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Old 01-19-2021, 10:24 PM   #1
PIC6SIX
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Cool YOUR BIGGEST HIT

Many of us have had some nice hits over the years. Any volunteers wishing to describe what type of bet they cashed, $total cashed, and how they deciphered the play and handicapping info utilized.
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Old 01-20-2021, 06:59 AM   #2
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Many will dwarf me in the $$$ area but a few remain memorable:

A horse I owned was running at Hawthorne and I singled him in the 3rd leg of the pick 4. He won at 9-2 and I hit the pick 4 for $4,200 after the next race. Funny enough, the pick 4 and my win bet paid more than the net winning share of the purse!! I also had taken the L and the bus to Hawthorne that day so that was fun hoofing back to the L down Cicero with the cash in my pocket.

The year after I was playing Arlington and Saratoga in the Hawthorne simulcast. I hit a juicy pick 4 at AP for $4,5XX and had a friend going to Saratoga the next day so I used some of those winnings to hop on a plane that evening and join him for the weekend.

Biggest near miss was not having Royal Delta in my pick 4 in the 2011 Breeders Cup Ladies Classic. I think the sequence had some price runners that I had, but I dismissed Royal Delta as a pick. The pick 4 paid $11K for a buck, and my will pays were anywhere from 11K to 50K. The ticket if I recall was $200~ so adding RD wouldn't have been too costly, alas hindsight is 2020.
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Old 01-20-2021, 07:19 PM   #3
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I retell this story anytime anyone asks and it may be somewhat embellished in the retelling here but ...

Sometime in the spring meet at Fort Erie in 1973 I spent a weekend in a cheap motel, as I usually did twice each year, 'capping the sore and lame. On a muddy track that weekend, a nag named Maggie Muggins was entered in a low class event. She was the only mare that showed any mud ability so I bet her to place and wheeled her on top in the exactor. She won from behind in the sticky red goo that was the FE surface at the time and paid almost $70 to win. The exactor was well over $250 and the place was $30ish and as I recall I had over $300 after the race where I only had about $15 before the race. I think at the time I was making $125 a week.
Fort Erie, the town, is across the Niagara River from Buffalo, NY, and got a good complement of US and Canadian punters in the day. In the clubhouse they had a cigar store. You could buy one and even smoke it inside and so I did. A big stinky one that no one could ever finish. Since I was flush I figured that it was $2.50 well spent.
In a subsequent race, the Nassau Stakes, an 8 1/2f grass race for females, there was a filly named Lady Shooter who had just set the track record for 5f on the grass at Woodbine. She was 14-1. I bet $100 to win and $200 to place and was counting my money as I watched her lead into the stretch. She got nosed and nodded into 3rd.
I stubbed out the cigar and went home.
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Old 01-20-2021, 10:59 PM   #4
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Cool

Not my biggest but my most rewarding in a personal sense due to years of futility with trying to conquer the P-6. I used to go to Saratoga every summer for my vacation then on to Atlantic City and the Jersey shore for recreation. One year I asked my friend and fellow handicapper Ray to join me at the Spa. Over the years we played many P-6 tickets jointly but never hit. There was a 172K P-6 carryover going into the Saturday card. I needed to be at work on Monday back in Cleveland so we decided to drive to Mountaineer Friday night and play our ticket at MTN on Saturday. Ray drove and I handicapped then I drove and Ray handicapped. Ray only had $46 in his pocket after a rough day at the windows. However, our ticket totaled $92 so we both contributed $46. With 8 minutes to post Ray asks if I want to change the ticket. I said, "No we always lose so why change anything". Well that day we finally conquered the P-6 curse. We cashed for $27,000 and both of us felt like we were flying in the clouds. I cannot describe the feeling. The ensuing years though have not been all sun and roses. Have ONE MAJOR bad beat dated March 5, 2010 that still haunts me today.
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Old 01-20-2021, 11:33 PM   #5
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In 1986, at the age of 25...I won almost $100,000 on a twin trifecta at a Chicago-area track...on a $300 investment. I was so overjoyed and confident in my handicapping ability that I quickly quit my job and became a professional horseplayer. I was broke and back at my previous job in four months.

