Belmont Weekend
Well, everything you are about to read is NOT the way I saw the weekend playing out, but the bottom line is that I will always remember this weekend as the weekend I saw the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years!
June 5
My week started when I spent all day Monday writing up the sensational weekend last weekend when I scored in 20 races overall. By the time I'd finished the journal entry there were entries available for Friday's big card on the Belmont Festival weekend. Kim and I had decided that we'd approach Belmont Day like we had Derby Day - go out for a few early races, have lunch, then come home for the big races. So my plan was to make Friday the big day at the track. By the time Thursday had rolled around I had two full sheets of over forty selections from ten different tracks. But by late Thursday I just had this sense that instead of letting the races come to me I'd made the races fit my desire to bet the races. So by Friday morning I'd made the decision that I would NOT be going to the track and that I would abandon my picks. I told Kim I was playing the Belmont card only. And I have to say in retrospect that was the "best bet" I made on the day! From the first twenty selections I won the first one (paid $3.00) and then lost NINETEEN CONSECUTIVE races! Wise decision to recognize that these were not legitimate bets! I was surprised when I lost five straight to start the day at Belmont, but I kept telling myself that the two races I was most certain about were the final two on the card, the two graded events. In the eighth it was the Grade 2 True North Handicap and I liked Todd Pletcher's lightly raced Rock Fall. I had him when he'd won last time out at Keeneland and today he was making his stakes (and graded stakes) debut. But in spite of facing some veteran runners who were already graded winners, including last-out Grade 1 winner Dad's Caps, I thought he looked much the best. I was surprised that the crowd bet him down to favoritism, but he was easily best.
My week started when I spent all day Monday writing up the sensational weekend last weekend when I scored in 20 races overall. By the time I'd finished the journal entry there were entries available for Friday's big card on the Belmont Festival weekend. Kim and I had decided that we'd approach Belmont Day like we had Derby Day - go out for a few early races, have lunch, then come home for the big races. So my plan was to make Friday the big day at the track. By the time Thursday had rolled around I had two full sheets of over forty selections from ten different tracks. But by late Thursday I just had this sense that instead of letting the races come to me I'd made the races fit my desire to bet the races. So by Friday morning I'd made the decision that I would NOT be going to the track and that I would abandon my picks. I told Kim I was playing the Belmont card only. And I have to say in retrospect that was the "best bet" I made on the day! From the first twenty selections I won the first one (paid $3.00) and then lost NINETEEN CONSECUTIVE races! Wise decision to recognize that these were not legitimate bets! I was surprised when I lost five straight to start the day at Belmont, but I kept telling myself that the two races I was most certain about were the final two on the card, the two graded events. In the eighth it was the Grade 2 True North Handicap and I liked Todd Pletcher's lightly raced Rock Fall. I had him when he'd won last time out at Keeneland and today he was making his stakes (and graded stakes) debut. But in spite of facing some veteran runners who were already graded winners, including last-out Grade 1 winner Dad's Caps, I thought he looked much the best. I was surprised that the crowd bet him down to favoritism, but he was easily best.
I went "prime time" on the bet so the $4.40 pay off returned well over $40. Whooo Hoooo! And now, I thought, the "Bet of the Day" wins in the last pick and it's been a good day. That race was the Grade 2 New York for fillies and mares going a mile and a quarter on the turf. Stephanie's Kitten just laid over the field, so much so that even the DRF handicappers that NEVER take the chalk both agreed she was the clear winner. And coming from off the pace she even had a "rabbit" entry mate in the field to set the table. It looked like a slam dunk with Stephanie's Kitten's LAST THREE figures better than all but one lifetime figure earned in the field. But when the race started I immediately had concerns because the jockey on the so-called pace-setter was setting a moderate or even slow pace and looked to have no intention what-so-ever of setting a fast pace. Instead he looked to be trying to steal the race on the front end. When they hit the far turn Stephanie's Kitten made her move and loomed up four wide into the lane. To be fair, the "A" game from this multiple Grade 1 winner would have blown by even with that pace, but instead she ran evenly to be third while the first-time Euro import scored at a huge price. Disappointment to end the day. But that's ok because "I won" by not going to the races and suffering through a very long day.....not to mention the many more dollars I would have lost.
