The Daily Bankroll Challenge

by Seth Merrow
Matching wits--and a mythical bankroll--with the top handicappers


www.equidaily.com

2010 Racing Season

Saratoga Race Course
Friday, September 3, 2010
Total for the meet... $85.10

We start the 2010 Saratoga thoroughbred race meet with a mythical bankroll of $1000. Each day we'll use this space to record our mythical best bets and calculate the accumulated wins and losses.

Yesterday...

Ugh. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Well, if we were going to swing for the fences - and whiff, it might as well have been in a fashion that summed up the meet...

We hung our hat on 7-1 Emerald Beach in the 6th, a mile and three-eighths marathon. Typically Jonathon Sheppard runners sit back and show a nice closing kick, so when Emerald Beach shot out of the gate, appeared a bit rank, and clicked off :23.4 and :47.3 we thought we were cooked from the outset. But wait! Going into the final turn she seemed to be holding strong and turning into the stretch she clearly still had life.

A win would have allowed us to collect a P3, WP and at least one exacta play. And at about the mid-stretch point that looked possible.

With about 100 yards to go we resigned ourselves to a second-place finish, which meant we would collect our place wager and an exacta - which would have been fairly generous combining a 12-1 and 7-1.

And then two jumps from the wire we lost the place - and settled for show, which paid us nothing.

Again, the perfect microcosm for the meet - both here on the bankroll page, and in real life.

So many tough beats this meet it's just gotten to the point where all we can do is laugh - it's either that or cry [and on Wednesday that was a possiblity after the nightcap where - if the top two positions were flip-flopped we would have hit the super, granted, it was only a dime play - but since it paid $14K/$2 and would have paid more our way - well... It's been that kind of a meet...]

Just a very, very frustrating season where we had too many 1-3 or 2-3 finishes in exactas - and never did get the luck to even out as you typically expect it should.

RACE TWO... $1 exacta box... Trippi's Tiger/Rules of Civility/Ward entry/All For Peace.
Ran 3-4-5-9e-10e.

...$2 exacta box... Trippi's Tiger/Rules of Civility/Ward entry.
Ran 3-5-9e-10e.

RACE 5-7... $2 P3... R5/Feels Good/Skips Prospect/English Ivy/Floating Alone... R6/Emerald Beach... R7/City Cool/Technique/High Plains/It's Truly Ahvee/Modest.
Ran R5/WON-2-4-5... R6/3rd... R8/WON-3-4-6-9.
P3 paid $935.00/$2 with a 12-1 winning the 6th - vs our selection at 7-1.

RACE SIX... $10 WP on Emerald Beach.
Ran 3rd at 7-1.

...$2 exacta box... Emerald Beach/Dance Pass/Dynani.
Ran 2-3-8.

...$2 exacta box... Emerald Beach/ALL.
Ran WON-3.

RACES 6/7... $5 double... R6/Emerald Beach... R7/City Cool.
Ran R6/3rd... R7/4th.

We don't typically put restrictions on the plays - but with a limited bankroll...
If the R5-7 P3 is alive
...$2 doubles... R6/Emerald Beach... R7/Above the Drama/Plainview/Scoville/Cane Garden Bay/Derivative.
If the R5-7 P3 isn't alive
Ran R6/3rd... R7/2-5-7-8-10.

...$2 doubles... R6/Emerald Beach... R7/ALL.
No bet per restriction - P3 was alive.

RACE SEVEN... $4 WP on City Cool.
Ran 4th at 12-1.

... $1 exacta box... City Cool/Technique/High Plains/It's Truly Ahvee/Modest.
Ran WON-3-4-6-9.

...$2 exacta box... City Cool/Technique/High Plains.

Ran WON-4-6.

RACE EIGHT... $1 exacta box... Platinumplus/Shehashighhopes/Double Dinghy Day... sub Lovely Promise if scratch.
Ran WON-5-7.

...$4 exacta box... Platinumplus/Shehashighhopes.
Ran WON-7.

Loss for the day... $179.00


Today

As noted above, we hung our hat on Emerald Beach and a first- or second-place finish by that one would have put us into a good spot going into the last four days. But even with that one running out - we're disappointed that nothing hit on Thursday. That was unexpected.

Still, there's just enough gas left in the tank that a miracle is still remotely possible.

RACES 2-5... $1 P4... R2/Forest Whip/Nolita/... R3/Banker's Buy... R4/City Sneakers/Tom Kitten/Adirondack Warrior/Cookram Rock... R5/Simply Delightful.

RACE FIVE... $10WP on Simply Delightful.
...$1 exacta box... Simply Delightful/Elusive Raven/Overseas Market/Plastique.
...$2 exacta box... Simply Delightful/Elusive Raven.

Again, because of bankroll limitations - we're placing a restriction:
This next play is only to be made if we have made enough to cover it with the earlier bets
.

RACE NINE... $1 exacta box... Prince Will I Am/Silver Monuntain/Cheyenne Nation/Ordination.

All turf wagers are turf only

Total bet...$44.00/more?


If we are interested in both halves of an entry -- in event of a scratch -- it is noted that way [in other words, both halves are named]. If only one-half of the entry is named, then we prefer that half and will move to our next pick listed [rather than the other half of the entry] in event of a scratch.

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