The best racing handicapper in the family title is not only earned and rewarded on the racetrack, but sometimes in the back rooms where the nuts and bolts of the game are dissected. For me, my place as the best racing handicapper in the family took a back seat to my brother Michael before the Breeders’ Cup on Friday at Santa Anita.
Michael basically introduced me into this great sport. He was a student of the game long before I knew which end of a horse to pay attention to. Mike graduated from college with a major in economics, so the dollar signs were in place. He worked at the Calder Race Course in Florida when he was a young man and learned about the reality of horseracing and how little things make a difference.
Believe me, the title of best racing handicapper in the family is not awarded easily. I came from a gambling family. On any given Saturday when I was growing up, there were apt to be two or three cards games, a ping pong match and a dart game going on simultaneously. All the games stopped when the feature race from Aqueduct or Belmont Park was airing on TV and a betting pool was immediately opened.
A couple of hours before post time last Friday, I got a call from Mike, who always has been the best racing handicapper in the family. He started out telling me he has already made his selections for the Friday Breeders’ Cup card and it was my job to tell him where he was wrong.
That has never been my calling card. That is why they run them and that is why every single opinion about a race must be respected. There can be no thing as a bad decision if it is made with intelligent research, the facts and all of the pertinent information at hand.
The first Breeders’ Cup race on Friday was wide-open and neither Mike or myself had a good line on the race. I told him I liked the favorite Good Samaritan, but the runner had to overcome his post 11. Good Samaritan tried hard but was forced to steady and had to settle for a third.
In the Breeders’ Cup Fillies Turf, I had settled on recent $1.6 million purchase Spain Burg. The runner was dull early when wide and finished tenth and my attempt to being the best racing handicapper in the family was waning by the minute. Mike liked the 12-1 shot Rymska and although the runner was wide the length of the stretch she was beaten less than two lengths for third.
The Distaff, Mike and I agreed, was basically a three-horse race. I had Songbird with Beholder second, Mike had Stellar Wind, who was just not herself and finished a dull fourth. Beholder won in a photo finish.
The best racing handicapper in the family got paid in the Dirt Mile. The million-dollar event boasted a prohibitive a favorite in Dortmund, whom I liked and clearly thought was a standout.
How wrong can one be? Mike, on the other hand, looked for value and got it. He tabbed the fourth longest shot on the board in Tamarkuz and then watched as the son of Speightstown acted up at the gate and looked very nervous. Tamarkuz broke a step slowly, was hung out five wide, was coaxed along with left-handed rousing and drew off to win.
A pick like Tamarkuz takes courage. The runner had not won all year. He was a multiple Group 3 winner in Dubai and he had won 7 of 13 before last Friday. He had not ducked anybody in his career in the United States as he chased the unbeaten A. P. Indian and other Grade 1 winners. Mike obviously saw that Tamarkuz had a couple of recent races under his belt and was set for a peak performance.
The Kiaran McLaughlin student paid $25.80. The racer keyed a $1 superfecta that paid over $2,600 and Mike was on his way to a very nice afternoon.
Tamarkuz was pointed to the Dirt Mile for a distinct reason. McLaughlin had options as far as the race was concerned. He could have easily started his stable star Frosted but had enough confidence that Tamarkuz would carry the day.
Pace makes the race, it always has and always will and Tamarkuz got a break when the pace was fast in the Dirt Mile. Runhappy dueled Dortmund into submission and that opened up the door for Tamarkuz and Mike’s title as best racing handicapper in the family.
As the Chicago Cubs fans USED to say, ‘there is always next year’. Even though I had a successful betting day on the Saturday Breeders’ Cup card, that Cubs adage will be my motto next season.
