First Post: Saturday, August 23, 2014

The South takes what the North delivers.

Thanks to Wm. Mulholland, flowers bloom in Los Angeles, away from their natural habitat; he engineered L.A. out of its desert origins.

Free ones: Rundown…

Saratoga Race Course 2, 4, 7, 11, 13
Gulf 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club 6, 7, 8, 9

Pay-side: Today…

Arlington 8, 9
BelTerra 4, 5
Delpark 4
Ellis Park 5, 7, 8
Golden Gate 7, 8
Louisiana 2, 6, 8, 9
Monmouth 7, 8, 9, 11
Remington 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Suffolk 5, 8, 9
Woodbine 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9

Today’s Stakes Pageantry: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club 8, Saratoga Race Course 11 on the free page.

On the pay-side it’s Monmouth 11, Remington 8 and Woodbine 4.

Big day at the drying-out Swampatoga Race Course, and it’s tough to look past the two obvious horseys, #2 Bayern Munchen and #6 Tonalist. They are running in Race 12, which is your 2014 Travers, a Grade 1 affair, right?

Seems clear for #9 Daring Kathy in Woodbine 8.

If you thought Saratoga had big racing today, please, please, please check out the even more wild activity going on in the Land of Enchantment, Albuqerque, N.M., a safe haven for non-methamphetamine takersz now that the White Klan have been shorn of their death-dealing patriarch, one Mistah Walter. Yeah.

Race 5 there looks good for the dynamite duo of #6 Lady Genius and #4 That’s the Idea. Open in the eighth, and #4 Gotta Move has as good an opportunity as any of the rest of ’em. Likewise the ninth for longshot #9 Cowboy’s Rule.

Over to the Assiniboia now for its fourth, likely won by #10 Going Once.

Columbus now, which is in Nebraska, for Race 7: #3 Spice Swirl. Obvious horsey.

Returning to Canada now for Race 2 at Marquis, in which #3 Mr. Kalypso is another obvious horsey. Probably the same story for #4 She’s Nifty Two in the fourth.

Would have covered the two scheduled added-money grass events set for the Keystone State, but they were washed-off. Sorry! Pity.

Yesterday’s Activity: As always, Welcome to The Home of The Runner-Up Finish, this time nearly led by top-touted Stay Positive (!) in Race 6 at Golden Gate.

Stay Positive, second-choice on the conventional V6 Betting Line at Fair Odds of 4½-1 in a contentious race, scored at the Top of the LifeLiner Speed Column analysis, 99.

Stay Positive, 20-1 on the morning line and 30-1 in real life, ran to her complete LifeLiner array of 82-68-99 in closing like the champion he was on his way to becoming, actually leading late before losing by a dirty head.

The horse with the second-best LifeLiner Speed Column analysis rating, 98, was your race winner at 10¢ shy of 7-1, thereby putting your saver exacta in play; it paid $284.20, for $2.

Also experiencing the thrill of beating all the horses except for one and thereby suffering the agony of close-defeat was sole-touted Brandon’s Way in the eighth at Louisiana.

Brandon’s Way, disregarded by the conventional V6 Betting Line, nonetheless was one of three LifeLiner Speed Column analysis qualifiers in the field; Brandon’s Way had an 85 there.

He ran to his complete LifeLiner characterization of 81-98-85, attending the front-flight throughout and leading in the straight before decelerating to be beaten 3 lengths for the win. He was 12-1 on the morning line and 60¢ shy of an even 20-1 on the toteboard.

Over at the Monmouth, though, it was one race touted, one race won.

That was in the eighth, courtesy of top-touted Fort Boonesborough, second-best on the V6 Betting Line at Fair Odds of 5-1 in a contentious race. Fort Boonesborough also registered OK on the LifeLiner Speed Column analysis, 84.

Fort Boonesborough ran to his LifeLiner array of 95-96-84 in breathing down the leader’s neck all the way around en route to winning by a grim half-length at $29.80, a bet-down mutuel from his 20-1 on the morning line.

First Bonkersmate Andrew L, 10-1 on the morning line and 40¢ shy of 15-1 when the bell rang, completed the winning Bonkers Exacta Box: $391-even, for $2.

Indeed, the first four spots were filled by LifeLiner Speed Column qualifiers, with the trizacta returning $1,921 (for $2) and the super-duper coming back $3,434.50 (for $1).

As always, hope you had’em.

WMF Report:

Early
Delpark 5½f, 6f
Del Mar Thoroughbred Club 6f
Ellis Park 6f
Indiana 6f, 1m
Los Alamitos 4½f
Northlands 6f
PennNat 6f
Keystone 6f
Suffolk 6f
Thistle 6f

Rally
Gulf 1 1/16m (T)
Woodbine 1 1/16m

Nocturnal Submission: Sifting through the wreckage…

Thank you. Best wishes. Goodbye. So long now.