Joey Bianca's 2006 Saratoga Diary
 

Fresh out of the inner city and the concrete jungle that is Brooklyn, New York, our man Joey Bets (AKA 'The Ateam') has been relocated to upstate NY for a six-week excursion at Saratoga Race Course, and will chronicle the experience with words, photographs, and hopefully lots of winning tickets, in what we like to call SARATOGA: DIARY OF A SUMMER.

With a few minor exceptions, Joey's column will be updated daily and posted in the Derby Trail forums. Hope you enjoy..

Steve

Will Ebonics be needed for translation????? JOKING!!!!!!

Introduction to SARATOGA: DIARY OF A SUMMER
 

SARATOGA: DIARY OF A SUMMER [Jul. 25th, 2006|09:14 pm]
Ladies and Gentlemen ... broadcasting to you LIVE from Greenwich, New York, Saratoga: Diary of a Summer commences. We're under sixteen hours from the first race at Saratoga Race Course, and the world of horse racing buzzes like a broken doorbell in anticipation.

I'll be your host, Joseph "Danger" Bianca, AKA the ATEAM from derbytrail.com, and my job this year will be to bring those of you without the privilege of being here at SAR the opportunity to live vicariously through me, "The Celebrity" Steve Byk, Matt (AKA "Hoovsie"), Barry Frey, Sammy "The Enforcer", and many more.

We'll be giving you every detail of the next six weeks, from the racing, to the backstretch schmoozing, to the gambling, to the sandwich making, every excruciating detail that makes Saratoga: Diary of a Summer.

Enjoy..

Here it is

http://summerwithtoga.livejournal.com/


Picked the first race. So far so good.

Day One Recap
 

Tired as **** right now. Wish I had the disk reader for my camera so I could share some of the backstretch shots I got the other day.

Today was reckless man. Nothing like the type of broads you see on opening day at Saratoga. Made some decent money, but a terrible day at the windows. I gave a few winners out on this site (Massoud, Awesome Twist), but had no win money on either. Then needed Mach Three to bail me out at the end of the day and he didn't lift a foot. Nothing like handicapping well and losing money..

Tipsy again.. Matty was making the joke "Every entry on this journal is gonna be 'Got drunk with Hooves today', 'Got drunk with Hooves today' ".. LOL.

Bykster is in the other room handicapping for tomorrow. Sam AKA King of the Nightlife is actually in his bed at 11:04.. ****ing sight to behold man.. He and Pat are scooping up all the prospects and I can't figure it out for the life of me.

Not looking forward to tomorrow. Had some help today and tomorrow will be on my own. Hopefully the crowd isn't as large though.. Gotta prepare for that 12:30-3:30 run.

Ah, the card:

Say Revain looks logical in the 6th.. 7th is wide the **** open.. Scat Daddy is the horse to beat in the 8th, but if he loses, it'll be to anybody except Bagger Vance. Not much info there I guess.. Carlos Martin's assistant says Secret Agent wins the finale. Guess you got singles on the bookends of the late Pick Four. Who knows. Don't have any huge convictions about tomorrow's card.

Big respect to Patrick Biancone for putting Lady of Venice, possibly the best turf filly in the country, in The Diana. Gamesmanship. Something that's been lost in racing the last 10 years. Biancone is my new favorite trainer.

Enjoy Thursday, folks, I gotta get some sleep and make sure Sammy ain't sneaking out on the town without bringing me along.

Day Two at SAR
 

Letdown day at the Spa [Jul. 27th, 2006|09:37 pm]
I'm on my ****ing laptop racing against the clock because this damn battery lasts like 45 minutes if I've been a good boy.

Barry's laundry is taking forever. I gotta dry some **** man, let's go. You wear the same thing every day anyway.

Better day at the windows today, simply because I bailed out on Luzzi's horse in the finale. Was glad Scat Daddy ran down Teuflesberg, because I was considering play 'berg in the double.

SLOW, SLOW, SLOW day. I'm talking Real World: Paris slow. No one made a dime business-wise.

Great scene today after the races. Matt and I see Pletcher coming out of the track alongside us, and I bust out with "T-Pletch! Nice win today BOY!" Hilarious, considering I think everyone else calls him "sir."

Byk is sick. It's because he doesn't eat.

I want some beers, but this lazy dude Hooves won't drive to the store..