In 2004, I loved Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby...but the sloppy track at Churchill Downs found me in great doubt about placing a serious wager on the race. As luck would have it, however...I won $3,500 on the day before the Derby at an OTB in Oakbrook, Illinois. Considering this an omen...I elected to wager my entire winnings on the Kentucky Derby the following day. I had $2,000 to win on Smarty Jones...and bet the remaining $1,500 on exactas, trifectas and superfectas on the race. Again, as luck would have it, I cashed in every wagering pool that I bet...and again I collected an almost $100,000 profit. And, being a more mature player by then...I made sure that my winnings lasted almost eight months this time around.

All true.
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Old 01-21-2021, 12:05 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thaskalos View Post
In 1986, at the age of 25...I won almost $100,000 on a twin trifecta at a Chicago-area track...on a $300 investment. I was so overjoyed and confident in my handicapping ability that I quickly quit my job and became a professional horseplayer. I was broke and back at my previous job in four months.

In 2004, I loved Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby...but the sloppy track at Churchill Downs found me in great doubt about placing a serious wager on the race. As luck would have it, however...I won $3,500 on the day before the Derby at an OTB in Oakbrook, Illinois. Considering this an omen...I elected to wager my entire winnings on the Kentucky Derby the following day. I had $2,000 to win on Smarty Jones...and bet the remaining $1,500 on exactas, trifectas and superfectas on the race. Again, as luck would have it, I cashed in every wagering pool that I bet...and again I collected an almost $100,000 profit. And, being a more mature player by then...I made sure that my winnings lasted almost eight months this time around.

All true.
That is a great story!!!
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Old 01-21-2021, 02:32 PM   #7
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Yes, that is a very great story. If I remember correctly Stuart Elliot rode Smarty. Then in the Belmont he was criticized for moving to early, etc bad ride. But who knows to what degree it was bad. Stuart currently riding Remington/Sam Houston circuit.
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Old 01-29-2021, 12:05 AM   #8
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Expanding our bet-sizes exponentially during the course of a frantic once-in-a-lifetime roll, a wagering partner and I ran our Pinnacle acccount to about 400k.

We each developed our own ridiculously- unwarranted god- complex and, rather than cashing out and dialing our churn back to a psychologically sustainable level, conjured up some nutty plan to start a "corporation," keep right on killing 'em, and pay ourselves handsome "salaries." (Please, by all means laugh-we were THAT stupid.)

You can probably guess the rest, but if not, here's a hint: do I look like a millionaire to YOU? LOL! Superimpose a stormy relationship on our profound idiocy, and just let your imagination roll. But wherever that takes you, know this: the whole saga was wilder and more colorful.

She was an experience.

Last edited by mountainman; 01-29-2021 at 12:10 AM.
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Old 01-29-2021, 01:35 AM   #9
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NOTE TO SELF: Give up any hopes of EVER becoming a professional handicapper.
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Old 02-08-2021, 01:30 PM   #10
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Not my biggest hit, but the one I was most proud of was having Soi Phet in the Crystal Water (2018) as a single on my P4 ticket. Went off @ 45-1 & just had a feeling the old warrior was gong to score one more time. Thought he was done @ the top of the stretch only to stick his nose in front of a blanket finish.
Ticket was under $100 & returned $15K.

Cashed out $14K & bought a sailboat. (talk about a money pit!)

