So How Did We Do?

What a great day of racing. The Breeder's Cup is a special day, and it certainly was one today. The only black mark on an otherwise championship day of racing was the breakdown and euthanization of George Washington in the Classic. GW had no business being involved in that race and while that doesn't guarantee he would not have broken down at another time, this incident should have never occured.

We had a marvelous day at the Happy Gnome, a great bar and grill in downtown St. Paul owned by Nick Miller, younger brother of my partner, David. They have a wonderful function room upstairs and we had a big screen to watch all the action. Thank you David, for organizing, and to Nick, Matt and Rachel for being great hosts.

So how did I do with my picks? Let's take a look!

Juvenille Fillies: Indian Blessing broke on top and carried it wire to wire in a solid performance to score for $5.40 on a win bet.

Juvenille: War Pass domiated and cruised to victory for a $6.40 win. He also topped the trendy pick, Pyro in an exacta ($25.20).

Filly & Mare Turf: I had totally discarded Lahudood under a masterful ride. Passage of Time never got untracked and finished a disappointing 3rd.

Sprint: I thought I was 3 for 4 here with Idiot Proof until Midnight Lute just blew past the field in the stretch and won in a very strong performance. I did have Idiot Proof across the board in this one as he went off at around 6-1.

Mile: I had a tough time picking a single in this one and boxed Excellent Art, Kip Deville Nobiz Like Shobiz in a tri and exacta. The pacesetter Cosmonaut held on for third and disrupted a potentially very nice tri. The exacta did pay $70.80, though.

Distaff: Neither of my choices here was a factor and Ginger Punch wins with a very gutty performance pinned in on the rail.

Turf: I KNEW Dylan Thomas was never going to fire and he didn't. But my choice, defending champion Red Rocks didn't either and lost to a dominating English Channel. I had a RR-EC exacta, but Shamdinan got between 'em, so I settled for a third.

Classic - As I said, this one was too tough for me, so I watched Curlin clinch Horse of Year honors in a masterful performance.

So the final tally was: 1st, 1st, 3rd, exotic only, 2nd, 0, 3rd, pass in the finale. If I was a horse my line would be 6-2-1-2. Not bad at all. I also nailed down two nice exactas. So you would think I had a great day, but I loaded myseld down with pick 3s and too many superfectas to make a go of it. I ended up down $37 when this very well should have been a $200+ day. But I'll learn from this, stay with my formula of wps bets (when the odds dictate all three) and exactas and stay away from overly exotic wagers.

I hope you all had a great day today. There were some awesome performances and they have me already looking ahead to next season's Triple Crown chase.