****ing unbelievable. I gotta go downstate for my cousin's wedding on Saturday, meaning I have to leave after the races tomorrow and hop a bus or train home. I'm thinking I'll get on the Greyhound because it'll be like $20 whereas the train is $50. ****ing bus is $41.50. Sickening. I gotta drop close to $100 just to hit up this wedding. I don't mean to sound cheap. Later in the meet, money will probably be a little looser, but right now it's in the Vulcan Death Grip.

Hope I hit a Four tomorrow. Card looks unspectacular..

Can't really give out anything. Lake George looks to be between Quite A Bride and Magnificent Song. Gotta find some locks, and it looks like I'll have to break one of the Ten Commandments of Handicapping and single a NY-bred. That's what sucks about playing the NYRA circuit. Gonna have to single some NY-breds, which one should never do while sober and lucid..

Good luck Friday.

This one was weak besides the T-Pletch reference, I like that

These are very funny. Getting better each day.

This was a great read...... can't wait for the next installment. :)

Day Three in the country
 

Sixteenth in [Jul. 28th, 2006|08:16 pm]
Not too enamored with Mr. Derby Trail America right now. Dude barked on me something serious last night over me opening his door and waking him up on my way to the bathroom.

Mind you, this is the same ****ing guy, who, when we stayed together in Louisville, woke me up at 4:30 EVERY ****ING MORNING for two weeks by AK-47'ing his laptop keys non-stop and printing the Thoro-Graph sheets for every horse that's run in the United States since 1971.

Don't get me wrong, I love Steve and consider him one of my close friends, but the hypocrisy of that tirade last night was off the ****ing scale.

Did quite well at my post today thanks to the rain. Made five cheap bets throughout the day, four exacta boxes (three with 2 horses and one with 3) I split with Tommy and two cheap win tickets on Magnificent Song and Quite A Bride. Hit Magnificent Song, who I couldn't belive paid $8.20, and in our exacta boxes, Tommy and I hit the three-horse box, then ran 2-3, 1-3 and 1-3 in our two-horse boxes, respectively. Not too bad.

A prime example of why it sucks to handicap an entire card in one sitting. Last night, by the time Matt and I got to the 7th race, I couldn't figure it out for ****. Today, I take one ****ing 30-second look at the race, say "Owns the Place is gonna be out there by himself," and close the damn Form. Didn't play him though, because I saw how outside horses were running and thought someone still might run him down. On top of that, the horse that beat me and Tommy out of the exacta was a Suffolk shipper I'd talked about with Tom just a bit earlier.

I'll be at the works tomorrow with Matt, so should have some good pictures by Sunday night. Gotta hop a Greyhound at 8:15 AM, get into the city at 12:15 and get into CT by 4:30. The wedding is at 6. Think I'll have a chance to bet tomorrow's card while I'm waiting for the train in the city.

See yous Sunday.

Duuuuuude.....
did you make it ?

Days four-five
 

My last 36 hours [Jul. 30th, 2006|07:16 pm]
Saturday:

6:00 AM - Woke up and had Hooves drive me to the Greyhound stop in 'toga.

7:00 AM - Got dropped off at the stop and proceeded to wait for the bus.

8:25 AM - Bus finally comes and I hop on.

9:15 AM - Bus arrives in Albany. I buy a ticket to the city ($36.50!) and get on another bus.

12:10 PM - Arrive in the city, head to get some food.

12:40 PM - Hit up the most depressing OTB in the entire state in order to make my bets for the day.. This place makes other OTBs look like lavish Vegas casinos.. You could start a new planet with all the different species and creatures found in there. It's like a sick ****ing biology experiment. And the worst part is that it's in an upscale neighborhood, so it makes absolutely no sense for it to be so disgusting.

1:10 PM - Meet up with the folks at Penn Station.

2:00 PM - Board train for New London, CT.

2:15 PM - Brush fire on the tracks is delaying our train.

4:45 PM - We arrive in New London a half-hour late. A friend of the family drives us to her room at the Red Roof Inn, where I change into a suit.

5:30 PM - Arrive at the wedding, get seated, then proceed to wait forever for it to start.

6:30 PM - Ceremony finally begins. Anyone who bet the under on "when Joey's mom starts crying" is cashing heavy right now. She barely got through the doors without starting the faucet. Ceremony lasts about a half-hour, and is very nice. Matt and Jess are officially hitched and I'm really happy for Matt, who has become my favorite cousin.