Last edited by deathandgravity; 02-08-2021 at 01:40 PM.
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Old 02-11-2021, 11:06 AM   #11
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One of my biggest hits was back in the 80's. I was in my early 20's and was laid off from my summer construction job and working as a cook. One of the guys I was working with Myles had in-laws that had standardbred horses and were racing @ Northville Downs. He told me of this green 2 yo filly trotter that would win soon. So me and a buddy went out an bet her the next start. The race goes off and she breaks stride pulls up runs dead last. The next week I see she is in again on Tue so I call up my buddy and say she is in again lets go bet her. He says he's not betting another penny on that nag. We played pick up basketball on Tuesday night from 8 to 10 pm at a local elementary school. So I tell him I'll see him at basketball I'm going out to bet her. So I run out to the track and bet and leave and make it back in time for basketball. After basketball we would go back to my place and play strat-o-matic baseball and drink a few beers. Race results would come on the radio at midnight. So I turn on the radio and it gets to the 4th race. I'll never forget the winner of the 4th race #8 Peaceful Pam 88.00 winner. I had wheeled her in the tri for a 1.00-42.00 and bet 9 wp 60 total on the race. The tri comes back over 14k. 7k for a buck. I look at my buddy and he says didn't we go in on that with a huge frown on his face. Well I paid off my truck bought a stereo and we partied a little.
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Old 02-11-2021, 11:48 AM   #12
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It was December of 1988. Was at Aqueduct during the day and I didn’t cash on any of my bets. In the evening I went to the OTB on 7th ave and 28th st to meet with with friends. After betting the DD at Yonkers I looked at the p4 that started in the 4th. The p4 at that time was a $3 bet. So I bet two pick four tickets for $6. 1,7/7/5/5. I was just killing time with my friends as the 4th race ended 7,1 the winner paid 11/1
Then the 7won the 5th at 9/2 in the next the 5 at 7/1 won.
In the 7th my #5 was 5/2 but the #3 was 3/5. At the half the #3 went first over and the #5 was second over, at the backstretch the #3 was spinning his wheels so Henri Fillion swung the #5 around him and opened about 5 on them.Won for fun! I was nervous so I walked outside for a smoke. One of my friends came outside and said “Guess how much that paid”. I said $8.000? And he said can I keep the extra $20.000
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Old 02-11-2021, 08:34 PM   #13
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P4 Los Alamitos $2426

Been photo'd out on two 5 figure scores, both in the 3rd leg, with longer prices than came in. Just can't connect on a life changing score.
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Old 02-13-2021, 04:21 PM   #14
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Started the day with $25 and went to Aqueduct. Won about a hundred there, so on the way home decided to put some money into my NYC OTB phone account and play at home.

Was doing ok with the nighttime trotters then handicapped this race at Maywood Park where this 16/1 shot jumped off the page at me. Played him to win, exa, tri and a $1 super key with three horses in the back. The 16/1 shot jogged and everything else that I handicapped came right in order. Tri paid over $1000 which I had for a buck, super paid $7856.20 (had it for half). My phone account after the race had $4999.85 in it.

Needless to say the vast amount went to paying down credit cards. Lol. Weird part is that I pick far more winning longshots at the trotters than I do at the flats; last year I hit a 99/1 shot to win and the cold exacta at Freehold. Don’t know why that is.
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Old 02-18-2021, 03:39 PM   #15
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A few years ago, when I was doing alot more betting than I do now, and I hit a good one.

What drew my attention to the race was a discussion by Andy Serling and others from the DRF on their site. Andy mentioned that Stardom Bound looked vulnerable in the Ashland at Keeneland. And that he liked Gossip Girl.

I used the Sheets, DRF, and Pizzola's program. I also put part of my analysis on a national handicapping board, which made it the sweeter.

The horse with the best numbers that didn't look like a bounce candidate was Hooh Why at 25-1. The filly also figured to be alone on the lead, and what Pizzola calls a reverser. Meaning Hooh Why had only lost by a head to the odds on favorite (Stardom Bound)in their last race.

I also figured Stardom Bound to take the scenic route with Mike Smith in the Irons, which would be worth a point or so on the Sheets.

Gossip Girl had a good sheets number, a big pizzola power fraction.

I dutched win bets on both and boxed them in an exacta.

Gossip Girl was 10-1.

I had a nice score on that one.
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