Today's Best BetsNew York Daily News trifecta! Three of the six handicappers featured in the NY Daily News sit atop the half-time scorecard -- including the venerable Russ Harris who came close to perfection on Wednesday, July 30, going an eye-popping 9-for-10 with his selections.
In the past, the upstate contingent has typically done very well compared to their 'Big Apple' counterparts when it comes to handicapping the Spa meet, but Cavanaugh and Harris have opened a substantial early lead on the majority of the pack and will be tough to run down in the second half.
A newcomer to the list, Saratogian Sport Editor Brien Bouyea, tops the locals, with the Times-Union's Bev Swimm in close pursuit -- tied with Bouyea for wins, but having a handful more races picked.
You can view the entire 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2004 mid-season scorecards for a more complete comparison of previous years.
And to see what kind of numbers everyone is chasing, final meet totals for the past few seasons can be found here: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003.
As for our own numbers -- like last year, Best Bets is clearly in come-from-behind mode.. But we always harken back to the 2004 season when we selected 65 winners during the final eighteen racing days.
Note: Discrepancies in total number of races played is due to some handicappers losing races due to scratches.
|
Tom Cavanagh NY Daily News |
64-176 |
|
Russ Harris NY Daily News |
61-176 |
|
Dave Little NY Daily News |
57-176 |
|
Brien Bouyea Saratogian |
56-171 |
|
Bev Swimm Albany Times Union |
56-176 |
|
Bill Taylor Saratogian |
55-173 |
|
Matt Graves Albany Times Union |
54-175 |
|
Bill Heller Daily [Schenectady] Gazette |
54-176 |
|
John DaSilva NY Post |
53-176 |
|
Debbie L NY Post |
51-173 |
|
Dave Litfin Daily Racing Form |
51-176 |
|
Mark Cusano Daily [Schenectady] Gazette |
50-176 |
|
Nick Kling Troy Record/Saratogian |
49-176 |
|
Seth Merrow Best Bets - equidaily.com |
49-176 |
|
Nick Tammaro Capitalotb.com |
48-175 |
|
Mark Hoffman The [Amsterdam, NY] Recorder |
47-176 |
|
Jerry Bossert NY Daily News |
46-172 |
|
Ed Fountaine NY Post |
46-172 |
|
Daniel Feiss Saratogian |
45-170 |
|
Laim Durbin Saratogian |
45-172 |
|
Sherry Ross NY Daily News |
45-173 |
|
Mike Jarboe Albany Times Union |
45-174 |
|
Kyle Brownell Post-Star [Glens Fall, NY] |
45-176 |
|
Vic C NY Post |
44-175 |
|
Tom Law Saratogian |
42-175 |
|
Tim Wilkin Albany Times Union |
41-176 |
|
Affrunti NY Post |
38-172 |
|
Mike Lipack NY Daily News |
37-173 |
2-10. Winners on top in the 1st [$3.80] and 3rd [$4.10]. That early start had us feeling confident that we would end the first-half of the meet at the half-century mark -- but we chased win #50 all afternoon to no avail. The kicker was in the nightcap when our 13-1 top selection, Debbie H took the lead in the lane but couldn't hold off the late charge of Vegas Wedding. That would have been a spectacular way to end the first three weeks. But it kind of summed up the day as four of our top selections could only manage the place-spot.
Otherwise, fooling around just a little with the picks could have led to cashing some tickets. We had a cold -- albeit small -- exacta in the 3rd [$9.40/$2]. Reverse exacta in the 8th [$12.80]. Top three boxed for the tri in the 4th [$20.00]. And if you were willing to dip three-deep into the selections, our third pick over our second made up exactas in the 4th [$8.20], 6th [$61.00] and 9th [$63.00]. In that 9th our fourth selection completed the generous tri [$386.00].
A surprising crowd of 14,158 turned out. Surprising because it was raining and ugly late in the morning -- probably about the time many folks are just heading out the door for their trip to Saratoga. It was another day of on-and-off drizzles and occasional downpours. All turf races were moved to the main track. The annual charity softball game pitting jockeys against state troopers was postponed until next Monday night.
No racing. Dark day.
FIRST RACE
SECOND RACE
THIRD RACE
FOURTH RACE
FIFTH RACE
SIXTH RACE
SEVENTH RACE
EIGHTH RACE
NINTH RACE
TENTH RACE
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