Thank you for the kind words Zippy. Real Quiet, I appreciate your scoring efforts and your usual insightful commentary.
In hindsight, I realize that while the exacta array I put together was successful, it might not have been a very intelligent form of money management. I had keyed Beyond Brilliant in a variety of exacta combinations, mostly in the win slot but also in the second slot, combining him with others that I thought were logical partners. I guess that the number of combinations demonstrated that I really didn't have a very strong opinion of the horse with whom to pair my key. By playing that many exacta alternatives, I think that I diluted whatever value there may have been in using Beyond Brilliant. As it turned out, the exacta payoff with Cathkin Peak was the smallest of all of the possible will pays.
The ROI profit was $10.40 on a $100 wager. In order to cash, BB needed to finish either 1st or 2nd AND one of the other exacta partners needed to occupy the other slot. If I had simply played $100 on BB to Place, the profit would have been $20.00 on a $2.40 place payoff. If I had played a really safe $100 on BB to Show, the profit would have been $10.00 on a $2.20 payoff. In either of those cases, I would not have had to worry about the success of an exacta partner. So much for a smart exotic bet.
In addition to the competition with our friends, the ROI provides a constant way to learn about the best ways to try to beat the takeout and make a profit from something we enjoy. Picking winning horses is a challenge, but the key to success continues to be money management.
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