WE GOT MUSHED

My buddy and I will be watching The Belmont Stakes from our usual seats at Hollywood Park. We have been sitting in the same area for years. There are a lot of colorful people that roam around and then there are some colorful people that actually sit near us. Over the years they have gotten to know us and we have gotten to know them. The usuals that sit near us are Sandman, Mush, Stu the swimming coach and there is our good friend John.

Sandman is basically an independent wealthy person who just likes coming to the track. He is a real nice guy with a huge heart. His buddy Mush, is worth the price of admission. This guy is just so hapless. He doesn't work and it seems he is always out of money. During the Kentucky Derby, Mush and Sandman had a live pick 5 ticket with the Derby as the last leg. I really liked Stay Thirsty in the Derby. We knew that they had singled the last leg and me being the dope I am, asked Mush, who do you guys have in the last leg and Mush said, "Stay Thirsty, he can't lose....."  I looked at my buddy and said, "I'm screwed." Stay Thirsty finished 12th.  I got Mushed.

Mush got nowhere near the ticket Sandman, my buddy and me put together for the Preakness, not that it mattered. We played a superfecta and had the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place horse. Our 4th place horse was beat by a nose. We can't blame Mush for that but he was near us, so......

Anyway before I get Mushed, here is my tickets for the Belmont.

You can play a 10 cent superfecta so I am going to box 3 Ruler On Ice, 8 Prime Cut 12 Shackleford, 9 Animal Kingdom, 6 Nehro and 10 Mucho Macho Man. I had to include Animal Kingdom and Shackleford because of their recent performances and Shackleford has a number of tips that I like.  I like Nehro because he is always near the top and he has a monster workout on May 30 over 6 furlongs. My knock on him is that he seems that he doesn't know how to win but you can't leave him out of your exotics. Mucho Macho Man had a good fast workout on June 5 at Belmont, which I like to see and they are switching to the beast of the east in jockeys, Ramon Dominguez. The Derby and the Preakness weren't exactly stellar performances but with the breezing workout over the Belmont track, I would hate him to beat me for the fourth spot in the superfecta.  Prime Cut and Ruler on Ice are the two longshots that I am hoping beat the chalk. I have a few tips that I like to use for longshots and I think these are my two for this ticket.

This years Triple Crown did not have the talent that other Triple Crowns have had. Handicapping these races is quite difficult. I learned that in order to make some money just on this race, you need to play an exotic and hope that one of your longshots can beat the chalk.

Good luck to everyone that is wagering tomorrow and please don't tell Mush what I'm betting.