Monday Notes

I went to Woodbine Saturday night. The upstairs was pretty dead, but the slot machines were busy. I hung around down there for awhile. It must be maddening for Woodbine at times. I heard about five times from a bartender "no you must finish your beer before ordering another one" to people. Not to mention when a husband comes up to the bar to order a beer and a drink for him and his wife he can't, because the other person has to be with him. The Ontario government loves slot money. But they don't want anyone to know they are in the gambling business, so they create these little rules. I guess it makes them feel better, and that they are above nasty gambling. For gosh sakes, those machines can suck the life out of some people. Let them triple fist Corona's and wash them down with a shooter if they want to.

Ramegade Bruiser was beaten by Secret's Nephew in the Open pace. I don't think the Bruiser will beat Secret's again this meet, all things being equal.

In the runners, the grapefruit horse won a stake at Santa Anita on cruise control. People get giddy this time of year about 3YO's beating up on sub par competition. We know when the chips are down and a horse can run with them it can be another story, but I was impressed with this horse. He has a bit of a funky action (in my opinion) but he looked dang good. Video here.

This One's For Phil, the Dutrow horse who improved like six thousand lengths off the barn change, got an easy lead and faded in his stakes engagement. Bettors made this horse a 100-1 shot to win the Derby. Those odds should not have been surprising.

The Jockey Club Fact Book is out for 2009. We can click anytime we want on the handle graph. No worries, racing is hard at work on it. I think they are going to start a commission.

Cangamble has a great post on breakage. Either we use an abacus to compute prices in 2009, or someone wants horseplayers money. Your guess?

Question: We often hear from folks that racing needs you to lose, and they want you to lose quickly as they will make more moola. What gambling company thinks the exact opposite? A successful one.

Ok, we have a horse. We paid $13,000 for him at a sale as a three year old (he winked at me and I put up my hand). We've lost money with him every year. He hurt himself a bit last year and had some time off, but he made it back to the races last night. Why in the hell would we keep a horse we lose money on for four years and get excited every time he races? I have no idea, but we do. Thanks to Peter for the picture. This horse struts around like he is a world champion. We don't tell him that he isn't.

Simply Mavelous! She's a blog contributor and reader's horse. She wins in stunning style and pays $68 at Woodbine Friday. I bet her the start before this at 6 or 7 to 1. This time I stayed away. I expect a check in the mail for not putting the kibosh on her this week :)

Should be a big handle at Woodbine tonight (Monday). Mountaineer cancelled due to weather, as did a couple of other tracks. The only three tracks in North America to go tonight are Woodbine, Northfield and Pompano.