June 6: Belmont Day
Despite the way Friday's racing went, I was extremely confident that at worst I'd have a good day to write about and at least a break-even day. I told several people that the card looked like three (maybe four) races where the winner was obvious and the rest were toss-up events. But I had a pick in each of the eleven races on the day and I thought at least a couple of my price plays had a chance. Our plan was to arrive at Gulfstream a little after eleven a.m. as the first race - a stakes race at that - had an 11:35 post time. Then at 12:30 we'd have lunch - right after my first "big" bet of the day. And we'd watch my "BET of the DAY" run and head for home about 2 pm. You can say that what I'm about to tell you has absolutely nothing to do with the racing outcomes for the day, but I've been down this road before and sometimes, the "way of life" just is what it is....... We got up and were ready for our morning coffee. Keith has been staying with us for the last few weeks and so Kim's car is always behind mine and we've driven hers except on the weekends. So today I was also looking forward to driving my cool sports car. Get in with our coffee cups, I push the starter button and am greeted with deafening silence. No power, not even a clicking noise. Really? It's not so much the dead battery, it's the whole hassle that's involved. The first thing I thought is that I won't be driving the car to the races and the second thing is that I really don't want to deal with this today. We are already planning to leave here about 10:30 and it's 7:30 already. Give up coffee? Back and forth to the car place, and again to pick it up and still get out to the races on time? And they aren't open tomorrow. Sigh......Just sit back, let it go, it's a big day on the racing scene. So away we went and got to Gulfstream about twenty minutes before post time. Kim did some shopping and I made my bets for the day, including a bet on the Belmont for both my Mom and Brad. I was texting with Brad on the way out (well, actually Kim was doing the physical texting) and he was wanting to just bomb American Pharoah. I told him that he could do what he wanted with his money, but at his current odds of 1/5 I wouldn't be betting a lot of money to win a little. He decided to go with the same as my bet.....$50 to win. So I headed to the television monitors and looked at the Belmont screen. It was the Easy Goer Stakes for 3yo colts. The field of six had an uncoupled entry from the Todd Pletcher barn, but Stanford just towered over this group. He'd been my pick in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and went gate to final photo-finish head bob at 7/1. Today against a small group of listed stakes runners - forget about it! I wasn't surprised when I saw the last flash of odds and he was 2/5, but I was shocked that there were now only three horses in the field! And two of them were Pletcher colts! You can probably guess - I ran second, and both Pletcher horses were beaten by the "other" colt. That, along with the car issue, did not bode well for the day. But I just put it behind me in spite of the "prime time" investment loss. In the second my pick was Wisecracker who was hammered down to 6/5 - faded to sixth. What is going on? Still, no problem, next up is the Grade 2 Woody Stephens for three-year-old colts and my pick was Pletcher's undefeated Competitive Edge. First of all he had been pointed for the Grade 1 Met Mile later on the card against multiple graded stakes winning older horses. But Pletcher opted to take advantage of the opportunity to get one more big win against his own generation before tackling older later in the summer. He had won all four of his races by a combined thirty plus lengths, never been threatened. The only "concern" was that his best figure had been outrun once by two different horses, but those figures seemed like real aberrations compared to the rest of their numbers. The gates sprung open with him a generous 4/5 on the board and he broke a step slowly. Not the best break considering he typically runs near the lead, but he is just so much better than these I had no worries. As they approached the far turn he was in third, but the red flags were up. While the leader's rider sat motionless in the saddle, John Velazquez was already riding Competitive Edge with a sense of urgency to get him moving.....and with no response. Through the lane he just stopped completely and was sixth and last to suffer his first loss. 0-for-4 on the day. OK, now the day is all about saving the Triple Crown with American Pharoah at the end of the day and trying to cash a couple of tickets so it's not a complete wipe out. Kim and I headed to lunch and I was "bothered" but still in good spirits. While eating I watched my pick in the Grade 3 Jaipur run an even sixth at 3/1. Time for the "BET of the Day" - the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps featured Breeders' Cup Champion Untapable. She just towered over these......of the sixty-six career races of the others they had one triple digit Beyer combined, Untapable had run four in her recent past; in Grade 1 starts the field was a combined 2-for-12 and Untapable was a winner of FIVE STRAIGHT Grade 1 races. And today's distance was her favorite with a record of 9/6-1-1. The broke out and there was a leader who was "loose" visually on the lead but she wasn't all alone. On the turn here came Untapable, and I said to Kim as we watched, "that's her move, she's running her race.....we just have to go on by the leader...." but that never happened. The leader opened up and scored by daylight while Untapable was life and death to hold second. Now the day is about the Triple Crown and cashing ANY tickets. Winning or breaking even is not happening. We headed for home. In the sixth I ran 3rd at 4/1; in the 7th I was a big 7/1 in the Grade 1 Acorn. Miss Ella made a menacing move on the turn then weakened to be 7th. In the Just A Game I ran 8th at 3/1. In the Grade 1 Met Mile Breeders' Cup Champion Bayern was a dismal tenth at 7/2. Now it's nearly five pm and I've skidded through nine straight losses. I kept telling myself, it's not about my picks or results that impacts how American Pharoah runs today. But I have to admit to being concerned in that the announcers on the NBC telecast kept reminding everyone that NOT A SINGLE FAVORITE has won a race today!. After the Met Mile it was time for the lone bet I'd made NOT at Belmont. I'd seen Lady Shipman run several weeks ago in a stakes at Pimlico and she was dynamic. She'd faltered in her most recent, but that was graded company going a mile. Today she was back to a listed stakes event and back to sprinting. Looked easily best - but hey, I've said that many times already today. She broke right on top and surprisingly never looked back! I WIN!
