$2 mythical tournament tips and tricks

[fzoul]

How do y'all approach preparing for a $2 mythical Win/Place tournament. 8 mandatories and 7 optionals on 5 tracks. What should I start out looking for the week leading up to it (won't know the mandatories until Thu)?

[Mulerider]

Originally Posted by fzoul

How do y'all approach preparing for a $2 mythical Win/Place tournament. 8 mandatories and 7 optionals on 5 tracks. What should I start out looking for the week leading up to it (won't know the mandatories until Thu)?

Do you already know the optionals? I haven't played that type of mixed tournament, but I think in your situation, for the optionals I'd personally start by looking for races in which all the horses had previously ran at today's distance and on the same surface type. That helps eliminate some of the "unknown" factor.

Also for the optionals I would keep an eye on the weather forecasts before I devoted a lot of my handicapping time to races that might be adversely affected, especially if they're on turf.

Good luck in your tournament!

Mule

[Si2see]

The few times I have played this exact format tournaments I can tell you that the mandatory races are key. You can't let the field catch many double digits that you don't have yourself. Pretty obvious statement there, but for instance I had Sharp Azteca at 13-1 at the TI contest during derby weekend last year, only to find out about half the room had the same horse. At that point of the day it could have been because a lot of people were chasing. So far this is the only style tournament I haven't at least cashed in.

Jason

[fzoul]

Originally Posted by Mulerider

Do you already know the optionals?

Churchill
Woodbine
Belmont
Gulfstream
Santa Anita

on Sat 5/27

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Pete Fornatale's book, The Winning Contest Player, is a good reference.

In the mandatory races, even if you have a 4/5 shot that looks solid, you're better off looking for a better paying horse. If the 4/5 wins, anyone with a ticket isn't going to pick up much, and you still have a chance to actually outdo them with a good place price on another horse.

It was good advice that you need to come up with the longshots that win the mandatory races. I'd guess you'll need to collect around $200 to threaten the top.