First Post: Saturday, February 6, 2016

Between all the hair product and the preening here, have we exposed the Cristiano Ronaldo 7 of big-league ice hockey? We report, you decide

Drew Doughty 8. The Ladies Love Him.

Why would they not? This is a handsome man!

Free ones: Rundown…

Aqueduct 7, 8, 9, 10
Gulfstream Park Proper 8, 9, 10, 12, 13
Santa Anita 3, 6, 8, 9

Pay-side (Weekend/Weekday): Today…

Fair Grounds 4, 7, 8, 9
Golden Gate 6, 8
Sam Houston 8, 9
Laurel 8, 9
Mahoning 8
Oaklawn 7, 9
Turfway 7, 8, 9, 10
Turf Paradise 4, 7, 8

Today’s Stakes Pageantry: Gulf 10, 12, 13, Santa Anita 8 on the free page.

Who can defeat #6 Songbird in Santa Anita 5? No one, it seems. But in Race 7 there, we tiptoe around the morning-line fave for this four-beast monstrosity: #2 Donworth, #1 Cat Burglar, #8 El Kabeir, #5 Hoppertunity. Hoo-boy.

Big night in Luzianne, with the statebreds taking over the added-money events at Delta. The races are contentious, and in the fifth, #5 John’s Luck can do it. Longshots #3 Top Cat Boogie and #1 Red Production are good enough in Race 7. #8 Figuresitsacat has the ability in the eighth. And #3 Galveston Harbor is a long-priced contender in the 10th.

Yesterday’s Activity:

Track (Win Mutuels $20+/Gettable)

Chas. Town (1/1) — Forty One and Out paid $80-even in shocking the crowd in Race 7. Did you need to be one of ’em High-Octane Chancers to cash in on the upset? Not really! The race was classically contentious vis-à-vis the conventional V6 Betting Line, and ’Forty was excellent in the LifeLiner Speed Column (91, tied for second-best in the lineup). As always, hope you had ’em!

Delta (1/0) — Saturday’s Uptown parades include the excellent and mystic Krewes of Iris, Tucks and Endymion. Lots of trinkets up for literal grabs…

Fair Grounds (2/0) — …New Orleans a fabled and timeless city, still paying tribute to the Old Myths and Stories. In that way, it’s unlike any other city in North America.

Golden Gate (1/0) — Approx. 24 hrs. to go before Hyper BowL. P.S. Why isn’t there more uproar on The Right that the almighty NFL has switched from Roman numerals to ARABIC ones? ARABIC! Get Rick Santoro (Santoro!) & Muck Hikeabee on this straightaway now. After all, they’re not that busy anymore. ARABIC! For shame, NFL, for shame. BRING BACK THE ROMAN NUMERALS. The Occidentalists demand such! ARABIC numerals out! ROMAN numerals back in. The Mobfia demands as much!

Gulf (2/0) — Jebrico Bushzales polling better, in double-digits, actually, in N.H.; however, fellow Sunshine Stater Mark Rubie is doing even better than Bushzales.

Sam Houston (2/0) — Houston Dynamo, 2006 & 2007 MLS champeens, most recent title-winners for the city.

Laurel (1/½) — Contentious-race touted Regal Soldier, 20¢ shy of 10-1 on the toteboard, finished first by half a length but was disqualified to second-place. Boo! Half a get.

Oaklawn (0/0) — Nolan Richardson Jr. coached Razorbacks to 1994 NCAA Basketball Championship; a year after that, his team lost to UCLA in the title-decider.

PennNat (0/0) — Does the toteboard there still have those mod, 1970s-style Westclox alarm-clock numbers?

Santa Anita (1/1) — Not publicly touted, but Melatonin, $22.20 in Race 5, seemed straightforward for the High-Octane Chancers, if not us. For one, 6-1 on the morning line was too low. For another, the race did not seem too contentious. Yet Melatonin had a sparkling LifeLiner Speed Column analysis rating (91), and that might have been enough at the actual odds.

Tampa (2/1) — Missed the Race 9 longshot, but the publicly touted Race 10 debut issue Tiz a Flyer ($24-straight) was an OK speculation, thanks to a contentious-race dynamic and a sufficient connection-line reading of 11pc/10pc/25pc.

Turfway (0/0) — Louisville is not Florence, but they share a state commonwealth, and even Thoroughbred-loving Rick Pitino is going to have to weather the storm, weather some scorn.

WMF Report:

Early
Aqueduct 6f
Fair Grounds 6f
Sam Houston 6f
Mahoning 6f
Santa Anita 6f
Turf Paradise 6f

Rally
Santa Anita 6½f (T)

Nocturnal Submission: Sifting through the wreckage…