Gotta Love Sam Houston...

[sq764]

I have found myself getting excited more and more every year for the Sam Houston meet. I live in Delaware, and am surrounded by Delaware Park, Monmouth, Meadowlands, Belmont, Aqueduct, Saratoga... and with all that, I think Sam Houston is the best track for the bettor in the country..

Tonight they have a 10 race card, with 98 horses entered, only 3 scratches on the card.. And is there anything better for a longshot player like myself than a 12 horse claiming field??

Not to mention the 12% pick 3's, supers like every race it seems, and the excellent calls of Michael Chamberlain..


Sorry for the rambling.. I guess I just wish they would race all year long!!

[Zaf]

I agree with you 1000 %. I have been betting Sam Houston regularly for the past 3 years. They have had big fields consistently during that time. It is definately my favorite track to bet.

ZAFONIC

[PurplePower]

And then we have the Great State Challenge day and depend on breed associations from the "Big" racing states and wind up with one of smallest cards we have had this year. Probably a day of chalk - but this track is sometimes not kind to runners shipping in and not getting a work over the surface. Maybe Hannah's Royalrock in the Juvy fillies and Won CC in the sprint can help us make some money.

PS -- I am not going to say it, because we have one more race to go yet -- but there is somthing that hasn't happened yet tonight and we might go 0-for-10 for the first time this meeting.

[GR1@HTR]

Yeah, Tx racing (Ret, LS, HOU) rules as far as field sizes. PurplePower, what up w/ the gate loading shots before the races. Someone needs to Windex the camera lens on that thing. Looks like a there is a dense fog at the track every time I see that camera view...

[PurplePower]

Remeber GR1 -- we're only 60 miles from the Gulf. Sometimes that IS fog. :D I will pass that on to our TV and sound guys. Maybe a little windex will help.

Hey -- you guys notice we went OH-fer-tin in the rider change derby? Did have one scratched at the gate, but no rider change. Can we go 0-fer-20?

[Holy Bull]

Sam Houston is definately one of the best things going. My only beef is that they have these great 12% takeout p3's,
and the pools are too small to make a serious investment in them. Wish they'd advertise them more or do something to get the pool sizes higher.

[so.cal.fan]

12% takout on pick threes????
I didn't know that! I'll say they need to get that out there.
My God! That's almost a license to steal for good handicappers.
All you guys with phone accounts or near that track....please support this.......it is very important to put this message out to the other tracks.

[delayjf]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that it was one of the TX tracks (Houston???) that boosted the highest avg win mutuel payoffs. Yet another good reason to play that circuit.

[cj]

My guess would be that would be closely related to the tracks with the largest average field size.

CJ

[so.cal.fan]

I wish I lived in Texas!

[Zaf]

Another plus (for me at least) is that they run at night. Thats very nice for us working guys.

ZAFONIC

[dav4463]

I play Sam Houston every day. Last year it was the top longshot track in the country. So far this year, it seems that more chalk has been winning, but it can change anytime. Also there have been many horses that I thought would be longshots going off way below their morning line odds. Still though, a great track to play.

[GR1@HTR]

http://www.homebased2.com/km/longshotchart.htm

[superfecta]

Originally posted by Holy Bull
Sam Houston is definately one of the best things going. My only beef is that they have these great 12% takeout p3's,
and the pools are too small to make a serious investment in them. Wish they'd advertise them more or do something to get the pool sizes higher. Uh,hows that HB?If you are a decent handicapper ,I would think if you win enough to turn a profit,its all good,no matter the pool size or takeout %.But if you have to "buy "the race,no matter how much you win its a bad bet.

[Holy Bull]

It has nothing to do with handicapping nor the take. They have 6k pick 3 pools tops most of the time.
Say there are 6 winning tickets, with a 12% take they'd pay $880 each. Now say you played it and hit it. The $880 payoff is now $754 (plus a little more depending on how much you put in). The depressed odds of any ticket you cash can easily outweigh the benefits of the lower take.

[Zaf]

Originally posted by dav4463
Also there have been many horses that I thought would be longshots going off way below their morning line odds. Still though, a great track to play.

Many times I had a ML 8-1 or 10-1 that I am excited about, and then I check the tote and he's hovering around 2-1. This meet I loved an 8-1 morning line shot coming out of a very fast race and I received a paltry $5.00 win mutuel.

I am not complaining but perhaps the ML maker is not using the same sophisticated computerized programs that we are. I had a 9-2 ML standout (in my opinion) last night and only received a $5.40 payoff and had to sweat a bit at the wire.

ZAFONIC

[GR1@HTR]

If you like large fields, check out DED as well. I like MNR but the weather there is a little nutty. If I recall correctly, earlier in the year they went 60 days without a fast track...ie it was wet, sloppy or whatever for 2 months straight...

[Zaf]

Originally posted by GR1
If you like large fields, check out DED as well. I like MNR but the weather there is a little nutty. If I recall correctly, earlier in the year they went 60 days without a fast track...ie it was wet, sloppy or whatever for 2 months straight...

Ded is a bullring , & like CT the maximum field is 10.

Never liked those Bull Rings.

ZAFONIC

[superfecta]

Originally posted by Holy Bull
It has nothing to do with handicapping nor the take. They have 6k pick 3 pools tops most of the time.
Say there are 6 winning tickets, with a 12% take they'd pay $880 each. Now say you played it and hit it. The $880 payoff is now $754 (plus a little more depending on how much you put in). The depressed odds of any ticket you cash can easily outweigh the benefits of the lower take. I can agree with that.I was thinking you were talking about the type of play that buys multiple combos so that you would be trying to win the bet as opposed to making a profit.Remington has small super pools(around 5-6 k)but if you play small logical bets its still possible to make money.

