Joey Bianca's 2006 Saratoga Diary

[ateamstupid]

Day off was off day [Aug. 9th, 2006|11:30 pm]
Started out real well, then slowly went downhill.. Back to work tomorrow.

Matt and Sam are blazing, and Steve and Barry are asleep, so I'm alone..

I apologized to Amanda for painting her car the other night..

Tomorrow's card looks chalky, so bet all bombs, because the last time I said that (Sunday), pretty much all of the faves lost..

Panty Raid rolls in the opener.. Okay, not the opener, the second but I don't recognize that steeplechase foolishness..

In the third, if Miracle Moment is right at all, she should cruise, but those last two races (especially her last) were ****ing TERRIBLE. Still think she gets back on track and gets it done..

Love the More Than Ready horse (Fortissi More) in the fourth..

Fifth is very interesting, and to me, looks to be between Tejida and Lemon Drop Cello..

Sixth is Five Star Daydream's race to lose, but she's gotta avoid a bounce, because there are some nice looking firsters in here (Imperial Reign, All Giving and Infield Lake stand out)..

The Shug entry in the seventh looks imposing.. Figure one of those can run on a fast track and neither should have problems going two turns.

Big Apple Daddy looks like a pretty strong lock in the eighth, unless of course Migliore is stupid enough not to send and therefore lets Gold and Roses get loose..

Like Frankel's horse in the finale.

Met yet another dude from the message board today, brockguy, who was in all the way from Ireland.. Seems like another good guy, and rumor has it he's staying here tomorrow night. Apparently the qualifications for being allowed to crash at Hollywood's crib are: A. Like horses and B. Be on DT.

Tomorrow is Sam's birthday, which should be interesting.

Out..

[ateamstupid]

It's like Pee Wee's ****ing Playhouse in here [Aug. 10th, 2006|10:58 pm]
It was just me and Matt at the crib, then all of a sudden, Sam, Steve, Brockguy and a few of Sam's relatives are here..

Bykie Smalls should just put up a big banner on the front of the house that says "Derby Trail Bed and Breakfast"..

So, I was very right about Panty Raid and Miracle Moment, and pretty wrong about the rest of the card.. I was right about one thing though.. Chalk, Chalk Chalk.

Tomorrow's card is ****ing murderous. Toughest card of the meet in my opinion, although I only saw races 5-10 because Hollywood's ink cartridge ran out.

Rained out here today. It was pretty damn nice just chillaxin', watching TV and listening to the rain.. I love the country man, I just wish I had more chances to enjoy it.

Good luck Thursday. I think I'm going to lay off and wait for something a little easier.

[ArlJim78]

"Bykie Smalls "

That's too funny!! priceless

[ateamstupid]

Sword Dancer and Million day [Aug. 11th, 2006|10:36 pm]
Flying solo tomorrow up at the 'cue.. Not looking forward to it. Gonna be a madhouse, and if I hear Paulie or Barry complain one more time about the plexiglass windows, I think my head is going to combust. This Saratoga **** wears on you even if you're just handicapping, but if you're doing what we're doing, it's twenty ****ing times worse.

Anyway, NTRA National Pick Four tomorrow. My thoughts..

Vandy - This race is crying for someone to come from off the pace.. I can't play Mass Media at 5-2 considering he never puts two big races together back-to-back. Judiths Wild Rush has a good shot, but my "longshot special" of the day is Thunder Touch. I think he just hated the West Coast, and I doubt that McLaughlin, who's no fool, would put him in here just for exercise. At upwards of 20-1, he's worth an inclusion. War Front could bounce and still win this, and Afrashad has always intrigued me. Bishop Court Hill reeks of cheap speed.

Bev. D. - Gorella should roll, but Honey Ryder and Film Maker are definite threats. I say key Gorella and throw in the other two in savers..

Sword Dancer - Relaxed Gesture looks like a fairly safe single (considering the alternatives).. The only other horse that really intrigues me is Wild Desert, but I can't really afford to double my ticket. Single 'Gesture and play a 'Desert/'Gesture exacta..

Milliown - Wide open. Cacique and English Channel are the horses to beat, but they're way outside, and there are too many horses with the ability to jump up and win this to just use those two. I'd go The Tin Man, Ace, Soldier Hollow, Phoenix Reach, Better Talk Now, Cacique and EC.