The $3.00 payoff means I will cash for $30 when I head back to Gulfstream. Two races left at Belmont, first I have a longshot in the Grade 1 Manhattan on the turf, and that's a good thing considering the way the day's gone. But I had the wrong longshot as I ran 5th at a big 15/1 price with Euro import Magic Artist. Time for the Belmont. Truly the only concern I had about the running of the Belmont was the mile and a half distance. I honestly believed that American Pharoah was going to win, and win with authority. And he looked like the lone speed. Trainer Todd Pletcher had commented several times on camera yesterday and today that his Florida Derby winner Materiality would be near the front early and he expressed specifically that he wanted to make sure that American Pharoah didn't get an easy trip on the front end. But I thought, unless jockey Victor Espinoza tried to sprint with Materiality it wouldn't matter. I was encouraged when Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey said he expected American Pharoah to run a huge race, maybe even a peak effort and wire the field impressively. The crowd roared as they broke out of the gate, and American Pharoah was rocking back as they gates sprung open so he was half a beat slow, but was quickly in front. I could tell that even though Materiality was close on his back hip he wasn't pressing him. I told Kim as they went down the backstretch that the pace was comfortable, not too fast, but not so slow that he was stealing it. But he seemed well in hand. On the far turn Materiality tried to ramp up the pressure and the stalkers began to make their move. But without even being asked American Pharoah not only held his lead, but actually edged away. And then the tell-tale sign. As they were coming out of the far turn Espinoza looked first over his inside shoulder and then over his outside shoulder to see if there was any threat. When your rider looks back you KNOW he's got a ton of horse. Heads turned for home and Frosted - who many "wise guy bettors" liked, accelerated into second, swung off the rail and now had dead aim on the champion. But the lead was a clear length and NOW Espinoza gave the signal and American Pharoah exploded! Even as I watched it and it was going EXACTLY as I thought it would, I was amazed and astounded. At the 16th pole I said out loud, oh my he's really going to do it! The roar of the crowd was something on TV and later the announcers all said they'd never heard such a roar at Belmont. American Pharoah coasted under the line by five and half lengths, the second biggest winning margin of the Belmont ever (behind Secretariat's unbelievable 31 length runaway) and in the second fastest time ever run in the Belmont Stakes. He's truly, THE ONE. The thirty-seven year drought without a Triple Crown is over!
I watched the rest of the telecast and then the hour-long post race telecast. I couldn't get enough of the coverage and just couldn't believe what I'd just seen, finally. As I had said to Kim prior to the race, I thought he'd win so handily and that afterwards everyone would say, what were we ever worried about? And it was exactly that. But from the top of the stretch home it was like it all happened in slow motion and I just couldn't believe that there would not be any surprise spoiling to the happy ending, no he'd won the Triple Crown. And as I told several people subsequently, how cool that this year, this horse wins the Triple Crown and I saw him not once but TWICE LIVE on the road to the Triple Crown and probably will see him a third time when he runs in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Just amazing. What a day it turned out to be. Enjoy the replay below.