6:45 PM - The bar opens..

7:15 PM - Three Rum and Cokes later, I'm trying to get my dad to help me figure out which girls aren't my third cousins so that I don't feel guilty ogling them..

8:30 PM - If you ever wanted to see an example of the "white people can't dance" stereotype, this was the place to get that look. It was unbelievable. I don't know what I was expecting out of a bunch of white people from Connecticut, but I was still blown away. I can't hate on them though, since they looked like they were having fun.

10:00 PM - On my seventh Rum and Coke, I'm ready to bounce..

11:00 PM - Up to nine RnCs.. Old man is a little tipsy himself, and we're ready to bounce.

11:25 PM - Board train back for the Apple..

2:00 AM - A few hours of really terrible sleep later, we return to NYC.

3:00 AM - Reach the house, which is such a ****ing tease, because you feel for a second as if you're done with work, then realize, wait, "I have to get up in three hours and go work another five weeks!"

3:30 AM - Pissed off that Corinthian and Lady of Venice let me down, I show my pops what kind of monster Bernardini is on Race Replays.. He's not a racing fan at all, but even he can see how special this colt is. Easily the second best horse I've ever seen, and who knows, maybe he becomes #1.. Pretty pissed that I didn't get to see him in person, then realize I'll probably get to see him when he's 1/20 in the Travers.

4:00 AM - Fall asleep.

6:00 AM - Wake up. ****ing sucks.

7:35 AM - Get on board train for Saratoga Springs..

10:45 AM - Long ass ****ing delay in Albany. As if I'm not late enough..

11:45 AM - Train finally pulls into 'toga Springs a half-hour late. I call Barry to let him know I'm gonna be late today. He's surprisingly understanding.

12:00 PM - Get into a cab to take me to the track. The driver spins around forever looking for this other passenger, whom she finally picks up. This woman starts babbling on about her sponsored daughter in Bolivia. She's got pictures and information and everything. I can't make this **** up.

12:30 PM - Finally at the track, and Barry sends me to Sam's place to work for the day.

It's 10 PM right now, and I'm exhausted.

Hooves' bitch ass was saying how this stuff should have more to do with the horses, but you know what? People go on DT for ONLY horse racing stuff.. There's only so much you can ****ing say. I like to mix in the racing talk with the other **** that occupies my time up here.. It's ****ing SARATOGA: DIARY OF A SUMMER.. Not Talkin' Horses..

But okay..

Tomorrow's card:

The opener is a three-horse affair between the 6, 7 and 8. I like Schosberg's horse in the second, and I love Spring House to pull the upset in the third. Andromeda's Hero and Bank President are the horses to beat in there. Working on the late pick four, which is started by a ****ing impossible NY-bred 2-year-old race.. If you're the NYRA racing secretary, and you have any semblance of a heart, why would you start the Pick Four with some garbage like that? It's disgusting. Songster is a single, the finale is between the 9 and the 10..

The Pletcher baby who won the second today reminded me a lot of English Channel.. Smart Strike chestnut, broke dead last, then rallied to score with a strong run.

If you let your skepticism get in the way of appreciating a horse like Bernardini, just stop watching the races.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback on DT.. See you tomorrow.

Ateam, please keep the commentary on other subjects mixed in with the racing talk! I love it. A) it's some funny sh*t and B) it adds so much to the racing observations. Sometimes I think outsiders' view of racing fans doesn't go much beyond what they hear in "I Got the Horse Right Here" in [i]Guys and Dolls[i] and when I tell non-racing friends how smart and funny and opinionated and just all around good conversationalists the people here are, I see them struggle to believe... yes, horse racing people do think of things besides the morning line...

(Though after all these years with me my husband was very pleased to deduce from the lyrics of the aforementioned song that the horse being sung about was not a "mudder." I don't think he ever used that word before. They're so sweet, the non-racing people...)

Day Six - Lame
 

This is gonna be a lame entry [Aug. 1st, 2006|12:00 am]
Happy August.

Long day today, but I got to meet up with Serling and Sciacca and there wasn't much to do. Got two days off now, and I'm THRILLED.

Horrible day at the windows. Everything I played ran up the track and the one horse I didn't play (the 3 in the 4th) wins and pays $26..

