Well,going into this last Saturday,I hadn't bet Saratoga( the whole meet so far.) After watching races last week,I felt my 1st play might be in the all -stakes pick 4 on Travers Day.I thought the track had been pretty dead,and favoring horses like the Kimmel maiden that came from the clouds last week.The horse had all day to get up (in what appeared to be a death march.) So,I had planned to play Sweet Talker,Typhoon/Ashkal way/3 or 4 raters in the K Bishop/Bernandini.I still feel that was a good plan.The problem was when I saw the 3rd race of the day on Saturday.Now,it is up to your own eyes.You have to watch the races,and ask your own self ....Is this dirt the track I saw all week? Is it still dead? That is not always easy to do.Often a favorite will win while being near the front all the way.Did the horse do it despite the track being dull? Well,I didn't think High Finance looked to be running on a dead track.Even though it could be said that horse had it easy up front,I just thought that the way he did it meant that I shouldn't try to beat Henny Hughes(or any other speed types in the King's Bishop.) So,I didn't play anything Saturday.I had planned for a dead track,and in my opinion,they did not give me that dead track that I had hoped to get.That's the way I handicap(by feel.)Who appears to be struggling on the track? The pace horses,or the raters? No doubt in my mind that the raters had a huge advantage at Calder when LITF,and Dubai Escapade ran there.A lot of people don't care what horses are running on.For instance,many were saying all week that Henny Hughes was going to win.I don't think Henny Hughes would have won the race if it had been ran earlier in the week on the dead surface.I put a lot of emphasis on track surface.Some others also do,and some don't.
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