Baltimore Recap 2016

[PhantomOnTour]

Back home at the cozy confines in Cajunland after another great trip to the races.

Got in Weds afternoon, made the O's game vs the Mariners that night, had two too many, and hit the track on Thurs completely unprepared...
So, as you can guess, we kicked ass !
Had the win bet and exacta in the first three races at Pimlico. Also had a nice score in the 6th with a 6-1 over a 22-1 that paid around $250 for our $3 exacta play. Lost the next few and bailed out early in order to make sure we got caught in a traffic snarl the magnitude of which a small city guy like me cannot even comprehend. Good Lord...it was a nice day anyway though.
You know it's your day when you mistakenly printed out a race from Belterra instead of Belmont the night before, you figure WTF and bet the race anyway, and hit the tri for around $80.

[PhantomOnTour]

Fantastic weather at Old Hilltop. We sat on the apron inside the 16th pole, put on our sunscreen (more on that later), and settled in for a great race card.
Then the losing began...
Took a big loss when Sweet On Smokey disappointed in the Skipat Stakes at around 7-1...price was more than fair and she lagged far back in last place for most of the race. Mildly rallied for 4th...pfffffft!

Whiffed a few more times, made a dumb bet on a weak rendition of the Pimlico Special, and then decided I was gonna beat Ben's Cat in the Mckay Turf Sprint...idiot! That dude is all race horse. Surged between runners in the last few strides to win this race for the 4th or 5th time He received a HUGE ovation when returning to his favorite place, the winner's circle.
Can't recall what our play was in the Gr3 DuPont Distaff, but it wasn't a winning one.
Then came the 100k Hilltop Stakes and our only meaningful score of the day. A nice win & ex score came when Florent Geroux (more on him later also) and Gone Away closed strongly to win a three way photo in a frantic finish....whew! A great betting race full of value, and luckily things broke our way. Met up with CharmCityWhizz that day, and he hit a nice P3 ending with this race (annnnnd, more on him later too ).
Was all set for a Black Eyed Susan wire to wire redux with Kinsley Kisses, ala Keen Pauline in 2015. Love Pletcher stretching out a GrStks race, and thought this gal would roll to the front and put these gals to sleep.
Nope.
Luis Saez rode a heady race on Go Maggie Go and put the best filly into the mix early. She took it to KK from the bell, shook her off entering the lane and blew that field away. The real stinger was KK getting nailed late by a 50-1 shot for the place, who is trained by Romans, who trained Keen Pauline last year. In my face!
Land Over Sea had a tough trip and checked in in 6th place as the chalk.
We somehow missed the next race despite having runaway winner Phlash Phelps, but couldn't come up with a very logical place horse in Bank Float for very good trainer Arnaud Delacour...whaaaaatever.
Had the right idea to play an off the pace runner in the Miss Preakness Stks, but bet the wrong one and it was time to GTF outta there and head home for dinner.
And wine, lotsa good wine.

[PhantomOnTour]

Just like we say at Mardi Gras...it may rain on our parade, but we're rolling anyways.

Bittersweet beginning as we made a nice score with Homeboykris in the 1st race. I also played the ill fated Pramedya in Race 4.
Enough said.

