Somewhat Annoying with Pockets of Fantastic
A game Circular Quay training with Pleasant Strike at Belmont October 2006 (Sarah K. Andrew)
My apologies for all the typos in my rush job of a picks post… as usual I waited just a bit too long to before starting the post, not that unlike Evening Attire out of the gate!
While I didn’t have a stellar day (I’ve had worse), I did manage to cash 2 tickets, predict Daytona would show, Pyro would win and unexpectedly got to see a glimmer of hope for the handicap division!
As I feared, Euroears was the real deal… and an impressive real deal at that. I’m looking to forward to seeing him again, no doubt in graded company.
The New Orleans Handicap was both annoying and fantastic. During the parade I had noticed that Circular Quay looked great, really sharp and ready to go… Brass Hat on the other hand looked like he was ready for a nap. I literally laughed out loud but decided to keep with my plan (like an idiot), which was to box Silver Lord (who dumped his rider out of the gate) and Brass Hat… end annoying part.
With no Silver Lord it was Grasshopper and Magna Graduate setting the fractions. At one point Magna Graduate took over but a hard held Circular Quay was uncorked at the top of the stretch and the fantastic part of the race unfurled! What a stretch duel, going back and forth between them… Circular Quay is back on form!
It was fitting that his win came on the same day as the Louisiana Derby, the site of his last victory. As the guy beside me said, “now maybe Pletcher won’t be afraid to run him at two turns.” I should also mention that I had Reporting for Duty across the board, which didn’t even pay for the ticket since he showed (I didn’t really think that one through… back to annoying).
Moving on, I overlooked the winner of the Mervyn Muniz but had noted that he liked yielding turf and had won off taking a month off. I did have French Beret across the board, which significantly cut into my loses and as predicted Daytona set the fractions and then dropped. It looked like French Beret could have caught Proudinsky with a bit more distance.
For fun I boxed Acacia and Wisconsin Girl… what if Indian Blessing and Proud Spell had unseated their riders too? Go Proud Spell! I thought she would do it in the Silverbulletday but she did it today and she did it with authority.
As for the Louisiana Derby, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I would wagered differently had I thought J Be K would rate against soft fractions. I dismissed both My Pal Charlie and Yankee Bravo thinking that they needed a slower pace to perform well. At least I can take some solace in getting that right! Instead I put Pyro over Blackberry Road and Unbridled Vicar thinking they would benefit from a fast pace. Ugh. I also exacta boxed J Be K, Majestic Warrior and Tale of Ekati… basically my wildcard box.
Losing tickets aside, Pyro turned in a nice performance… I can’t wait to see him and War Pass duke it out! I’m willing to give Take of Ekati and Majestic Warrior another race, that wasn’t exactly the easiest spot for a debut.
Posted by dana on Mar 08 2008
Filed Under: Wrap Up, Majestic Warrior, Fairgrounds, 2008, Proud Spell, Indian Blessing, Sarah K. Andrew, Grasshopper, Derby Trail, Gambling, Handicapping, Circular Quay, Come Back, Racing
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