June 6: Belmont Day
Despite the way Friday's racing went, I was extremely confident that at worst I'd have a good day to write about and at least a break-even day. I told several people that the card looked like three (maybe four) races where the winner was obvious and the rest were toss-up events. But I had a pick in each of the eleven races on the day and I thought at least a couple of my price plays had a chance. Our plan was to arrive at Gulfstream a little after eleven a.m. as the first race - a stakes race at that - had an 11:35 post time. Then at 12:30 we'd have lunch - right after my first "big" bet of the day. And we'd watch my "BET of the DAY" run and head for home about 2 pm. You can say that what I'm about to tell you has absolutely nothing to do with the racing outcomes for the day, but I've been down this road before and sometimes, the "way of life" just is what it is....... We got up and were ready for our morning coffee. Keith has been staying with us for the last few weeks and so Kim's car is always behind mine and we've driven hers except on the weekends. So today I was also looking forward to driving my cool sports car. Get in with our coffee cups, I push the starter button and am greeted with deafening silence. No power, not even a clicking noise. Really? It's not so much the dead battery, it's the whole hassle that's involved. The first thing I thought is that I won't be driving the car to the races and the second thing is that I really don't want to deal with this today. We are already planning to leave here about 10:30 and it's 7:30 already. Give up coffee? Back and forth to the car place, and again to pick it up and still get out to the races on time? And they aren't open tomorrow. Sigh......Just sit back, let it go, it's a big day on the racing scene. So away we went and got to Gulfstream about twenty minutes before post time. Kim did some shopping and I made my bets for the day, including a bet on the Belmont for both my Mom and Brad. I was texting with Brad on the way out (well, actually Kim was doing the physical texting) and he was wanting to just bomb American Pharoah. I told him that he could do what he wanted with his money, but at his current odds of 1/5 I wouldn't be betting a lot of money to win a little. He decided to go with the same as my bet.....$50 to win. So I headed to the television monitors and looked at the Belmont screen. It was the Easy Goer Stakes for 3yo colts. The field of six had an uncoupled entry from the Todd Pletcher barn, but Stanford just towered over this group. He'd been my pick in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and went gate to final photo-finish head bob at 7/1. Today against a small group of listed stakes runners - forget about it! I wasn't surprised when I saw the last flash of odds and he was 2/5, but I was shocked that there were now only three horses in the field! And two of them were Pletcher colts! You can probably guess - I ran second, and both Pletcher horses were beaten by the "other" colt. That, along with the car issue, did not bode well for the day. But I just put it behind me in spite of the "prime time" investment loss. In the second my pick was Wisecracker who was hammered down to 6/5 - faded to sixth. What is going on? Still, no problem, next up is the Grade 2 Woody Stephens for three-year-old colts and my pick was Pletcher's undefeated Competitive Edge. First of all he had been pointed for the Grade 1 Met Mile later on the card against multiple graded stakes winning older horses. But Pletcher opted to take advantage of the opportunity to get one more big win against his own generation before tackling older later in the summer. He had won all four of his races by a combined thirty plus lengths, never been threatened. The only "concern" was that his best figure had been outrun once by two different horses, but those figures seemed like real aberrations compared to the rest of their numbers. The gates sprung open with him a generous 4/5 on the board and he broke a step slowly. Not the best break considering he typically runs near the lead, but he is just so much better than these I had no worries. As they approached the far turn he was in third, but the red flags were up. While the leader's rider sat motionless in the saddle, John Velazquez was already riding Competitive Edge with a sense of urgency to get him moving.....and with no response. Through the lane he just stopped completely and was sixth and last to suffer his first loss. 0-for-4 on the day. OK, now the day is all about saving the Triple Crown with American Pharoah at the end of the day and trying to cash a couple of tickets so it's not a complete wipe out. Kim and I headed to lunch and I was "bothered" but still in good spirits. While eating I watched my pick in the Grade 3 Jaipur run an even sixth at 3/1. Time for the "BET of the Day" - the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps featured Breeders' Cup Champion Untapable. She just towered over these......of the sixty-six career races of the others they had one triple digit Beyer combined, Untapable had run four in her recent past; in Grade 1 starts the field was a combined 2-for-12 and Untapable was a winner of FIVE STRAIGHT Grade 1 races. And today's distance was her favorite with a record of 9/6-1-1. The broke out and there was a leader who was "loose" visually on the lead but she wasn't all alone. On the turn here came Untapable, and I said to Kim as we watched, "that's her move, she's running her race.....we just have to go on by the leader...." but that never happened. The leader opened up and scored by daylight while Untapable was life and death to hold second. Now the day is about the Triple Crown and cashing ANY tickets. Winning or breaking even is not happening. We headed for home. In the sixth I ran 3rd at 4/1; in the 7th I was a big 7/1 in the Grade 1 Acorn. Miss Ella made a menacing move on the turn then weakened to be 7th. In the Just A Game I ran 8th at 3/1. In the Grade 1 Met Mile Breeders' Cup Champion Bayern was a dismal tenth at 7/2. Now it's nearly five pm and I've skidded through nine straight losses. I kept telling myself, it's not about my picks or results that impacts how American Pharoah runs today. But I have to admit to being concerned in that the announcers on the NBC telecast kept reminding everyone that NOT A SINGLE FAVORITE has won a race today!. After the Met Mile it was time for the lone bet I'd made NOT at Belmont. I'd seen Lady Shipman run several weeks ago in a stakes at Pimlico and she was dynamic. She'd faltered in her most recent, but that was graded company going a mile. Today she was back to a listed stakes event and back to sprinting. Looked easily best - but hey, I've said that many times already today. She broke right on top and surprisingly never looked back! I WIN!
