Venue for Nov 17 . . . to start the 2018-19 year off . . .

[DonGuido]

Originally Posted by JolyB

Whichever one you select (I agree with you about the Slim Pickens), I plan to be watching the Red Smith at the Big A. A neighbor of mine walks his dog just about the same time I go to the street to get our morning paper. He and his wife are very close friends of the couple who own Trinity Stables, the owners of Red Knight, a New York bred gelding who has been nominated to the Red Smith.

You might remember that Red Knight won an allowance race at Saratoga last summer on a date when it was our contest venue (I think it was the Travers Day). My neighbor and his wife had the thrill of being invited into the winners circle presentation after that race, and not surprisingly have become fans for life. Many mornings when I go to get the paper, I will receive a report of the plans that the owner and Bill Mott have made for his next race or workout. Red Knight has run in two stakes races for New York breds since Saratoga, but the Red Smith is his first attempt at non restricted graded stakes competition. It will be a stiff class test, and the nominees include some tough opponents. The race was chosen because it will probably be the last chance to run at a distance of ground on the turf in New York, and Red Knight thrives on turf marathons. The owners want to determine whether it makes more sense to ship him to Florida for turf racing or give him a break over the winter and wait for next year's NYRA turf races.

One potential fly in the ointment is the possibility that the race could be taken off of the turf. The Northeast is supposed to get heavy rain tonight and tomorrow, and then we could see a wintry mix or rain on Friday morning. I guess for that reason Del Mar is probably the safer choice for our contest, to avoid the risk of having to include the MTO's in our picks. In addition to the Red Smith, the condition book for AQ lists 3 other turf races for Saturday.

Good luck to Red Knight and connections. I'll look for that race also.

[JolyB]

I'm delighted that Don chose Del Mar rather than the Big A. The adverse weather in the Northeast caused NYRA to cancel the final three races on Thursday's card, and today's turf races were all moved to the main track. I have a feeling that only the featured Red Smith will remain on the turf tomorrow, but there are three MTO's hoping that it might be taken off of the turf also. Red Knight is stuck on the AE list and will be a big price if he draws in..

On the other hand, the Del Mar card that we are playing tomorrow is very different from what we might encounter during the summer meet. I don't think that you would find any claiming races of $16,000 or lower in the summer, much less three of them on the same card. The average number of entries is also much smaller. But, as we have so often found, every race card from Ascot to Kamloops presents its own set of twists and surprises. Let's see what tomorrow will bring.

[cal828]

I've been having some fun playing at Del Mar. I am playing in their online handicapping contest and making some real bets on those same races. I have been playing some small exactas and a couple of win or place tickets on some longshots. Hit an exacta on the contest race on Monday and Thursday. Missed the exacta today, but had win tickets on the win and place horses. Winner paid $36. Was glad to have that, but an exacta on those two paid $197 which made me feel like a dunce. Not big scores, but still fun. Now watch, I'll play terrible tomorrow.