DrugSalvastore
10-14-2005, 03:48 PM
The only kind of "touts" that I try to seek out, and want to hear, are....
#1. How well thought of is a lightly raced horse or a first-time starter? When multiple creditable sources tell you how exciting and talented an unraced horse is, the horse will probably win for fun and pay nothing. It's good to know this kind of stuff really---because if you like horses in previous races, you know you can single the hyped FTS with confidence.
Examples of this from this year include...
* What A Song. I heard from a So. Cal clocker who isn't prone to hyperbole, that this horse was "as talented as they get at this age." On top of that, a tout who co-hosts a West Coast radio show insisted that the horse was "freakish, and probably worth the money." He won his debut under a death grip, future Del Mar Futurity winner Stevie Wonderboy was 2nd in that maiden race. What A Song captured two Graded Stakes in his next two starts and than died.
* First Samuri. I was given a very strong story about how awesome this horse is the day before he debuted. I was blown away that such strong hype was coming from this barn---since they are the same connections who had the freakishly fast Madcap Escapade---and she was utterly ignored in the betting in her debut on opening day at Gulfstream Park. First Samuri won at 1-to-2 odds over 11 other horses in a Churchill maiden. He will go favorite in the Juvie.
#2. Is there anything real unique about a horse that I should know?
*I'll use a graded stakes placed horse named Traci Girl, a filly who I hotwalked on a couple of occasions when I was learning from her trainer. She's a 'non-sweater.' Any horse that is a non-sweater will be more effective racing in the winter--and probably shouldn't even be racing at all in the summer or hot weather. Traci Girl was laid off for the summer by Bruce Levine, and returned to run 2nd as the beaten favorite in a 60K stake at Monmouth in Mid-September. She's obviously the type of horse who will run better in the cold.
#3. How well or poorly is a horse progressing on the comeback?
*If a horse suffered an injury or setback---I'd like to get some feedback from the stable as to how well the horse is bouncing back. A lot of times, you'll lack the connections to get all the feedback you want---but in somecases, just watching the toteboard early on can tip you off.
If anyone tells me they like a horse off of handicapping---I'll listen to what they have to say, but never will I let that stuff effect my decision making.
I've never had anything close to a lucrative score off of another man's tout. I was told that Myakovsky was a "complete freak" before he debuted at Saratoga, by someone who would know, and because of that I singled him aggressively and cashed a series of cold pick 3 tickets. I was thankful he told me how strong he felt the horse would be---but I think he would have been very offended if I would have offered him a cash tip for telling me about that horse.
#1. How well thought of is a lightly raced horse or a first-time starter? When multiple creditable sources tell you how exciting and talented an unraced horse is, the horse will probably win for fun and pay nothing. It's good to know this kind of stuff really---because if you like horses in previous races, you know you can single the hyped FTS with confidence.
Examples of this from this year include...
* What A Song. I heard from a So. Cal clocker who isn't prone to hyperbole, that this horse was "as talented as they get at this age." On top of that, a tout who co-hosts a West Coast radio show insisted that the horse was "freakish, and probably worth the money." He won his debut under a death grip, future Del Mar Futurity winner Stevie Wonderboy was 2nd in that maiden race. What A Song captured two Graded Stakes in his next two starts and than died.
* First Samuri. I was given a very strong story about how awesome this horse is the day before he debuted. I was blown away that such strong hype was coming from this barn---since they are the same connections who had the freakishly fast Madcap Escapade---and she was utterly ignored in the betting in her debut on opening day at Gulfstream Park. First Samuri won at 1-to-2 odds over 11 other horses in a Churchill maiden. He will go favorite in the Juvie.
#2. Is there anything real unique about a horse that I should know?
*I'll use a graded stakes placed horse named Traci Girl, a filly who I hotwalked on a couple of occasions when I was learning from her trainer. She's a 'non-sweater.' Any horse that is a non-sweater will be more effective racing in the winter--and probably shouldn't even be racing at all in the summer or hot weather. Traci Girl was laid off for the summer by Bruce Levine, and returned to run 2nd as the beaten favorite in a 60K stake at Monmouth in Mid-September. She's obviously the type of horse who will run better in the cold.
#3. How well or poorly is a horse progressing on the comeback?
*If a horse suffered an injury or setback---I'd like to get some feedback from the stable as to how well the horse is bouncing back. A lot of times, you'll lack the connections to get all the feedback you want---but in somecases, just watching the toteboard early on can tip you off.
If anyone tells me they like a horse off of handicapping---I'll listen to what they have to say, but never will I let that stuff effect my decision making.
I've never had anything close to a lucrative score off of another man's tout. I was told that Myakovsky was a "complete freak" before he debuted at Saratoga, by someone who would know, and because of that I singled him aggressively and cashed a series of cold pick 3 tickets. I was thankful he told me how strong he felt the horse would be---but I think he would have been very offended if I would have offered him a cash tip for telling me about that horse.