Thought I was gonna bail out for the day after I brought home Court Folly in the first leg of the late double, was five deep into the 9th, and still got beaten. Mikey was right.. The track was absolute death on speed.

Spent.. Absolutely spent.. Tomorrow will be a good entry, I promise.

Joey and hooves are VERY funny guys. Hanging with them is a guranteed laugh. You won't get bored with these guys!!!

Week One Finale (Note: check link for pics)
 

Told ya' it would be a better entry [Aug. 1st, 2006|07:44 pm]
If this doesn't wet your Saratoga appetite, I have no idea what the **** will.

Today was easily the best day of the meet, by far..

A. No worky work.
B. I could wake up whenever the **** I wanted.
C. We got to hang out with the coolest roundtable at the track, with no one else around. We had Shrek 'n' Donkey, Sonny the Placement Judge, Donny Capone and Richie, me, Steve and Matt with Malcolm in the background. Sciacca told some great stories as we were eating pizza and subs from Marino's in an empty track. Let me tell you, if there's one thing better than a buzzing Saratoga, it's a completely ****ing deserted Saratoga.

Oh, and this..


Songster


More Songster.. He's so cute


Balletto.. She's so ****ing photogenic..


More Balletto


Stevie with THE GIIIAAANNNT (Bernardini)..


Matty with The Giant


More of the HOY


Me feeding Songster


Beautiful Balletto


Me scratching Balletto


Cheesin' with Balletto


Bykster with Songster


Henny chewin' on the wall


Henny with the smirk


Great picture of Matt and Henny


Henny and the kid


Invasor not too happy


More Matt and Henny


Spider Power chillin' out by the fan


Love this shot of Trip to the Bank


Last year's Travers canoe


Close-up of Johnny, Todd and Angel's photos..

Awesome day all around.

You definitely could tell that Bern Baby Bern was the boss of that barn. Songster was adorable. Laughing, yawning, just acting a fool. Balletto is ****ing GORGEOUS. Utterly gorgeous. I wasn't much of a Balletto fan before today, but she was so beautiful and so pleasant, I have to root for her now. Henny Hughes is a total ham.. He was all about getting his picture taken as much as possible.

Great day. Byk is finishing up dinner and Sammy just made an appearance. Matt and I have to finish up tomorrow's card, but as of now the PIck 4 and 6 look inscrutable. These 2-year-old races totally throw wrenches into any Pick 4 or 6 plans.

I like Running Dog (hilariously appropriate name for a NY-bred) in the feature and Del Carroll's horse looks pretty intimidating in the finale. Steve, Matt and I all love the More Than Ready horse in the second.. Tough, tough card. 80% of the cards have been very tough thus far..

About time to eat. Hope you guys enjoy the pics. See you tomorrow.

Yo Ateam, I am in envy, those are absolutely awesome.

Tell Hooves that Scav said he is fat

I need to get hooked up and come work their for a summer, screw the future, can only do that once

Great job,Joey.....nice pics and commentary. Thanks very much for the effort! Timm

Week Two, Day One
 

AND THEY'RE OFF AT 'TOGA.. [Aug. 2nd, 2006|09:33 pm]
No, really, they're off. No horses today.

Argh.. I had a day off already today, and it ends up getting wasted..

Matt, Sam and I headed to the OTB at the harness track and bet ****ing Ellis Park, Arlington and Del Mar. I hit an early Pick 3 at Ellis, then was live to a horse in the late Pick 3 for a nice payoff and the horse didn't lift a foot. Painful.

Back to work tomorrow.. Hope you guys enjoyed the pictures.

Here's an early Pick Four for tomorrow, although it's probably gonna get rained out:

2nd - 2,4,6
3rd - 1
4th - 1,2,4,5,9
5th - 2

Week Two, Day Two
 

Beer is a must [Aug. 3rd, 2006|11:59 pm]
Dude, I shouldn't have done that great post the other day. I got nothing now. Morale is pretty low at The Spa, but I've got six beers in me, so I'm okay at the moment. I needed the 10 pretty badly in the 8th Thursday, but bailed out with a win bet on the 1 in the 9th..

Aw man, Matt, Sam, Steve and I have too many jokes. It's ****ing hilarious.. If I put any of it in the journal, it won't be funny at all, but we sit here cracking up constantly over the same **** over and over.