[sq764]

I am not sure how anyone can dispute the lucrative pick 3 payouts with the 12% takeout.. Now, when I say lucrative, I am not talking $5000 pick 3's, but rather $100 pick 3's that should pay $60..

I seriouosly hit a pick 3 at Sam Houston with a 9/5, 3/1, 2/1 that paid $93.. In New York that pays about $20?

[hdcper]

SQ764,

That payoff of $20 at NY seems very questionable, since a three race parlay alone would have paid a minimum of $67.20!!!

For example:

Race one returns $5.60, so next race should return

2.8 times $8.00 = $22.40, so next race should return

11.2 times $6.00 = $67.20

Note: that is assuming no change on the 3/1 and 2/1 payoffs so worse case.

However, I do realize some pick 3's do return worse than a parlay, but no quite that severe in my opinion.

Hdcper

[PurplePower]

Don't have time to chit chat as I am on my way to track for our only afternoon card of this meeting. Pick three's do day well with the lower takeout - and I'd love for pools to be higher also. Pick four is another horse all together - and not one I care to ride - 25% take out to start and then 25 % to consolation pool -- Pick three is much better value. I'm going to do a "paddock evaluation" type of post parade today - and for you guys on the Music thread -- I will definitely bring that thread to one of our meetings --- I turn the music OFF in my Fan ed room.
They are calling me to the track -- good luck everybody

[Handle]

Hey Reid -- Thanks, appreciate you putting the word in. A bunch of us had a blast - and made some cash, playing HOU on-line last night. I did miss the start (and the opportunity to wager) because I had to have my sound off on the vid and didn't hear the calls to post.

Have a great day - you guys have some fun races today.

-Nathan

[cj]

PurplePower,

Who's dumb idea to go with the same colored saddle cloths? Not too swift IMO!

CJ

[Tom]

Originally posted by cjmilkowski
PurplePower,

Who's dumb idea to go with the same colored saddle cloths? Not too swift IMO!

CJ

Probably someone's nephew who got his job with no qualifications. Or an idiot. You make the call. Both run rampant at race tracks.

[BillW]

Originally posted by Tom
Probably someone's nephew who got his job with no qualifications. Or an idiot. You make the call. Both run rampant at race tracks.

The ones I saw today from the rail had the NTRA logo predominately displayed on them (Hint, Hint ...)

Ya know, That's the first thought that struck me also.

Bill

[PurplePower]

Originally posted by cjmilkowski
Who's dumb idea to go with the same colored saddle cloths? Not too swift IMO! CJ

That was your NTRA dues at work. They wanted to put the state name on the saddle cloths but would have had to buy too many of each post color for that. Was tough on me preparing for paddock preview because all the grooms had on the same colored (blue) vests as they were walking the horses while waiting for time to enter saddling stalls. There is apparently still some "old" blood in racing (fancy that) that believes the solid colored saddle towels look "classier". I personally think that the classiest way to go is to have sharp post position colored saddle towels.

[BillW]

I hate to see the only comments posted about todays card at HOU being negative this late in the day so here goes:


Things went very well from the customer perspective (PP may have a different view:) ). The place never seemed "over crowded" and there were enough tellers and machines spread around (at least where I was hanging out) to make it appear as if the lines to wager were not intolerable. We even demonstrated some Tx hospitality by having a 4-entry race to make PVal and Corey N. feel right at home ... I think they were stoked (you could tell they were freaking a bit when looking at a mostly full gate the first three NTRA races ;) )

The weather co-operated (mostly sunny w/high thin clouds - slight chill in the air) and despite all the defections, a great day overall ... a record $5MM handle and that may have been the first bridge jumping (PP ?) in HOU history (twice in one day!).

Bill

[PurplePower]

Originally posted by BillW
a record $5MM handle and that may have been the first bridge jumping (PP ?) in HOU history (twice in one day!).

Actually we had THREE bridge jumpings --- how about those show payoffs in the classic. Sammy got some of the $88K back that SHRP had to ante up for Take Charge Lady's jumpers. (Eagle Lake also had a negative show pool in the first even though that was more like jumping off the curb compared to the other two.)

I agree Bill that SHRP handled the crowd -- and were prepared for more. Time between races was enough for us to enjoy the races and not have to rush to get to windows as soon as one race was over. Several background things could be improved and some definite improvement in the handling of future entries is possible (if NTRA decides to continue - those decisions about entries was theirs).

I loved going to the barns each morning - visiting with Patrick Byrne, Hanne Jorgenson ("Lady"), Jose (Mystic Lady), Nicholas (Forbidden Apple), etc. One interesting note -- Filly that won Juvy Fillies was ONLY runner that shipped in (she came in Wednesday) that did NOT set foot on the track until today's race.

Tomorrow I am driving to Baton Rouge then down for a quick visit with my son at FG. (He is assistant trainer for Hal Wiggns.)

[BillW]

Originally posted by PurplePower
Actually we had THREE bridge jumpings --- how about those show payoffs in the classic.



I musta slept though that one ... guess I was still numb from seeing at least 2 $100K bombs tossed into the Distaff pool.

[Boris]

Our group played against the bridge jumpers the first two times with Eagle Lake and TCL, then managed to sleep through the double Asmussen flop. Oh well. Had a really nice time. After saying hello to Dr. M, I was delighted to find our table was right on the finish line of the 2nd floor on the top level. The connections for Continental Red were just below and in front of us. Didn't know that until they showed up in the winners circle after the race, and we're sorry about rooting for a DQ to save our exacta ticket. ;) Upstairs was not too crowded. Plenty of tellers made it very easy to get your bets placed. Thought the placed looked great, the people were friendly as always, and the racing was fun albeit very predictable at times. Loved seeing the horses and jockeys. I had a blast.