Slipping through the Gulfstream..Park that is

Not much to talk about last week's results.  The scratch of Jersey Town in the Cigar upset all of my best laid plans.  I still thought the filly, Groupie Doll, was beatable.  Turns out she was, barely.  I would've preferred to do the beating with Hymn Book.  Picking Stay Thirsty to do the job required no inspiration and paid accordingly.  Unfortunately, Hymn Book chose to take the day off too.  The only difference is, at least Jersey Town called in sick.

The Pago Hop at Fair Grounds turned out somewhat better.  Not as good as was hoped for but better. Zapper Belle was 10-1 in the morning line, but she couldn't fool the betting public who made her the 3rd choice at 4-1.  Unfortunately for the betting public, the 2-1 favorite Drama Drama ran the entire race 3 to 5 wide, and 7-2 second choice Ire did not take to grass as well as I had hoped.  While I'm on the topic, while Rosie Napravnik is as fine a jockey as there is right now and will certainly win more than her share of races, everything she is sitting on is getting over bet.  Ire probably fit in that category as well.  As expected, Soonerette led the way for 6 furlongs and spit the bit without finding the courage or the stamina to be a factor at the end.

All that said, if you had my top choices in vertical bets, you didn't fare too well.  Hopefully you had a win ticket on Zapper Belle.  Personally, I had moved to pick 4 mode by this part of the day and did not get hurt by the failure of Drama Drama and Ire to get the job done.  I did get the pick 4, but with 3 favorites making up the other 3 legs and a mere 4-1 winning this leg, it was nothing to shout about.

This Saturday I'll stay with Fair Grounds.  Most of the races are for cheap horses, so there may be some interesting opportunities arise there.  Also I will be setting up shop at Gulfstream Park which will feature the Claiming Crown races on its opening day card.  I have always found the Claiming Crown races to be quite inscrutable, so it should be an interesting and possibly very profitable day.
Check back on Saturday for Claiming Crown picks.