Love you guys for reading this.. If anyone comes to 'toga, come see me at the second floor clubhouse, and drop me a ****ing tip. Cheap bastards get murked at the window and stop tipping.

Dellinger and Chi-Town brethen, holler at me.

Matt and I got a couple of Pick Fours we're playing tomorrow. Matt says don't post the tickets..

Byk's hip.

Week Two, Day Three
 

Beware: Del Mar [Aug. 4th, 2006|11:48 pm]
It never ceases to amaze me how crooked California racing is. If you want an example, go check out Friday's eighth race at Del Mar. The 3 horse is clearly being held by the starter as the gates open, she rears up, and as a result, spots the field 20 lengths. Automatic refund, right?

Not in CA.. Brush it under the rug. I thought it was just Hollywood that was on the funny ****, but it's the whole ****ing state.

Very busy day today at the Spa. Not a great day at the windows. Played a late Pick 3 singling Reunited in The Honorable Miss and used all in the tenth. Wouldn't you know it.. Reunited doesn't do anything and a $38 horse wins the finale. *SIGH*..

Got to meet Dellinger and friends, who all seem like good people.

Wish I had some insight on the Whitney card, but I was so involved at Del Mar tonight, I didn't get a chance to handicap it. It's just as well.. I don't have to gamble every single day out here..

Enjoy the Saturday races everyone. I gotta get some sleep..

well ateam..... i gotta say i hate both del mar and saratoga. i get ****ed with a horse sized tool and both of those ****ing tracks:eek:

W2, D4
 

Blazing first quarter [Aug. 5th, 2006|11:57 pm]
Ran the first 1/4 mile too quickly and will have to figure out a way to slow it down and save something for the stretch. I'm totally spent, and I got 22 days left to work..

Matt, Sam and I just finished watching Boxing After Dark, and they wanted to see how on point my Harold Lederman impression was. They were not disappointed..

Somehow Vernon Forrest won the fight we were watching by unanimous decision, even though anyone who watched the fight would tell you he got his ass completely torn up. Total fix.

I love the fact that people are reading this **** even though it's been a little slow this week. Thing is, I usually don't get the time to sit down and recap the day until I hit the hay, and by that time, all I can think about is getting as much sleep as possible to minimize my zombieness in the morning. I'll try to make up for the slow entries on Monday and Tuesday.

The late Pick Four looks like it's worth taking a stab at tomorrow. The Delaware horse looks dangerous in the 7th, I like Running Dog in the 8th and Artie should be tough in the 9th.. Figure two of those horses will win.. Then go wide in the 10th and hope to catch a price..

Good luck world.

W2, D5 (Link for pics)
 

SAMOKED [Aug. 6th, 2006|10:19 pm]

Got creamed at the windows today. We got six people to put in for the Pick Six tomorrow, and Barry said he'd match what we put up, but Matt and I can't figure it out at all..

Anyway, here's Dellinger AKA The Other Steve with Albertrani and Weaver.


Dell with Weaves


Dell with Albertrani

W2, D6 (Fun day)
 

So check this out [Aug. 7th, 2006|08:18 pm]
$2 Pick Six ticket today, between me, Matt, Barry, Steve, Sam, Tyler and Billy. Handicapped by me and Matt, and funded halfway by Barry..

1,3,4,5,10 / 1,6,12 / 2 / 1,2 / 2 / 7,9,11

We were alive for $7k to the 7, $14k to the 9 and $21k to the 11 going into the 9th.

****ING..

OUCH.

Even though it was a terrible beat, we had a blast.

You know, I would've loved to have a couple grand, but I can't be mad at that right now. We're sitting here, sipping a few beers, and just enjoying the fact that we almost hit a $21k P6 with a $180 ticket and hit the conso three times..

Saratoga is much easier to digest when you have two days off in front of you.

Ready for the next carryover.

go be naughty tonight ateam.

Week Two Finale
 

Week two finale [Aug. 8th, 2006|06:01 pm]
And what a finale it was.

Got incredibly wasted last night after drinking beer from the time I got home until about 11:30.

Had a ton of fun though partying with some of the girls from work.. We went out into a field here in Greenwich, pounded beers around a fire, played guitar.. It was ****ing incredible, because that type of stuff is entirely the opposite of what I do in the city.. I was in heaven, man.. I told Matt it brought out the inner whiteboy in me.