Shaky ticket - 1,3,4,5 / 1 / 2 / 2,3,5,7,8,10,11
4x1x1x7 x $1 = $28

Savers - Beverly D.: $5 Exacta 6,11 / 1.. $2 Trifecta 6,11 / 6,11 / 1.. Sword Dancer: $8 Exacta 6 / 2..

There you go.. Plenty of fun for only $50.. Until Mass Media cruises in the Vanderbilt and makes that whole mess a whole mess..

[SCUDSBROTHER]

If 3 are Blazin,' it will be a BLAZIN' THREESOME.

[ateamstupid]

Possible joke of the meet [Aug. 12th, 2006|11:01 pm]
And there have been some great ones.

Matt goes "How many more good days is it gonna take to get Barry to wear some pants around the house"..

****ing hilarious.. This dude is constantly walking around in his tighty whities.

Apparently today was insanely busy, but I didn't do that much more business than I did yesterday. Tomorrow's gonna be a zoo just because it's a giveaway day.

At the windows, started out well with a win bet on Five Star Thief (in midstretch, I was thinking to myself "I can't believe this ****ing $3 million pig is gonna beat me"), then went downhill when I dropped most of the stakes races (Go Deputy busted my NTRA Pick Four, but I managed to recoup by hitting the chalky late Pick 3 and Double at Arlingstone (not before the typically overconfident Leparoux nearly gave me a heart attack on the 2 in the finale).

Pretty funny today. I got a voice mail from my boy Frankie in the city (the only horse racing fan in my crew) early in the day, but I couldn't check it until after the Bev. D. Well, he's talking about how he's gonna nail the NTRA Pick Four, and he starts rattling off the horses he's gonna use ("Film Maker is a LOCK", "Mass Media is a single").. I just hadda laugh.

If Mike Smith can't get Rewrite home in that filly stake tomorrow, he should go back to California. The seventh and tenth are tough, and the West Point is actually interesting. Matt and I are leaning towards Dave and Golden Commander.. Apparently one of Chuck Simon's horses is very live tomorrow (not sure which one)..

Later.

[ateamstupid]

Freeloaders [Aug. 13th, 2006|10:48 pm]
Another giveaway day at the SSSSSPPPPAAAA, and you know what that means.. Lots of cheap MF'ers.

Got close to even for the meet by hitting the triple in the last race.. Pretty hilarious that Mascot opened at 10/1 because no one realized he drew into the race.. Then he started getting absolutely hammered and went off at 4/1.. If there were another 10 minutes to post, he would've gone off at 3/2.

Matt and I missed the super by a head.. Had 11/4/2/5, came in 11/2/4/5..

TGTM.. Thank God Tomorrow's Monday.. $77k carryover and I think we're taking a shot. Hopefully we go one better than last Monday and actually get six this time.

Met someone else from the board today (gales).. Another cool guy. I'm surprised how many normal people there are on that website. I figured it'd be all freaks.

Enjoy tomorrow's card everyone. Hopefully it'll be another beautiful day in 'toga Springs.. This week has been stellar weather-wise.

Money, Cash, Arrr..

[PSH]

Thanks for the daily updates Hooves.
It was great meeting you on Whitney weekend.

Congrats on the tri. I also had Macot to win and place and the exacta...
Agree that he was a nice price at 4-1. Coa gave him a nice ride...

Good luck hitting six today...

PSH

Paul

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by PSH

Thanks for the daily updates Hooves.
It was great meeting you on Whitney weekend.

Congrats on the tri. I also had Macot to win and place and the exacta...
Agree that he was a nice price at 4-1. Coa gave him a nice ride...

Good luck hitting six today...

PSH

Paul

Hooves? It's the ateam buddy..

[ateamstupid]

Back in black [Aug. 14th, 2006|11:58 pm]
Finally got back into positive territory for the meet by hitting the early pick four at 'toga today, which paid way too much.. The parlay equated to about $360 and it paid $902.. Nice.

Two days off yo..

Tomorrow I'll be back with a recap of the first half of the meet.

LATER!

