The weekend of racing or no racing has passed, and glad to see the sweltering heat leave us behind. For me the race of the weekend was, It’s Tricky winning the TVG Coaching Club American Oaks. She has shown us in two consecutive races that she is one tough horse. In the Acorn, she beat the favorite Turbulent Descent and then Saturday knocked off another highly regarded filly, Plum Pretty. What makes these races exceptional for It’s Tricky, is that her competition had no excuses. They both tackled her down the stretch and she beat them back each time. The Alabama is next, and she has to be taken seriously this time. The Alabama could end up being the race of the year if all the fillies come. Right now the lineup is It’s Tricky, Zazu, St. John’s River, Inglorious, Royal Delta, Plum Pretty and Kinda of Spicy. I would like to see some of the sharp west coast fillies head to Saratoga, but thinking most will stay home. If you missed the CCA Oaks or the Acorn I have them below, and yes I’m a huge It’s Tricky fan.
A quick recap of the Survival At The Shore tournament at Monmouth Park. The track postponed Friday’s card till Monday (yesterday), cancelled Saturday’s card entirely. So there were only two days for the tournament. Sunday finished with one winner, Pinch Pie and on Monday, a second with Pasta Lover and Omega Mine came in third. Then on Sunday I participated in the NHC Summer Challenge, 1300+ participants and a 10 race card. The tracks composed of Woodbine, Saratoga, Monmouth and finished at Del Mar. Good races chosen by the organizers and felt my handicapping was much better than the last BC Qualifier. What you learn if you handicap long enough is how humbling this sport can be. First seven races I was shut out, and sitting like 1200 and something. The only saving grace was that they ranked us zeros alphabetically and saved me further humiliation.
Then Del Mar, where the turf meets the surf, back to one of my home tracks. 6th race Maiden Claiming, my selection Basic Logic goes off at 10-1, the longest play of my entire card. Like my dad said, the “early foot” wins more than their fair and Basic Logic goes wire to wire and brings home a nice $32.40 (Win-Place). Finally, a breakthrough! I knew the leaders would try to ride it through for the three qualify spots, so I expected to move into the top 500. No, my new best friend, Basic Logic shot me to 319 spot, and then looking at the leaders it would take more than one “balloon” to get me there. Two races to go and the next up was the Californian Dreamin Handicap with Tamarack Smarty the favorite. I had Norvsky picked and thought maybe a decent price would get me up the food chain. He did win but got knocked down on the tote a bit too much and ended up with an $8.40 ticket. I moved up to 295th position.
One race to go and sitting at $40.40 with the top three at $70. The last race was the San Clemente, Sarah’s Secret was undefeated and looked ready to take make it five in a row. I liked Mizdirection , but she would be bet down as the second favorite. The only other horse I considered was Up In Time, and it was an instinct play but my over analysis said next time not here. They cap the tournament at 20-1 so odds of me scoring with a bomber were not there. I stayed with Mizdirection and she finished second to …. You know who? Up In Time! Up In Time paid $35.00, which would have given me a $75.40 day, but not enough to qualify (but a top 10). With Mizdirection’s second money of $4.20, I finished the day at $44.60 and 275 out of over 1300. What blew me away is that the top three on the leader board got knocked out on that last race. So congrats to the folks that took Up In Time and copped those precious seats in Las Vegas.