Then I got a little carried away and all of a sudden felt like my head was going to fall off my shoulders.. I had Amanda and Julie drive me back to Hollywood's crib and all those swerves and turns and ****.. Bad news. Puked all over the outside of the rear passenger door of this girl's car.. Came inside and I don't know what the **** happened after that.. Matt says I passed out at the dinner table and puked some more. He took a picture of me too..

What, you thought SARATOGA: DIARY OF A SUMMER wasn't going to include any vomit?

Day off tomorrow and I got funded a little bit with a decent Pick 3 I hit at Finger Lakes today.. Yes, Finger Lakes.

Gotta go 'cap for tomorrow, see ya'..

Week Three, Day One
 

Day off was off day [Aug. 9th, 2006|11:30 pm]
Started out real well, then slowly went downhill.. Back to work tomorrow.

Matt and Sam are blazing, and Steve and Barry are asleep, so I'm alone..

I apologized to Amanda for painting her car the other night..

Tomorrow's card looks chalky, so bet all bombs, because the last time I said that (Sunday), pretty much all of the faves lost..

Panty Raid rolls in the opener.. Okay, not the opener, the second but I don't recognize that steeplechase foolishness..

In the third, if Miracle Moment is right at all, she should cruise, but those last two races (especially her last) were ****ing TERRIBLE. Still think she gets back on track and gets it done..

Love the More Than Ready horse (Fortissi More) in the fourth..

Fifth is very interesting, and to me, looks to be between Tejida and Lemon Drop Cello..

Sixth is Five Star Daydream's race to lose, but she's gotta avoid a bounce, because there are some nice looking firsters in here (Imperial Reign, All Giving and Infield Lake stand out)..

The Shug entry in the seventh looks imposing.. Figure one of those can run on a fast track and neither should have problems going two turns.

Big Apple Daddy looks like a pretty strong lock in the eighth, unless of course Migliore is stupid enough not to send and therefore lets Gold and Roses get loose..

Like Frankel's horse in the finale.

Met yet another dude from the message board today, brockguy, who was in all the way from Ireland.. Seems like another good guy, and rumor has it he's staying here tomorrow night. Apparently the qualifications for being allowed to crash at Hollywood's crib are: A. Like horses and B. Be on DT.

Tomorrow is Sam's birthday, which should be interesting.

Out..

Week Three, Day Two
 

It's like Pee Wee's ****ing Playhouse in here [Aug. 10th, 2006|10:58 pm]
It was just me and Matt at the crib, then all of a sudden, Sam, Steve, Brockguy and a few of Sam's relatives are here..

Bykie Smalls should just put up a big banner on the front of the house that says "Derby Trail Bed and Breakfast"..

So, I was very right about Panty Raid and Miracle Moment, and pretty wrong about the rest of the card.. I was right about one thing though.. Chalk, Chalk Chalk.

Tomorrow's card is ****ing murderous. Toughest card of the meet in my opinion, although I only saw races 5-10 because Hollywood's ink cartridge ran out.

Rained out here today. It was pretty damn nice just chillaxin', watching TV and listening to the rain.. I love the country man, I just wish I had more chances to enjoy it.

Good luck Thursday. I think I'm going to lay off and wait for something a little easier.

"Bykie Smalls "

That's too funny!! priceless

Week Three, Day Three
 

Sword Dancer and Million day [Aug. 11th, 2006|10:36 pm]
Flying solo tomorrow up at the 'cue.. Not looking forward to it. Gonna be a madhouse, and if I hear Paulie or Barry complain one more time about the plexiglass windows, I think my head is going to combust. This Saratoga **** wears on you even if you're just handicapping, but if you're doing what we're doing, it's twenty ****ing times worse.

Anyway, NTRA National Pick Four tomorrow. My thoughts..

Vandy - This race is crying for someone to come from off the pace.. I can't play Mass Media at 5-2 considering he never puts two big races together back-to-back. Judiths Wild Rush has a good shot, but my "longshot special" of the day is Thunder Touch. I think he just hated the West Coast, and I doubt that McLaughlin, who's no fool, would put him in here just for exercise. At upwards of 20-1, he's worth an inclusion. War Front could bounce and still win this, and Afrashad has always intrigued me. Bishop Court Hill reeks of cheap speed.