Race 5 was the Gr3 Maryland Sprint - thought Cinco Charlie would get an easy lead and be very tough to run down. Also thought big chalk Salutos Amigos was vulnerable despite his obvious credentials and sloppy track form. I went one for two...Charlie got a relatively easy lead but wilted badly when the sharp winner challenged him and went by in the stretch.
Salutos ran a dull 5th.
Best decision of the day was to skip the James Murphy Stks for 3yr olds on turf. Wouldn't have had the easy winner, Marengo Road, if you let me bet that race ten times.
Nothing doing in R7, on to the Very One Stks in R8...
Lady Shipman was a huge chalk and an easy winner. She's an outstanding filly and had no trouble with these gals, even from the 12 hole.
Got lucky to hit the ex and tri when Joya Real barely got up for 2nd.
Race 9 was the Chick Lang Stks - made a bad bet trying to beat standout Justin Squared with Florent Geroux and Counterforce. I think Assmussen won this last year with an Oaklawn shipper named Holy Boss and I was looking for a repeat...nope...all that speed lined up and none could challenge the winner early. The predictable happened, winner rolled uncontested and my guy closed strongly for 2nd.
I played the ex one way only and made a sizeable win bet
Had the gritty winner of the Gr3 Gallorette Hcp but no way I could have had the 76-1 runner up. Looked at her for a minute after the race and just turned the page
Made a pretty big play on Voluntario in the Sir Barton Stks. He got a great trip and ran very well, but was simply outclassed late by the winner, American Freedom. Had the ex and tri, but missed a big win bet.
His last race is WAY better than it looks, and I think the Beyer he got is a bit on the low side. RudyRod had a sharp NY shipper run 2nd in the MdSprint earlier on the card at long odds, and I was certain he was sending another one who was fit & ready.
The Gr2 Dixie kinda got away from us. My brother loved the winner, Takeover Target, but we left out the place runner...a VERY well rested Ring Weekend
Shame on me...he is part owned by a friend of mine (same guy who had a piece of Commanding Curve) but I just couldn't use him based on those long layoffs. Motion was working him regularly, has four GrStks wins including a Gr1, but we didn't use him

On to the big race...

[PhantomOnTour]

For some reason I thought Collected could slide into the exotics
The silliness never ends, eh?

My father somehow managed to box the top four finishers in a superfecta play and we got a little bit for that. I swear, the old guy is a classic patient player from a bygone era. He will sit there for 9hrs and make about three plays.
He doesn't spread very much, likes to make a two horse exacta box with a big win bet on one of them, and he has a knack for nailing some nice ones.
Way to go Dad - he loved the big longshot on Thurs that we scored on, and I can recall a few nice plays from years past at Pimlico with him.
He had $20 win on a runner named Leebearski about 12yrs ago that I'll never forget. Second time starter stretching out on the turf...wires them by a fargin' pole at something like 25-1 or more...and is DQ'd a few weeks later when he tested positive for a banned substance #alreadycashedtheticket
He said he was in line next to the owners (some obscure group) who he says were UNUSUALLY giddy & confident about their horse. Right on Dad.
He also had a big win bet in the Dixie (help me now)on a nice turf runner who was bred in Venezuela...?...I think Ramon was up and there was a bad spill involving a horse named Mending Fences...Albarado was riding Einstein and he just bailed out & jumped off.

Okay okay - digression time is over.
Sorry, it's easy to get lost in fond memories.

Very very proud of the Desormeaux brothers. Also cannot forget that another Cajun boy, Corey Lanerie, got 2nd in the race. He looked happier than Kent D after the race; rolled up and gave him one hell of a congratulatory slap.
As we say around here, Allons Cajuns !!

No big wonder that closers ran 1-2 in this race after that ridiculous pace. Did anyone notice that Gutierrez seemed to be jawing with the jocks on Awesome Speed and Uncle Lino? About 5-10 seconds into the race he turns his head out towards Jevian Toledo on AS...then midway on the first turn he clearly has a few words with Perez on UL.
I imagine he was saying something to the tune of, "WTF are we trying to do to ourselves here?!?!?!"
When Exaggerator ranged up on the backstretch it became apparent what was about to happen.
Give Nyquist tons of credit though - he ran a huge race, and when Mario switched him out midstretch you could see him dig in & try to come on again, but simply had no gas left.
Classy colt

And on to the finale...Race 14

[PhantomOnTour]

...aka...the race where I'm the greatest handicapper who ever lived.
It's ridiculous really.
Maybe there's some really desperate money being played, or maybe I'm one of a few bettors who's actually still lucid and sober, or whatever.
But I have owned this thing for like 15yrs.
I admit to having been in a two year slump on this race (which is whatever, a sprint-route-turf-dirt-off turf), but I got back in the groove big time this year.

