Brother-in-law and I ventured out to the investment bank known as Oaklawn on Saturday afternoon. We had modest results, so we may still both safely be numbered in the working stiffs category.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a live horse race, though we go to Oaklawn for simulcast wagering on nearly every visit here. Live racing is much better than simulcast, and also drives home the point that my greatest handicap in wagering is, well, my handicapping. I can still read the racing form OK, the small print notwithstanding. Then I struggle over all the strategies that can be applied to this small mountain of data, the “going up in class” ploy, the “going down in class” idea, the “bid, but hung” angle for the last race, the switch from turf to dirt, and on and on. So it was probably fitting that I adopted a simple stategy; I boxed a near-favorite and a resonable, though longer odds horse in an exacta bet, and then bet the longer shot to win. 6 bucks per race, and hence a maximum $54 outlay over the 9 race card.

And the method bore fruit in the 4^th race, as a 10-3 exacta fetched $54.40. And again in the 6^th, as the 1-5 exacta brought another $21.60. This last win was the outcome of a 1-5-12 exacta box bet; had the 12 horse at least showed, this would have been a nice little ticket to cash. It is worth noting that both these races were maiden claiming races, and hence there was a paucity of data on these lightly-raced horses. So maybe pure dumb luck was my source of success. The money’s just as green, though. We left after the 6^th; the hardness of the concrete, and the chill of the day got to us. As it was, I walked out $18 ahead, after paying admission, program, eats, drinks, and wagers. Any day in the black is a good day.

Frequent commenter James left a coment on my last post, wherein he requested that I place a bet on the 5 horse in the 4^th. I’d have happily placed the wager on Mrs Stoner Creek, who, if memory serves¹, went off at 15-1 or so, 2 pounds overweight, and wound up in 5^th or 6^th. I’ll probably head back there today, where the 5 in the 4^th is named Meeither; morning line is 6-1, with the comment:

Meeither won twice here last year with better speed ratings than most in the field and may surprise today in deep stretch.

So, I’ll probably have the ladies drop me by the track this afternoon; brother-in-law will walk down the hill from his job(he’s working today), and meet me. More yarns will be spun. More wagers will be made. More lies will be told.

This is great!

-k-