[Dunbar]

I grew up in Miami in a pre-Dolphins, pre-Marlins, pre-Heat era. Horseracing was a big deal in the newspapers and on TV. Being a racing fan wasn't as unusual as it is now. The 6 O'clock and 11 O'clock TV news routinely showed the stretch drives of big stakes races from around the country.

Friends of my family owned Sherluck, the '61 Belmont winner. Other family friends owned Stratmat, a claimer that won some stakes races. It was a charge watching these horses on national TV.

After I left Miami for college, it was harder to keep up with racing news. I remember having to go deep into the Sports Section to find out the result of the race in which Seattle Slew faced Affirmed, but both lost to Exceller.

I was capping as a kid, even though I couldn't bet. My betting on horses didn't start until after at least 15 years of serious (and successful) blackjack play. When Ziemba and Hausch published their books on looking for overlays in the place, show, and exotic pools, I tried it out for awhile. Results were mostly negative.

Stanford Wong, author of what's still considered the card counter's bible, thought he had found the key to beating claiming races in the late 80's. I moved to Las Vegas for 6 months to try it out, spending a lot of time in the Stardust's racebook alongside Wong himself. In the end I decided that Wong's ideas, if they worked, didn't yield enough good bets to be worth my time. But I also had learned a lot about capping in the process. I added to that knowledge base over time.

In general I'm willing to invest more money and time into games like blackjack and video poker, where I KNOW I have an edge, than in games like poker and horseracing, where I THINK I have an edge. But there's no denying that horseracing (and poker) are infinitely more interesting and challenging.

The result is that my betting is generally limited to races I'm paying attention to because of my fan interest.

Geez, what a long-winded answer!

--Dunbar