Bev. D. - Gorella should roll, but Honey Ryder and Film Maker are definite threats. I say key Gorella and throw in the other two in savers..

Sword Dancer - Relaxed Gesture looks like a fairly safe single (considering the alternatives).. The only other horse that really intrigues me is Wild Desert, but I can't really afford to double my ticket. Single 'Gesture and play a 'Desert/'Gesture exacta..

Milliown - Wide open. Cacique and English Channel are the horses to beat, but they're way outside, and there are too many horses with the ability to jump up and win this to just use those two. I'd go The Tin Man, Ace, Soldier Hollow, Phoenix Reach, Better Talk Now, Cacique and EC.

Shaky ticket - 1,3,4,5 / 1 / 2 / 2,3,5,7,8,10,11
4x1x1x7 x $1 = $28

Savers - Beverly D.: $5 Exacta 6,11 / 1.. $2 Trifecta 6,11 / 6,11 / 1.. Sword Dancer: $8 Exacta 6 / 2..

There you go.. Plenty of fun for only $50.. Until Mass Media cruises in the Vanderbilt and makes that whole mess a whole mess..

If 3 are Blazin,' it will be a BLAZIN' THREESOME.

Week Three, Day Four
 

Possible joke of the meet [Aug. 12th, 2006|11:01 pm]
And there have been some great ones.

Matt goes "How many more good days is it gonna take to get Barry to wear some pants around the house"..

****ing hilarious.. This dude is constantly walking around in his tighty whities.

Apparently today was insanely busy, but I didn't do that much more business than I did yesterday. Tomorrow's gonna be a zoo just because it's a giveaway day.

At the windows, started out well with a win bet on Five Star Thief (in midstretch, I was thinking to myself "I can't believe this ****ing $3 million pig is gonna beat me"), then went downhill when I dropped most of the stakes races (Go Deputy busted my NTRA Pick Four, but I managed to recoup by hitting the chalky late Pick 3 and Double at Arlingstone (not before the typically overconfident Leparoux nearly gave me a heart attack on the 2 in the finale).

Pretty funny today. I got a voice mail from my boy Frankie in the city (the only horse racing fan in my crew) early in the day, but I couldn't check it until after the Bev. D. Well, he's talking about how he's gonna nail the NTRA Pick Four, and he starts rattling off the horses he's gonna use ("Film Maker is a LOCK", "Mass Media is a single").. I just hadda laugh.

If Mike Smith can't get Rewrite home in that filly stake tomorrow, he should go back to California. The seventh and tenth are tough, and the West Point is actually interesting. Matt and I are leaning towards Dave and Golden Commander.. Apparently one of Chuck Simon's horses is very live tomorrow (not sure which one)..

Later.

Week Three, Day Six
 

Freeloaders [Aug. 13th, 2006|10:48 pm]
Another giveaway day at the SSSSSPPPPAAAA, and you know what that means.. Lots of cheap MF'ers.

Got close to even for the meet by hitting the triple in the last race.. Pretty hilarious that Mascot opened at 10/1 because no one realized he drew into the race.. Then he started getting absolutely hammered and went off at 4/1.. If there were another 10 minutes to post, he would've gone off at 3/2.

Matt and I missed the super by a head.. Had 11/4/2/5, came in 11/2/4/5..

TGTM.. Thank God Tomorrow's Monday.. $77k carryover and I think we're taking a shot. Hopefully we go one better than last Monday and actually get six this time.

Met someone else from the board today (gales).. Another cool guy. I'm surprised how many normal people there are on that website. I figured it'd be all freaks.

Enjoy tomorrow's card everyone. Hopefully it'll be another beautiful day in 'toga Springs.. This week has been stellar weather-wise.

Money, Cash, Arrr..

Hooves
 

Thanks for the daily updates Hooves.
It was great meeting you on Whitney weekend.

Congrats on the tri. I also had Macot to win and place and the exacta...
Agree that he was a nice price at 4-1. Coa gave him a nice ride...

Good luck hitting six today...

PSH

Paul:)

Hooves? It's the ateam buddy..

LOL @ me skipping Day Five
 

Back in black [Aug. 14th, 2006|11:58 pm]
Finally got back into positive territory for the meet by hitting the early pick four at 'toga today, which paid way too much.. The parlay equated to about $360 and it paid $902.. Nice.

