Monday, June 07, 2004
I don't think many people really saw Birdstone coming, even with the Nick Zito angle, but there were undoubtedly many people who walked out to Belmont parking lot bragging about how they had him the whole time. I put $48 of my Derby winnings into four boxed trifectas using the horses I thought had the best chances of being there at the end. I was too greedy for a big payout. At the top of the stretch I was yelling Jim's war cry, "STOP THE RACE!", because I had my horses first, second and third, and I saw Birdstone coming on strong.
In retrospect, a good use of the money would have been to box separate $2 exactas with Smarty Jones and each of the other horses, a total bet of $32. Some of those combos would not have recouped the $32, and if Smarty ran poorly, you'd be shut out completely. But some of them would have paid off well, like Birdstone, whose winning price was $74 and whose exacta was $139 (which is pretty low considering what a longshot he was, because of Smarty's 1-5).
It's nice that the first day of marathon training is a rest day.
In retrospect, a good use of the money would have been to box separate $2 exactas with Smarty Jones and each of the other horses, a total bet of $32. Some of those combos would not have recouped the $32, and if Smarty ran poorly, you'd be shut out completely. But some of them would have paid off well, like Birdstone, whose winning price was $74 and whose exacta was $139 (which is pretty low considering what a longshot he was, because of Smarty's 1-5).
It's nice that the first day of marathon training is a rest day.
