new linemaker for spa
 

Travis Stone
‏@TravisStone
I'm excited to share this summer I'm switching from binoculars to spreadsheets as I'll be making the morning line for @TheNYRA at Saratoga!

Congrats to Travis and good luck with this challenge! :)

Probably harder.... Nothing riles horseplayers than someone that is putting out horses at 10-1 and up that go off as favorites if it happens consistently. A lot of us put in a lot of effort based upon a somewhat consistent line. Nothing worse than finding a 10-1 morning line jewel that is in a later leg of a sequential wager that goes off as the favorite. Not to add any pressure but New York lines are very consistent.

congrats to travis, and best of luck to him.

Thats why i posted it for a heads up.i thhink the ML maker should be posted each day with pp's just in case a sub steps in.;)

We need a Morningstar like rating for Lines makers and Public Handicappers. ;)

Thanks everyone. It will be a fun challenge. The first race on Friday nearly gave me an ulcer. Ha!

Yesterday (Fri) shows how tough a job that is. It takes great courage to make the ML at the Spa. I will tell my grandkids about you.

You'll be great Trav. That first race didn't give me an ulcer till after it was run and I was 3 deep and not in the money with either of em

Whats new?

You do the best you can do. Then you walk in to that track and walk straight into the face of an alternate universe. You see the alcohol, but notice a strange smeĺl. It's the smell of Testosterone. You see a sweaty man pull a wad of $100 bills from his pocket and there goes the Morining Line. Sometimes it's good to forget.

It's like the running of the bulls without the bulls. I was going to go over and do that with a buddy and then go to Saratoga and he said Saratoga would be much harder. But you can just smell the ego in the air. Everybody wants to beat the beast.

It's like Quint with the shark, Ahab with the whale. Setting odds on this is very inexact.

I think you are doing a good job, Travis. Don't give up.

Pretty solid so far except for that 4/5 on songbird. Keep up the good work Trav:)

Thanks. I'm pretty sure if I was given the chance to make that line again, I might go 3-5 but I honestly thought Carina Mia would take more $ than she did. In fact, I think they ran closer to 4-5 and 8-5 than they did 1-5 and and 2-1ish.

I've had a few misses but for the most part, I'm pleased. After a few more days I'll actually run some data to see how close I am. These 2yo races are brutal though, so I might just have another beer instead.

You've had ZERO complaints on the selections thread. That in itself is an amazing feat. Cause I pretty much piss and moan and complain about everything but I havent had the need to complain about the Toga line.

Nick Tammaro just retweeted this very nice article.

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/201...ccolumn/?dgzrg


Travis has taken some undeserved heat imo. Most likely this is due to the publicity of taking the new job so people are looking for things to critique. I think for the most part his lines have been spot-on.

Oh well I didnt get 12-1 on Chico Grande. First Steamer of the meet

Underserved heat from who? Seems like everyone is praising him.

i may have jibbed Travis a bit, but I think he's doing great. I just wanted to highlight how difficult that job is. Need a thick skin on this job.

I think after this stint, Travis will be right at the top of ML makers. Still have to give tops to Jon White, though. Best I've ever seen.

100% good job Travis.

Firing Line is going to scratch tomorrow so they made him 20/1 on the ML? Why not make him 99/1 and take away any doubt if you're going to skyrocket his odds? I would have to think people will see 20/1 not knowing he's going to SCR and think the linemaker is an idiot.
First time I've seen something like this. Is that what normally happens or do most tracks just leave him at 9/5 or whatever he would have been?

The linemaker is trying to not look like an idiot after the fact.

A high profile meet like Saratoga one thing you want to be is at your best and what the ml maker did here was be at his best.

The concern you have for the people handicapping unaware of the fact that the horse is going to be scratched is minimal compared to the overall accuracy and integrity of the ml.

Well, one thing is that Travis had to make that line days ago. He may have heard some talk about a scratch, but the horse is still entered and people can change their minds.

The race is at Del Mar, I just bumped this thread since it is sort of on topic and was hoping Travis would chime in. I get what you are saying, just would like to know how they came up with 20/1? If the horse is gonna SCR make him 99/1+
20/1 at Del Mar is a couple thousand dollars no? In reality the amount will be $0 so make his odds reflect that if you are going to change it.

If he doesn't scratch, and he hasn't yet, he's going to be a lot higher than you think. The last two (Preakness, ALW at SA) have been dreadful.

I would have made him 10-1.

10-1 against this group?!? Esp with races like The Kentucky Derby and The Preakness in his pp's, running poorly or not.

Well maybe the line is right.Travis is one savvy guy. I think NYRA brought some criticism on him by touting him as the linemaker. Eric Donovan did the line for years and nobody criticised him because they didn't know him.

I think he's doing good. It's a great job and an awful job. Might as well stand naked out on the track.

Over the last few years I've met Travis and Nick and think they are the nicest young men. I love younger guys who love the races like we do. I feel like racing isn't dying and young guys like what I have always liked. I like their enthusiasm, their interest. It reminds me of me years ago.

Travis tweeted it,not NYRA' . Transparency is good to me,i remember Blewitt subbed once for Donovan, isn't it better to knowwho makesth line than not ?

Saw this while searching for Firing Line on there

If I knew a horse was scratching, I would still make the line as if the horse were running. No doubt the first time that happens, they would decide to run.

Isn't there a REVISED ML after scratc hes ?

john white has mentioned doing this, also when races r taken off the turf. ;)

I believe he's the only one who does it.

They are kicking the **** out of you today all day on TVG, Trav

Who was? It happens. I missed a few horses today.

Classy

I think your doing fine man. Congrats on the gig

Reading comprehension another of your weaknesses. Curruthas and Catonboth agreeing on soft morning lines as were Simon and Joyce (?) earlier. I'm a supporter ya Mook ya.

Why is it not standard practice to revise ml after scratches and surface changes ?

Jon White does do it and I thinks he updates on twitter and the SA website. Saratoga is a different bird. Jon doesn't get rain and has generally shorter fields to begin with. Not to minimize what he does, he's great. Travis has 31 scratches today. Plus bring in some MTOs.

Scratches didn't come out today until 11. He's probably working on Monday. Today is what it is.