Two days off yo..

Tomorrow I'll be back with a recap of the first half of the meet.

LATER!

Week Three Finale (First half awards)
 

Halfway home at the Spa [Aug. 15th, 2006|05:21 pm]
First-half horse racing awards:

Best performance - Bernardini
I don't know if there's really another competitor for this spot. A lot of very evenly-matched fields.. No real dominating performances. Unfortunately, I wasn't in town for this one, but he just jogged against a solid field of 3-year-olds. I'm actually glad Bluegrass Cat ran so well at Monmouth, because now, 'dini might be 3/5 instead of 1/20.. Not that I'd bet him to win, but perhaps the pick fo' will pay something.

Biggest dud - Artie Schiller
Matt should be happy about this one. I mean, what the **** was the excuse this time? Was there an injury I didn't hear about? I'm seriously asking, because I haven't been reading DRF like I do back home. Either way, he was awful. Relaxed Gesture and Rewrite are two major competitors for this spot after this past weekend. Yeah, neither of them got great rides, but they both should've still been better than they were.

Best stretch duel - Spun Sugar and Balletto in The Go for Wand
That was a blast to watch, and after going to see Balletto a few days later, I now wish she would've gotten the nod. What a sweetheart. Close second goes to Invasor and Sun King in The Whitney.

"You should've stayed home" trainer award - Dale Romans
Scott Lake has put up some serious competition for this spot, but Romans has been just awful.. Something like 1-for-24 I believe..

Sneaky good trainer award - Jamie Sanders
I don't know how this girl got such a terrible win percentage, but she's been sending out some LIVE horses this meet. When you see a Sanders entry, all I can say is you'd better pay attention.

Best jockey - Garret Gomez
Of course Johnny and Prado are huge candidates, but I think Gomez has done more with less this meet. My boy Javier is also "quietly making some noise"..

Worst jockey - Mike Smith
Enough said.

Best-looking baby (male) - City Snitch
It's been a bit of a disappointing meet for the 2-year-old boys.. Scat Daddy was ehh.. City Snitch was mighty impressive early on, and since then, it's been kinda dull.

Best-looking baby (female) - Panty Raid
Still not quite sure how this much talked about filly paid $10 and the entire Beta Y Kappa house is kicking itself for not hammering her harder than we did.

Weirdest occurance - Three Lions and Giant Chieftan both bolting at the exact same spot of the turf course
Both of them looked like easy winners, got to about the 1/8th pole, and as Tom Durkin put it, "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory."

On to the personal awards..

Best moment - Experiencing country life
Being alive to a $21,000+ pick six payout is a close second, followed by getting to see the backstretch and meet some champion horses, but every time so far that I've felt what it's like outside of the city, I've been on cloud nine. As wide-eyed as smalltown people are when they come to NYC, that's how I am when I'm in the fields out here.. It's funny, we came up with the "Fresh Air Fund" joke before I even came up, but it really has been a trip. Now of course, I could never live out here for good.. I'm a city boy.. But living up here temporarily has expanded my horizons a ton already.

Best parimutuel hit - Yesterday's early pick four
$451 on a $20 investment. Got me back into the black for the meet.. Just gotta try to keep rolling.

Worst mistake - Collectively, all of us not including Prideland in our pick six ticket
Would've been three grand richer apiece had we just thrown that horse in..

Funniest moment - Too many to count
Everybody in this house is hilarious. It's way too much fun busting balls and shooting the **** with these dudes.

Best surprise - Getting to meet so many cool members of Derby Trail, and having so many people read this journal. If anybody else makes it up here, come see the kid at the clubhouse!

Finally, the second half outlook..

Looking forward to most - Travers Day
Boring answer, I know, but it should be nuts. How about the way The King's Bishop is shaping up? Henny, Too Much Bling, Songster, Fabulous Strike.. Not to mention Bernardini getting to stamp himself as top 3-year-old. Plus, the climax of the meet. If I can just make it until then..

Looking forward to least - Having to start school three days after I go home
That's gonna be some ****ing juggling act. I'm gonna feel like sleeping for two straight weeks, but I get no such break since this doesn't shut down until Labor day..

Hope everyone has a safe and profitable second half of the meet. Shoot me a private message or come see me at the track in my Carolina Slavecue glory! Keep on keepin' on racing fans..

Great stuff,Dude!