First Post: Sunday, October 13, 2013

Wow. Two one-nil games in the American major-league béisbol yesterday. With every pitch, with every swing, the chance to decide the outcome, poised on a knife-edge. This is America’s beautiful game, baseball. No Rube Goldberg complexity, no surfeit of complicated moving parts. Just a pitcher, a hitter, one ball, one bat and nine gloves waiting to catch that ball. Thank you, MLB. Please do not aspire to become the bloated Moloch/Mammon/Behemoth of the American Thanatos Death Gridiron Throwball. Please.

Kickers and punters, they will be the ones who outlive their fellow Throwballers. They will escape Thanatos Kultur of NFL Death.

Free ones: Rundown…

Belmont 5, 7, 8
Calder / Gulf Calder 7, Gulf 2, Gulf 3, Gulf 5, Gulf 7, Gulf 8
Santa Anita 6, 8, 9

Pay-side: Today…

Hawthorne 2, 7, 8
Keeneland 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
Woodbine 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Zia 8

Today’s Stakes Pageantry: WO 8, the Grade I Neartic, is on the pay-side.

Uh-oh. Triple Threat Horsey status given to third-choice on the morning line, #5 Cadron (picture a Hispanic guy with a thick, tough, bristly moustache muttering, “¡Cadrón!”) in SA 3, the Anokia.

Big Fresno Fair now, the ninth, the Bull Dog (two words). It’s #7 Fire With Fire ready to fight, fight, fight!

Yesterday’s Activity: As always, Welcome to The Home of The Runner-Up Finish. A fine specimen of such emerged in Haw 2. Bonkersmate Rhodsey, 15-1 in real life from a morning line of 10-1. Rhodsey closed per his 70-68-80 LifeLiner array, beaten by one-tenth of 1 length (what? approx. 1 foot or 1.2 feet?). The winning 2½-1 fave was no good on any measure, though he did go gate-to-wire via a LifeLiner Early of 99 and a LifeLiner Pace of 98. Regretsz!

First Bonkersmate Slander (!) came through in Kee 2. Morning line on her was 12-1, and she was a little higher than that on the toteboard, up to 15-1. Slander rallied to her 60-74-83 LifeLiner array and paid $32.40 on top.

Next race there, Bonkersmate Katie O. nearly posted the upset at 20¢ shy of 30-1. Katie O. was a first-timer whose morning line was 20-1, and she had a connection line of 13pc/15pc/14pc. Not stellar, but sufficient.

Only one touted race at the Laurel in Maryland, and Silent Appeal did the winning as the top-touted horsey. This was a mild $12-even mutuel

Meadowlands Racetrack’s opener on Saturday went to the lone-touted Who’dathunk, 8-1 on your morning line and 11½-1 in actuality. She paid $25-even for the win.

At Retama, Borealis Star showed the way in the sixth at $10-even. He was 8-1 on the morning line.

Top-touted Peanut Jr. was beaten half a length in the sixth at Remington. Peanut Jr. was 10-1 in real life off a 12-1 morning line. The winner was the 3-1 second-choice and OK on LifeLiner. The hedge exacta was 3-1 on top of 10-1 in a 10-horse field for a payoff of 40¢ shy of $100.

Then in the finale there, it was a win, but hardly a King of The NetCapper Bulliesz special. Top-touted Lil R’slast paid $7.40

The mutuel of the day came in Race 9 at Suffolk, courtesy of Uncle Calvin. Uncle Calvin, 20-1 on the morning line and 26½-1 when the gates opened, was second-choice on the Betting Line, Fair Odds of 4-1, and with the qualifying 82 on LifeLiner Speed. Uncle Calvin won by better than 4 lengths, returning $55-even. The top three spots in the vertical exotics were all OK on LifeLiner: $253.20 for the exacta, $712-even for the trifecta, all for $2.

One race, one touted horsey at Zia, and he won: Cage the Krew ($15.40) in the 10th.

Hope you had some of these!

WMF Report:

Early
Albuquerque 5½f
Belmont 6f
Calder 6f
Mountain 5½f
Keystone 6f
Portland 6f
Santa Anita 6f
Thistle 6f
Zia 1m

Rally
Belmont 7f (T)

Nocturnal Submission: Sifting through the wreckage…

Thank you. Best wishes. Goodbye. Next time!