It was an interesting night of racing at Churchill Saturday Night. I played the final four races on the card and no favorites got the win in Races 8-11. My picks, though, didn't do too badly. I gave you 18 horses to consider and out of those, I had three winners, four places and four shows. That's a 61% "in the money" percentage. When you figure there were 12 "payable spots" available and I hit 11 of them, that's a not-too-shabby 92% success rate.
Let's take a look:
RACE 8 -- MALLOY surprised the field at 10-1 and got the win with Adam Beschizza on board. I gave you that one, as well as FABRICATE for show. This was a nice trifecta if you could come up with the place finisher (I couldn't) in Sianara. paying $1620.00 on the .50 cent attempt. I did lose ALTERED SHOT to a scratch as part of my original picks and CODE NAME KATE, who was my fill-in, never fired at all.
RACE 9 -- The Mint Julep Stakes also went the way of a longshot with 12-1 MINTD surprising the rest in the turf stretch. My pick (and the huge favorite) JULIET FOXTROT faded to second and another one I liked, in SHESONTHEWARPATH, gathered the show money. Another awesome trifecta payout in $77.65. It's interesting to note tht the two from overseas -- MINTD (Ireland) and JULIET FOXTROT (Great Britian) finished 1-2 on the Churchill grass. Seeing two of my picks scratch in CRYSTAL BALL and SISTER HANAN was disappointing.
RACE 10 -- MR TIP (4-1) proved to be the best here, Tyler Gaffalione teaming up with trainer Michael Maker to get it done. I gave out that one, as well as place horse WINTER POLL and third place runner HANDY. Another big favorite, in SOTHERN PASSAGE, missed the board. The trifecta was $69.40 and the Pick 3 returned a very nice $504.25.
RACE 11 -- A slight surprise in seeing my "also watch" pick SEMBLE JUSTE get the win at 9/2 for Brian Hernandez, Jr.. but I felt I had to include her. I also had second place (and favorite) with SMITH'S POINT and BOLD TACTICS in the show spot. A trifecta worth $31. a Pick 3 that returned $241.50 and a Pick 4 worth $2852.
I altered my original plans to chase the Pick 4 (I wouldn't have had it, unfortunately) and tried four "rolling" trifecta boxes. That $120 layout ($30 per race) returned me $100, so I ended up losing a "Jackson" on the sequence.
I did get lucky earlier in the card with a win/place bet in the first race on Brian Hernandez, Jr and CLIMB AND MAINTAIN at 6-1 odds, so I did end up slightly ahead on the evening. A tip to remember -- trainer Kenny McPeek does pretty good with maiden sprinters and having BJ Jr in the saddle helps.
We'll give it a "go" next week -- probably Churchill again, but you'll have to check back to see if I stay in Kentucky or go wandering with my handicapping.
paulie
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