The winner was a succulent price at almost 9-1 with one of my favorite angles in play.
This guy was stretching out from a fast paced turf sprint (where he showed some speed) into a spot where the lead was his for the taking. Throw in a sloppy track, a jock switch to Prado, some underlaid favorites, and this was basically a hanging curveball....I went yard.
Big win bet plus the exacta sealed the deal and another profitable & fulfilling trip to Pimlico was seared into my mind, and heart.

[PhantomOnTour]

And now Deep Thoughts by PhantomOnTour

I like this guy Geroux

Met up with CharmCityWhizz on Friday, and I'd like to say a few things about this guy.
As y'all know, he's been fighting some melanoma issues, and it's great to hear that he's winning.
I want him to know how inspirational it was to see him and listen to his story about tackling cancer. He knows how uncertain and scary this is. Yet he's smiling through it all, buying me and my family a few beers, hitting some races along the way, and quietly inspiring me.
Nothing's for sure these days.
Thank you Whizz, really.

Each year this trip becomes a little less about winning money at the track, and a little more about spending time with those that mean the most to me.
Made it a point to cut back on my race study time in Baltimore, and hang out more with the kinfolk
My sister and her husband are the most gracious & generous hosts one could ask for. They do so much for us every year.
My niece and nephew will both be getting married in the next year and children can't be far behind.
Circle of life.

[tanner12oz]

did people seem drunker and more obnoxious then usual at pimlico this year or was it just me?

I was actually embarrassed to be there at points on Saturday because of some peoples behavior. maybe I'm just getting old though.

[Grits]

Phantom, this was a fun read! I'm glad you and your dad, your family, all have such fun, every year, on Preakness weekend. Glad, too, you all cashed some fine winners.

[PaceAdvantage]

Thanks for the recap Phantom!

[tucker6]

An enjoyable read. I smiled more than a few times.

[charm city whizz]

Originally Posted by PhantomOnTour

...aka...the race where I'm the greatest handicapper who ever lived.
It's ridiculous really.
Maybe there's some really desperate money being played, or maybe I'm one of a few bettors who's actually still lucid and sober, or whatever.
But I have owned this thing for like 15yrs.
I admit to having been in a two year slump on this race (which is whatever, a sprint-route-turf-dirt-off turf), but I got back in the groove big time this year.

The winner was a succulent price at almost 9-1 with one of my favorite angles in play.
This guy was stretching out from a fast paced turf sprint (where he showed some speed) into a spot where the lead was his for the taking. Throw in a sloppy track, a jock switch to Prado, some underlaid favorites, and this was basically a hanging curveball....I went yard.
Big win bet plus the exacta sealed the deal and another profitable & fulfilling trip to Pimlico was seared into my mind, and heart.

Recaps are hilarious and great, is this the last race of the day with the 13 winning? For some reason it seems there's always value in races after triple crown races whether it's 2 or 3 races

Was wondering how it was getting out of there, when we left friday there was zero traffic

Looking forward to next year already!!

[RunForTheRoses]

Nice report, I can tell it is a special time for you with family.

[cj]

I had a good time this week. The Preakness and the racing itself was great. Pimlico doesn't make it a great experience IMO. I went with low expectations so it didn't bother me much, just think they could do better on track.

[PhantomOnTour]

Thank you for the kind words and thanks for reading y'all.
It did get a little long there, like a Herman Wouk novel of 400+ pages.

There's still more to tell though...about our shenanigans while loose one night in Baltimore, my chat with Randy Moss, and David Letterman (sort of ).

[proximity]

Originally Posted by PhantomOnTour

Thank you for the kind words and thanks for reading y'all.
It did get a little long there, like a Herman Wouk novel of 400+ pages.

There's still more to tell though...about our shenanigans while loose one night in Baltimore, my chat with Randy Moss, and David Letterman (sort of ).

which one?

too bad thursday didn't go down. maybe next year!!