Put Your Fingers Where your Mouth Is

I think that this whole thing is silly. The way to win or lose is to bet money at the windows, in the end thats all that matters.
I also find it pretty funny that this much hype is raised over one day of racing when there are 364 other days of racing as well, as far as wagering goes.
You can make a score on a 4 claimer at finger lakes and I assure you that the moeny is just as green and spendable as money from the BC is.
people voice opinions here because thats why the board is here.
But the problem with some of those opinions as they translate to betting is that anyone who really is sharp is going to form an opinion on a race, and analyze both odds and track bias once the card is underway.
There is no way to post here ahead of time and know the subtle nuances that go into your final bet.
Also, some guys like me like to key hangers underneath in trifectas, or may ust have an opinion that so and so is no good as heavy chalk and spread the race out going deep looking for a price. But its hard to take any credit for going 5 deep in a pik-4 race.
Look, there are many ways to arrive at a winning ticket, and none are any less gratifying than th others. Doesnt matter if you nailed a big tri because you loved the winner, or keyed a bomb in 2nd and 3rd and spread the other postions. A hit is a hit. The guy who keys the 6-1 winner doesn'tget paid any less than the guy who keyed the 20-1 for 2nd and 3rd.

[Dunbar]

Originally Posted by oracle80

I think that this whole thing is silly. The way to win or lose is to bet money at the windows, in the end thats all that matters.
I also find it pretty funny that this much hype is raised over one day of racing when there are 364 other days of racing as well, as far as wagering goes.
You can make a score on a 4 claimer at finger lakes and I assure you that the moeny is just as green and spendable as money from the BC is.

The reasons I am willing to spend much more time on the BC is the same reason that sharp football bettors are willing to spend so much time working on the Super Bowl.

(1) There are more ways to bet on the BC than on anything except perhaps the Kentucky Derby. I'm talking about futures, matchups, margin-of-victory, and various other prop bets. The more bets offered, the more opps to find some positve EV.

(2) There is a large amount of public money being bet by people who rarely bet on horses. These people are likely to bet on the horse they've heard about, the horse with a fun name, etc.

Put those two together, and you've got a day of betting (and the 10 days leading up to it!) that is second only to the Derby or to a Belmont when there is a TC on the line.

Besides, it's a lot more fun analyzing these races than the claimer at Finger Lakes!

--Dunbar

[SniperSB23]

Originally Posted by oracle80

I think that this whole thing is silly. The way to win or lose is to bet money at the windows, in the end thats all that matters.
I also find it pretty funny that this much hype is raised over one day of racing when there are 364 other days of racing as well, as far as wagering goes.
You can make a score on a 4 claimer at finger lakes and I assure you that the moeny is just as green and spendable as money from the BC is.
people voice opinions here because thats why the board is here.
But the problem with some of those opinions as they translate to betting is that anyone who really is sharp is going to form an opinion on a race, and analyze both odds and track bias once the card is underway.
There is no way to post here ahead of time and know the subtle nuances that go into your final bet.
Also, some guys like me like to key hangers underneath in trifectas, or may ust have an opinion that so and so is no good as heavy chalk and spread the race out going deep looking for a price. But its hard to take any credit for going 5 deep in a pik-4 race.
Look, there are many ways to arrive at a winning ticket, and none are any less gratifying than th others. Doesnt matter if you nailed a big tri because you loved the winner, or keyed a bomb in 2nd and 3rd and spread the other postions. A hit is a hit. The guy who keys the 6-1 winner doesn'tget paid any less than the guy who keyed the 20-1 for 2nd and 3rd.

As a full time handicapper you have the time to go back and watch replays of every past race for a field of claimers at Finger Lakes. The majority of us don't have that luxury. So for a lot of us the Stakes races are the only races where we've already seen the majority of past races and can easily supplement them by watching replays of the few allowances we might have missed. Unfortunately, the majority of Stakes races during the year draw short fields and you can never be sure whether a trainer has their horse cranked up for the race or is just using it as a prep to have him ready for a big one next race out. BC Day is the one day that you know everyone is going to be their best and know you will get big fields. They even televise the workouts so it isn't even like those of us that can't go watch the works are at a disadvantage. Could I expect to compete with you handicapping on a field of claimers at Belmont? Hell no. BC Day is the one day though that I truly feel I am on an even playing field with the professional handicappers and for me that makes it my Super Bowl of handicapping.