The $3.00 payoff means I will cash for $30 when I head back to Gulfstream. Two races left at Belmont, first I have a longshot in the Grade 1 Manhattan on the turf, and that's a good thing considering the way the day's gone. But I had the wrong longshot as I ran 5th at a big 15/1 price with Euro import Magic Artist. Time for the Belmont. Truly the only concern I had about the running of the Belmont was the mile and a half distance. I honestly believed that American Pharoah was going to win, and win with authority. And he looked like the lone speed. Trainer Todd Pletcher had commented several times on camera yesterday and today that his Florida Derby winner Materiality would be near the front early and he expressed specifically that he wanted to make sure that American Pharoah didn't get an easy trip on the front end. But I thought, unless jockey Victor Espinoza tried to sprint with Materiality it wouldn't matter. I was encouraged when Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey said he expected American Pharoah to run a huge race, maybe even a peak effort and wire the field impressively. The crowd roared as they broke out of the gate, and American Pharoah was rocking back as they gates sprung open so he was half a beat slow, but was quickly in front. I could tell that even though Materiality was close on his back hip he wasn't pressing him. I told Kim as they went down the backstretch that the pace was comfortable, not too fast, but not so slow that he was stealing it. But he seemed well in hand. On the far turn Materiality tried to ramp up the pressure and the stalkers began to make their move. But without even being asked American Pharoah not only held his lead, but actually edged away. And then the tell-tale sign. As they were coming out of the far turn Espinoza looked first over his inside shoulder and then over his outside shoulder to see if there was any threat. When your rider looks back you KNOW he's got a ton of horse. Heads turned for home and Frosted - who many "wise guy bettors" liked, accelerated into second, swung off the rail and now had dead aim on the champion. But the lead was a clear length and NOW Espinoza gave the signal and American Pharoah exploded! Even as I watched it and it was going EXACTLY as I thought it would, I was amazed and astounded. At the 16th pole I said out loud, oh my he's really going to do it! The roar of the crowd was something on TV and later the announcers all said they'd never heard such a roar at Belmont. American Pharoah coasted under the line by five and half lengths, the second biggest winning margin of the Belmont ever (behind Secretariat's unbelievable 31 length runaway) and in the second fastest time ever run in the Belmont Stakes. He's truly, THE ONE. The thirty-seven year drought without a Triple Crown is over! I watched the rest of the telecast and then the hour-long post race telecast. I couldn't get enough of the coverage and just couldn't believe what I'd just seen, finally. As I had said to Kim prior to the race, I thought he'd win so handily and that afterwards everyone would say, what were we ever worried about? And it was exactly that. But from the top of the stretch home it was like it all happened in slow motion and I just couldn't believe that there would not be any surprise spoiling to the happy ending, no he'd won the Triple Crown. And as I told several people subsequently, how cool that this year, this horse wins the Triple Crown and I saw him not once but TWICE LIVE on the road to the Triple Crown and probably will see him a third time when he runs in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Just amazing. What a day it turned out to be. Enjoy the replay below.
2015 Belmont Stakes
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