September 29 Bel/SA All Stakes ROI Wagers go here . . .

[cal828]

Originally Posted by JolyB

Well, none of us who were trying to hit the Grand Slam counted on Discreet Lover's (or as Larry was calling him for most of the race Discreet Image) being the one to hit it over the Green Monster. 1:09.13 for 6 furlongs in a mile and one-quarter race? What was Irad thinking? More to the point, was Irad thinking??

I think we all made a pretty credible stab at it. And I definitely will try that type of bet again with maybe a bit more of a spread in leg 4 which is the critical one. I spread in leg 2 which I had little confidence in( I tend to have little confidence in my Turf picks). Of course I hit that one in all four of my bets.

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by cal828

I think we all made a pretty credible stab at it. And I definitely will try that type of bet again with maybe a bit more of a spread in leg 4 which is the critical one. I spread in leg 2 which I had little confidence in( I tend to have little confidence in my Turf picks). Of course I hit that one in all four of my bets.

I'll agree with you there, Cal. You were alive three times on your first ticket going into the final leg, but no matter how far any of us spread, I don't know if we would have included Discreet Lover.

Still, that's one of the reasons that we play the ROI contest; to get experience in making wagers that we might not ordinarily make at the track or at a racino.

I'm always reluctant to spread too much in the final leg, since the GS strategy is different than a pick 4. I like to spread in the earlier legs hoping to hit multiple times in several legs (once hit twice in each of the three early legs and had 8 winning combinations on one ticket), but then try to single if at all possible in the final leg since if a favorite wins the final leg the GS payoff can be a LOT smaller than a pick 4. I try to avoid the embarrassing situation of actually hitting an exotic bet but ending up with less money than I wagered because I played too many combinations, but that doesn't always work out for me, as Real Quiet can attest.

[cal828]

Originally Posted by JolyB

I'll agree with you there, Cal. You were alive three times on your first ticket going into the final leg, but no matter how far any of us spread, I don't know if we would have included Discreet Lover.

Still, that's one of the reasons that we play the ROI contest; to get experience in making wagers that we might not ordinarily make at the track or at a racino.

I'm always reluctant to spread too much in the final leg, since the GS strategy is different than a pick 4. I like to spread in the earlier legs hoping to hit multiple times in several legs (once hit twice in each of the three early legs and had 8 winning combinations on one ticket), but then try to single if at all possible in the final leg since if a favorite wins the final leg the GS payoff can be a LOT smaller than a pick 4. I try to avoid the embarrassing situation of actually hitting an exotic bet but ending up with less money than I wagered because I played too many combinations, but that doesn't always work out for me, as Real Quiet can attest.

I actually did use Discreet Lover in the Suburban and he ran third, but Gronkowski seemed more logical for this race considering his heroics in the Belmont Stakes albeit in a longer race. So much for logic.

You are right about the "embarrassing situation." Considering it only paid $103 dollars with a $93 winner in the last leg, it likely would have been a pittance with either Thunder Snow or Diversify and Gronkowski too.