[ateamstupid]

Halfway home at the Spa [Aug. 15th, 2006|05:21 pm]
First-half horse racing awards:

Best performance - Bernardini
I don't know if there's really another competitor for this spot. A lot of very evenly-matched fields.. No real dominating performances. Unfortunately, I wasn't in town for this one, but he just jogged against a solid field of 3-year-olds. I'm actually glad Bluegrass Cat ran so well at Monmouth, because now, 'dini might be 3/5 instead of 1/20.. Not that I'd bet him to win, but perhaps the pick fo' will pay something.

Biggest dud - Artie Schiller
Matt should be happy about this one. I mean, what the **** was the excuse this time? Was there an injury I didn't hear about? I'm seriously asking, because I haven't been reading DRF like I do back home. Either way, he was awful. Relaxed Gesture and Rewrite are two major competitors for this spot after this past weekend. Yeah, neither of them got great rides, but they both should've still been better than they were.

Best stretch duel - Spun Sugar and Balletto in The Go for Wand
That was a blast to watch, and after going to see Balletto a few days later, I now wish she would've gotten the nod. What a sweetheart. Close second goes to Invasor and Sun King in The Whitney.

"You should've stayed home" trainer award - Dale Romans
Scott Lake has put up some serious competition for this spot, but Romans has been just awful.. Something like 1-for-24 I believe..

Sneaky good trainer award - Jamie Sanders
I don't know how this girl got such a terrible win percentage, but she's been sending out some LIVE horses this meet. When you see a Sanders entry, all I can say is you'd better pay attention.

Best jockey - Garret Gomez
Of course Johnny and Prado are huge candidates, but I think Gomez has done more with less this meet. My boy Javier is also "quietly making some noise"..

Worst jockey - Mike Smith
Enough said.

Best-looking baby (male) - City Snitch
It's been a bit of a disappointing meet for the 2-year-old boys.. Scat Daddy was ehh.. City Snitch was mighty impressive early on, and since then, it's been kinda dull.

Best-looking baby (female) - Panty Raid
Still not quite sure how this much talked about filly paid $10 and the entire Beta Y Kappa house is kicking itself for not hammering her harder than we did.

Weirdest occurance - Three Lions and Giant Chieftan both bolting at the exact same spot of the turf course
Both of them looked like easy winners, got to about the 1/8th pole, and as Tom Durkin put it, "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory."

On to the personal awards..

Best moment - Experiencing country life
Being alive to a $21,000+ pick six payout is a close second, followed by getting to see the backstretch and meet some champion horses, but every time so far that I've felt what it's like outside of the city, I've been on cloud nine. As wide-eyed as smalltown people are when they come to NYC, that's how I am when I'm in the fields out here.. It's funny, we came up with the "Fresh Air Fund" joke before I even came up, but it really has been a trip. Now of course, I could never live out here for good.. I'm a city boy.. But living up here temporarily has expanded my horizons a ton already.

Best parimutuel hit - Yesterday's early pick four
$451 on a $20 investment. Got me back into the black for the meet.. Just gotta try to keep rolling.

Worst mistake - Collectively, all of us not including Prideland in our pick six ticket
Would've been three grand richer apiece had we just thrown that horse in..

Funniest moment - Too many to count
Everybody in this house is hilarious. It's way too much fun busting balls and shooting the **** with these dudes.

Best surprise - Getting to meet so many cool members of Derby Trail, and having so many people read this journal. If anybody else makes it up here, come see the kid at the clubhouse!

Finally, the second half outlook..

Looking forward to most - Travers Day
Boring answer, I know, but it should be nuts. How about the way The King's Bishop is shaping up? Henny, Too Much Bling, Songster, Fabulous Strike.. Not to mention Bernardini getting to stamp himself as top 3-year-old. Plus, the climax of the meet. If I can just make it until then..

Looking forward to least - Having to start school three days after I go home
That's gonna be some ****ing juggling act. I'm gonna feel like sleeping for two straight weeks, but I get no such break since this doesn't shut down until Labor day..

Hope everyone has a safe and profitable second half of the meet. Shoot me a private message or come see me at the track in my Carolina Slavecue glory! Keep on keepin' on racing fans..

[timmgirvan]

Great stuff,Dude!