Betting the horses

Will note that a horse that runs as bizarrely-outstanding a race as a 2-year-old as War Pass did in the Juvenile may take a long, LONG time to fully recover from that exertion. Wood will be very interesting.

 

Saratoga is one place I really want to visit. I've heard it's one hell of a six week party.

 

Don't go, the first week. All the local politicians come out and preen.

Don't go after the Travers. After the Travers, everyone's bummed about having to go home -- or eager to get out of town, out of sheer exhaustion.

The middle four weeks . . . the basis of that "exhaustion" . . . are the delight.

 

I've been making a weekly pilgrimage to Saratoga for about 20 years; wouldn't miss it for anything. Never been to DelMar; I gotta do that before I get too old.

I second the recommendation to get the Daily Racing Form. It'll take some time to figure out all that mumbo-jumbo, but all the winning information is there; you just have to find it.

 

I've lost a bit of money through TVG's online service. They also have a tutorial for those who want to learn how to bet without losing their lunch money.

 

Ben: I ALWAYS go to Saratoga after Travers Day, which is to be avoided AT ALL COSTS. It's a madhouse in every respect; you can't move and the lines are endless.

After Travers Day, the pace is wonderful.

 

Wholly agree about avoiding Travers DAY. Even if you're a mucky-muck, the crowd's insane. It's like Monmouth on Haskell Day . . . not worth the trouble.
The Derby . . . aaah . . . another story.

 

I went to Saratoga on the last weekend, last year, which is something I virtually never do. Did it, and remembered why. There's a sadness about the place.
It was like Sunday night for a kid in grade school . . . death, staring you in the face.

 

You snobs. Here's a toast to the broken-down, grim industrial tracks of the Northeast, where I learned the game. Here's to Delaware Park (not a dump, BTW), Pimlico, the Big A, the late, grear Bowie, and yes, Suffolk Downs.
Is CharlesTown still running? My great-uncles took me there when I was six.

 

Woodbine opens today and I'll usually get out there once or twice in the summer to drink beer in the sun and drop $100. Great times.

My brother is a hardcore track guy. He used to pick Woodbine races for some online tout sheet and I know he has done some stuff for the Racing Form. He works at his handicapping. He can read the ink off a racing form and he tapes the races every day and makes notes about the horses, jocks etc. for future reference. He'll do all right at the end of the year but he treats it like a job. He scoffs at guys like me who glance at the form and run off to bet 20 minutes before post time.