Breeders' Cup and that was enough. Mandella's at SA.

Not fun: 30 minute waits to bet and cash. Not sitting all day. Jumbotron race watching while wearing useless binocs around my neck.

Fun: Getting paid too much for being occasionally right, but that's kind of a BC constant. Islington in the walking ring & seeing what class looks like in a race horse up close and personal.

The triple crown series to me is more about the prospect of seeing a champion, a legit champion than it is about betting. I root for horses like Point Given or Big Brown. I try and spot the potential before the derby, say for example with Afleet Alex. I'm rooting for Union rags this year.

Just saw HANA's report on takeout ratings and am dismayed that the tracks I bet into are ranked near the bottom of their list. Whatever edge I might have from 13 years of advanced research is being pummelled by the rake. WPS take is still competitive at least.

When I think of myself(reminder: this is a poker website), I think of a character on HBO's luck. It's Jerry, ugh. I can and sometimes do win at the track but often leak on the felt. As a result I've eliminated the cash game from the repetoir & play in these small ball-amateur hour tournaments(right where I belong btw)twice a month. 85 bux. 35-50 players. Finished 3rd the other day. Bubbled more times than I'd care to mention though. Comforting that I'm limiting the leakage to 170 a month max. Two back bubbled in 6th, cuz I hit a pick 5 at ggf that was running during the game & distracting me. -85 on the felt. +673.90 on the tapeta -36 for the wager.

How Cliche hits on some good points. My father always complains when we go to Gulfstream about how the renovations made it terrible for watching horse races. I keep reminding him though that the "track" was built for the other 364 non-Derby days of the year.

I went to the Breeders Cup in 2005 at Belmont and go to Saratoga every summer and those tracks are built for watching racing. The only reason to go on a big race day is to say "I saw XXXX when he was running in person." and to me, this is the reason why I still go to these races and still want to go cross the Triple Crown off my bucket list.

Thanks for the love on the trip report!

I'm bored. late pk4 at CT:

2,7/1-4,6,7,9/2/3,4,9 $21

2/6,9/1,2,4,5/3 $4

$25 total.

alive to the:

3: $77
4: $196
9: $1384

C'mon 9 ball one time...