Saratoga Monday (8/12) "Later Races"

[rrbauer]

Later Races 8/12

R4
No clue

R5
Unless one of the firsters is fast, this looks like Fast Cookie. 5/2 on the line and will be shorter.

I'm going to just give you my P4 play. Usually, I do a six-ticket play. I designate contenders as either "A" or "B", with "A" being primary. A combination must have at least two "A" horses (out of the four) but can have three or four. This results in the six tickets with multiple combinations. I have a program that throws them together in tickets for me, but the arrangement algorithm is as follows (each line is a ticket for Legs 1-2-3-4):

A's&B's with A's with A's with A's&B's
A's with A's with B's with A's&B's
A's with B's with A's with A's&B's
B's with A's with B's with A's
B's with B's with A's with A's
A's with B's with B's with A's

R6
2-World (B)
3-Shagwong (A)
6-Robbie's (B)
8-Irish (A)

R7
1-Sluice (A)
2-Softly (B)
5-Amaretta (B)
6-Miss (A)
7-Vespers (B)

R8
1-Ella (B)
2-Stellar (A)
4-Awesome (A)
5-Holiday (B)

R9
1-Just (A)
2-Oatka (A)
3-Senor (A)
8-Proster (B)

OK. So these will work out to a total of 240 combinations on six tickets. However, I remove some combinations that are predominantly favorites. Today I'm removing any combination (the program does this for me) that has more than 2 ML favs on it. The ML favs are 8-2-4-1 in the respective races. That gets the bet down to $226. (This fragments the play and requires more tickets--today 15 tickets for a total of $226.) This is more than some folks like to put into a P4 (including myself). However, I've found that since I'm not as tuned in to the NYRA circuit as I am to SoCal that I have to use more contenders to give myself a decent shot at hitting.

Go Baby Go!

[Bubbles]

Hey...

No problem with your picks. But is it just me or is the rail benefiting the Saratoga horses this year? Whenever I pick an exacta box with two horses, and one pick is the two horse and the other is the six horse (in, say, a seven-horse field), the two usually gives me a better run. Any other opinions?

[rrbauer]

Later Races 8/12

R4
(No clue)Result Didn’t Watch it!

R5
(Unless one of the firsters is fast, this looks like Fast Cookie. 5/2 on the line and will be shorter.) Result Fast Cookie looked an absolute “picture” on the track. So with 1 MTP, even money looked good to me. Then 4/5 when they’re in the gate and 3/5 when they’re running. ‘Cookie tracked while wide early came up to the lead into the turn, took over, drew out and then got “late”. Firster Fircroft with Pay Day up came out of the clouds and got the win at like 15-1. Never a hint on the board that this one could run like that.

R6
(2-World (B) 3-Shagwong (A) 6-Robbie's (B) 8-Irish (A) )
Result Irish tracked a hideously slow pace and came on for the win in mid stretch.

R7
(1-Sluice (A) 2-Softly (B) 5-Amaretta (B) 6-Miss (A) 7-Vespers (B) )
Result Sluice got a great trip, tracked into the stretch and battled a game Dreamers Glory right to the wire to get the win. Vespers closed wide for 3rd. Softly Tread got a horrible trip. Two “A” contenders home in the P4, but now I have to beat some favs in the last two if I’m going to get the P4 (limited myself to 2 ML favs in the 4 races).

R8
(1-Ella (B) 2-Stellar (A) 4-Awesome (A) 5-Holiday (B) )
Result Awesome Humor was awesome and my P4 went down and that’s not funny! Stellar made a wide belated run (What was that dumb rush that Chavez made between horses up the backside? Where did he think he was going?) and was clear for 2nd.

R9
(1-Just (A) 2-Oatka (A) 3-Senor (A) 8-Proster (B) )
Result Senor Mac and Bags are Packed ding-donged from the break to the wire with ‘Bags getting the win by a neck. ‘Joe ran a little up the backside as did ‘Oatka down on the inside. Proster tracked in the 4 path inside of Gran Sasso (3rd) but was empty off the turn.

Speed looked very good to me today. Inside looked better than outside but speed anywhere drawn looked best.