Horse Racing

I went to Turf Paradise this morning to try my luck at the game of horse racing. This is a game that is likely to give you a nervous breakdown fast if you don't decide how you are going to play it. Del Mar had a huge pick 6 that was reaching 4 million dollars and so I decided to go to the track to see what is happening...a good thing I did as I ran into a nice man there who helped me to understand a lot of things about the horseracing game through his contacts and his knowledge of it. He is one of those who learns who the owners and trainers are as well as the jockeys. He is a regular who went to Cortez High School when I was a teacher there. I have seen his photo in the school yearbook thanks to a former student there who let me see the books.

I am really very good at picking horses but am often lousy when it comes to betting...I sometimes do not bet when I should and I then bet when I should not. So at that rate, I get very upset with myself, and I seem to have a win today, lose tomorrow record which does make me annoyed as well.

I am one of the most superstitious people about horses that there is on the planet, but this man Tom today told me about the track veterinarians and the kind of medicine that they administer to the horses (drugs frankly which he says is legal) Yeah sure, but so what, on small tracks the tracks cannot afford to test for drugs so they can get by with it and do, so that the thing to know is which trainers have the money to pay the vets to doctor their horses...that really told me a lot as well, as frankly, nobody really cares about anything but winning and so the heck with the health and care of the horses...it taught me a lot while I also confided in my stories about watching horses and studying their body language. Tom won three times this afternoon so he left a happy camper, and I left not a bit happy as I have to wait til tomorrow for the quarter horse races at Ruidoso Downs to try to get a superfecta and I have to decide which otb place to go to place my bets. I guess I will go to Tempe since it requires only a short trip.

It was way too long for me today and I will not pull that trick again for awhile.

So I guess I finally learned the truth about the real world of horseracing as they do try to keep it clean (supposedly) in the larger tracks, but the cost of testing is prohibitive so even there it would have to be a serious matter to do it. However, I remember hearing a story about how an owner here actually went to court over a call by the stewards on a horse that had to be disallowed. Strange stories abound here at this track.

I intend to go to an otb for this million dollar race at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

It is a race where the two favorites should win rightfully so. It should go 7 and 4, or Double Down Special and Apollitical Jess, the two top horses competing. But there are a few others who will make it interesting to say the least: Streakin Down, Smoking Stone, and Favorite Cartel are the three other horses to consider in exotic bettings like the trifecta, superfecta, and there is also a daily double and pick 3 bet to consider. If the favorite Double Down Special makes it, then all is well. But he was beaten last time out by Apollitical Jess who has had a lot of trouble in previous meets, so this is a rematch by which most expect that Double Down Special is the most likely to win.

Don't count on it is right, as I just heard a little voice whisper...in horse racing, anything can and usually does happen. A real upset would be if one of the others got the break instead and so one cannot do anything but be prepared!

That is why horse racing is so nervewracking! It is all a number's game, and so I am hoping that I will make the right decisions about how to play this one, and come out of it with the right bet!

Someone will make a lot of money tomorrow...and it most likely will not be the average joe at the window!