A day at the track

 A couple of weekends back, M and I got up early and hit the track for the first time this summer. In case you missed the article I wrote for the local blog, All Over Albany, you can catch up here and read all about why it is key to get there early!

 We got our picnic table and got down to making our picks for the day.

 I based my picks on the top two jockeys and the trainer I like. These picks didn't let me down. I mostly bet Show bets, and every race I bet I walked away with something. Enough to keep be in the black all day and allow for one big bet on my pick of the day: a horse in the last race trained by my favorite trainer and ridden by one of the top two jockeys. My reasoning was this combination meant this horse couldn't lose. So I placed a $10 Win/Place/Show bet (which costs $30 to place).  I took my ticket to the rail and held my breath.

My pick won the race! His odds weren't spectacular, but he netted me a $45 profit. All in all a winning day in my book.

our labor day 2010

We spent this labor day the same way we spent it last year: at Saratoga Race Track for the closing day of the season.

We arrived before the second race and decided not to place any bets because it was a turf race, and we only like to bet races on the dirt. So we scanned our program for the third race.

I'm not an expert handicapper by any stretch of the imagination, but I keep up on the sport and what goes on during the meet. M is more of a stat studying handicapper who likes to chase the exotics.

I chose my horses for the third race because I knew their trainer is a former jockey who has had an outstanding record, and I put $1 to Win Place or Show on both of them, despite neither having favorable odds.

I went up to the fence to take photos, not even thinking of my bets until the horses ran past me.

Here they come!

THIS was my OMG moment....um....these are the two horses I picked...and they were running in first and second place as they approached the finish line! My heart jumped into my throat.

And that's how they finished. Number 4 came in first and was named Shahzadi, and he went off at 46 TO 1! The biggest long shot in the race, and I picked him! Number 10 placed and was named Above the Call. These two little ponies made my day!

We stayed for a few more races, and on the way back to the car I caught these beauties relaxing at the stables:

We could spend EVERY Labor Day here for the rest of our lives!