Betting the horses

Two further track notes. Today is the Grand National. Somebody call Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor and see what horse they like for it.
Second, in all seriousness, a question. Have any of you followers of the sport of kings ever been to the meeting at Ascot? I've always wanted to do that.

 

Is Red Rum still winning the Grand National every year? That always seemed to be the case back in the day when my old man would listen to the BBC call of the race live on his short wave radio.

 

Great thread.

When I was in high school, we probably spent more time at the track outside of school than anywhere else. You could get in the clubhouse for $5, and included was your program, parking (they gave you a voucher even though parking was free anyway), a $2 betting voucher and a $5 coupon for the snack bar. Good deal.

I'm an idiot with the thoroughbreds. I haven't picked a Derby winner since Grindstone (and I backed into that one since he was coupled with Editor's Note). I was always pretty good at the trotters, though.

With harness racing, you HAVE to pay attention to which barns are hot. Driver, post position and class are probably the most important factors, to oversimplify matters for the trotters. Drivers are much more important (IMHO) in harness racing than a jockey on a t-bred. And I'll take Tony Morgan FTW.

Man, back in the day, we'd duck out of school early, drive to the track and bet the afternoon cards from the west coast. Spend the evening watching our money disappear at Northfield (home of the flying turns!), Balmoral, Maywood, The Big M, Northville, Woodbine, HoP, Pompano and then try to win it all back at Cal-Expo or Los Al. Good times.

One time we were there on a simulcast only night. We sat down on the bottom row of seats so we could have some table space away from most of the other degenerates. There were counter seats and tables above where we were sitting, kind of like stadium seating. Anyway, we had finished off a bucket of popcorn and put it on the counter seats next to the clubhouse window in front of us and were wadding up our losers and tossing them in there from a distance of maybe 3 feet. So a few races later, a heavy favorite breaks and it's all long shots in the money. All of a sudden, there was a bunch of groaning and about 50 wadded up tickets came flying into our popcorn bucket from all directions from above. I don't know why, but that still makes me smile.

As far as handicapping goes, his books are a little dated, but I would recommend anything by Andy Beyer. "Picking Winners" is an all-time classic. And though it might be a little dated, it's full of plenty of powerful ideas. Steve Davidowitz wrote a great book years back called "Betting Thoroughbreds" that I found to be excellent, as well. Your mileage may vary. Books are great, but you'll learn much, much more just being around the track or OTB and talking to successful handicappers.

 

$5 on Robby Albarado. That's my gimme bet.

 

No Julie Krone?

 

Julie could have pulled out a tommygun in the stretch at Monmouth, and they wouldn't have disqualified her.

 

The trotters drive me up the fucking wall. Breaking all the time, getting fucked by an outside post. And the faves win an inordinate amount of time.

And I'm convinced that it's so fucking fixed that Don King or Vince McMahon would be ashamed to be involved in it. And this is at Woodbine and Mohawk, where the stakes are high. Some of the smaller tracks around here? Might as well throw your money away.

My old man, a degenerate gambler, would rail about the same thing too but off he'd go to Greenwood, Mohawk or Woodbine to bet the "fucking jugheads" as he called them. "Who cares if it's fixed," he'd say. "There's gotta be a winner."

 

So .. we've got 28 days and a few odd hours until the Derby ... any idle speculation yet?

(I know IJAG likes Denis of Cork for obvious reasons.)

War Pass (Breeder's Juvy), Pyro (La. Derby), Cool Coal Man (Fountain of Youth), El Gato Malo (San Rafael) and Court Vision (Remsen and Iroquois) seem to be among the favorites after winning several of the prep races, and at this moment War Pass and Pyro are 7-1.

[Edit to correct the spelling of IJAG's favorite jock's pony]

 

I think those are obviously the front runners, but I'll feel better about picking any of them after some of these preps.

 

That's what I'd always say when people wondered if jai-alai was fixed.

I'm as likely to be helped if the guy overserves on purpose as I am to be hurt.

 

Wouldn't that just leave him more room at the fence?

 

HOLY CRAP THERE'S A HORSE NAMED SPURRIER IN THE WOOD?

How did I miss this? I'd so put $20 on Spurrier.