Spring Games
Just like Midnight Madness and the first two-a-days of the football season, the Spring Meet at Churchill starts on Saturday, and kicks off the biggest week in Louisville. Not only that, but it leaves us with a huge Friday at Keeneland, where every race has overflow fields sure to make for big payouts but tougher handicapping. Speaking of tough handicapping, I’m taking a beating, but we got one more shot at it this Friday!
Total Bets: $318.00 Status: Down 64.10
Keeneland Picks Friday April 25
Race 1: Shining Moment (5/1)…minus the video montage
Race 2: Kathy’s Lil Cat (5/1)…any “cat” horse gets completely bet down by all the sorority chicks at Keeneland
Race 3: Extraordinary Times (15/1)…Keeneland, in a nutshell
Race 4: Valtrus (4/1)
Race 5: Alluring Tune (4/1)
Race 6: Bullara (3/1)
Race 7: Fiesty Fiz (20/1)
Race 8: Baffled (6/1)…that’s me by the end of this meet
Race 9: True Cause (7/2)
Race 10: Compromise (7/2)
I’m all about the value of not taking the favorite, and it has been beneficial at Keeneland, but to go ahead and make excuses for the upcoming meet at Churchill, it’s much tougher to beat the chalk in Louisville. Still, we’ll do our best with the connections and see if we can’t beat up on the favorites.
Churchill Picks April 26
Race 1: Four Peaks (6/1)…that crappy show with Kyle Maclachlan times two
Race 2: Tarva (3/1)…one letter off of the greatest character in comedic cinema
Race 3: Pursuing (8/1)
Race 4: Cielo Song (7/2)
Race 5: Q Mac’s Phone (7/2)…what Tracy McGrady uses to drunk-dial chicks
Race 6: Insure (5/2)
Race 7: Lantern (10/1)
Race 8: Email (6/1)
Race 9: Bold Start (5/1)
Derby Trial: Majestic Warrior (5/1)…in honor of #44
Race 11: Lead Time (7/2)
Seeing as how there are nine days till Derby, here’s my Top Ten (and if you don’t like it, I want to see yours now, not after the Derby…that’s lame):
10. Gayego: weak Arkansas Derby, but winning it has to count for something
9. Tale of Ekati: same as Gayego, but he won a Grade I; his biggest effect on the Derby will be that he knocked out War Pass (unintentionally, of course)
8. Pyro: you can blame the Polytrack, but tenth place is tough to swallow
7. Adriano: really like the fact that Prado chose him over Monba and Tale of Ekati
6. Eight Belles: I slammed her owner for taking up a Derby spot, but the pub around her is building momentum
5. Colonel John: great stretch run in a big prep, I just don’t trust the California speed
4. Recapturetheglory: eerily similar to War Emblem in his final time, running style, and the wide open Derby field
3. Monba: the Bluegrass gave us Street Sense last year, and I like him on the Churchill dirt way more than I do Cowboy Cal
2. Court Vision: runs every race the same — rolling in at third place and looking like he wants more distance; must avoid trouble
1. Big Brown: lightly raced, but so was Barbaro; also, was able to win the Florida Derby from a post farther outside than Barbaro’s; I also like that Dutrow wants to gun him for the lead.
Enjoy the last day at Keeneland, boys and girls, and save some money for Derby!
