A DAY AT THE RACES

I went to Hollywood Park on Saturday for some racing, some wagering and as usual the antics of the characters. My buddy and I were the first to arrive and our block of seats were saved by one of the Hollywood Park workers. He knows all of these characters are showing and he doesn't want to miss the show.

Just as we get ourselves situated, Stu the Swim Coach shows. The three of us start talking about the day's card and what to expect. Saturday was not a Triple Crown day but you had the Mother Goose Stakes from Belmont and also the Hollywood Oaks at Hollywood.

I really wanted to get at it because the system that I developed has been on fire. Two weeks ago on Belmont Stakes day, I went three for three, with a bomb at 32-1 which paid $21.40. I had 20 dollars down on that horse, so the total payout was 214 dollars with a profit of 194 dollars. I left that day with a profit of 329 dollars. There is a reason why I wanted to get at it.

I was wondering if my buddy's luck was changing. On Belmont Stakes Day, he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. It was rough watching his luck go from bad to worse. On Belmont Stakes Day I asked him if he wants to try my system and he pretty much refused. My buddy is very set in his ways and he is very stubborn when it comes to any sort of change.  It is insane to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. Every single system has it's run of good fortune. All of his systems have probably just run it's course. I hate to see a friend battling so hard when my system is hot. Believe me, it won't be hot forever, so you have to jump on it now.

Just as the first race from Belmont started, Sandman showed up. We had a Mush spotting and some of the Stooges slowly straggled in.

We all started very slow in terms of our wagers. There were not many plays early on. The track at Belmont was muddy which cut down the betting interests due to scratches. Arlington started up and still there were no plays, same with Woodbine and Churchill Downs. Then came that one race that was going to open the flood gates of winning and shenanigans.

The seventh race at Monmouth was a mile and a sixteenth turf race. My system came up with one horse, At The Disco, and he was going off at 8-1. I made my 20 dollar bet and then proceeded back to our seats. Stu the Swim Coach had just got back to our area with his lunch. Stu is a very nice guy but as Sandman would say, "He is an RA, a big RA." RA stands for Roots Against. Stu has no betting interest in my Monmouth Race and when the race goes off, my horse goes out to the front and stays there until the stretch. About halfway through the stretch, the number 1 horse, Don't Wait Too Long, comes a charging on the rail. Stu is now pulling for this horse. Don't Wait Too Long ends up winning and my horse finishes second. Stu who does not have a dime on this race would rather watch you lose than win. No biggie because my system had me betting the horse to place, so I won. Would of been bigger if he was first but hey, I cashed a ticket. It paid 7.40 for place and on a 20 dollar bet that's 74 dollars with a profit of 54 dollars.

Stu told me that I should of asked him about the Monmouth Race because he would of given me the number 1 horse. Thanks Stu. Sandman loves to give Stu a hard time because Stu makes the smallest of wagers and is always rooting against your horse. Stu is sitting there and he is showing his 10 cent superfecta that cost him a total of $1.80 and his 80 cent superfecta. Sandman gets nauseated by this. I don't have a problem with you wanting to bet small but if you know everyone is betting big don't root out loud for your horse that is going to give you a profit of 10 cents.

As the day went on, my buddy found a long shot at Woodbine in the eighth race. The horse, Drago's Best, was going off at 16-1. My system liked Excaper, the heavy favorite. I was not going to bet it because of the low odds. My buddy went on to tell me that Drago's Best has this and has that. Once again, it is insane to keep doing things the same way and expecting different results. I said to him, maybe you should go across the board on this horse and he said to me, "I would rather lose than bet a horse to show." Drago's Best showed and my buddy's skid is still ongoing. To add insult to injury, Excaper, nosed Drago's Best out for place.

Immediately after that race, the 7th race from Arlington went off. I had no betting interest but Stu had the number 4 horse, Dontbetelinme.  The race gets run and just as the horses come into the stretch,  Dontbetelinme, cuts off the number 1 horse. The race ends and Stu thinks he has won. To his chagrin, Dontbetelinme was disqualified. Stu is beside himself. Knowing Stu's betting habits, he probably made a two dollar bet on that horse.

Almost immediately, I have a race at Churchill Down and I am betting the number 7 horse, Delaunay. He comes out of the gate at 7-1. He runs a good race but while they are in the stretch there is some bumping going on. Stu, who is still hot, starts to scream DQ the 7 horse. We all look at Stu with disbelief. There is an inquiry and Stu keeps going, he is going to be DQed, he is going to be DQed. Everything stands and I collect another 70 dollars.

Stu is now wound up. He decides to make a comment to Sandman about Sandman actually rooting for the chalk in one race. Sandman who was already disgusted with Stu at this point says, "Look, when you want to make a profit, come talk to me, otherwise shut up."

I had one more race and that was the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont. My system picked Disposablepleasure. It was going off at 10-1. My profit on that race was 59 dollars.

All in all not a bad day for wagering. I showed my buddy the statistics for how my system worked on all the race cards. I told him if you would of placed a 20 dollar bet on all the races that qualified, you would of had a total of 220 dollars in bets. You would of won 499 dollars and would of shown a profit of 279 dollars. For some reason he does not want to give it a try.

Everyone has always said that Hollywood is the entertainment capital of the world.

CUBAN BASEBALL

We recently just returned from a trip to Cuba. No we did not sneak into Cuba from Mexico or Canada. We were given the Official Sherman Potter Okee Dokee from the United States. The present administration has relaxed some of the laws in regards to Cuban travel. We were going with a legal group for educational purposes.

I know that there are people who are reading this who are anti-Castro and will not have anything to do with the country until Castro has been removed. I am not here to make any political statement nor am I taking any sides on the issue. Some of my family had left Eastern Europe before they were rounded up by the Nazis. They were refused entry into the United States and instead of sailing back to a certain death, Cuba allowed them a port of entry and welcomed them.  For that, I thank the Cubans.

We arrived at Jose Marti International Airport and instantly we turned the calendars back to the 1950s. You could not help but tell that Havana was the land that time forgot. The below picture was not out of the ordinary, it was common.

We noticed right away that the Cuban people were the friendliest and the most hospitable people we have come across in our travels. We also realized that no matter what their lot in life has given them, they were happy and passionate people. They have a passion for cigars (which are phenomenal), coffee (wow, never tasted anything like it), rum (Havana Club smooth as silk) music (jazz clubs all over the place and salsa bands in every bar). I knew they liked baseball but what I experienced was the most amazing sporting experience I have ever experienced.

We were able to obtain a few tickets for the Havana Industriales against the team from Matanzas. These were tough tickets because it was the play-offs. The Cuban Baseball League plays during our winter because it is the rainy season in the summer. Our tour guide was able to get a few tickets and they were a whopping three dollars. We were also right behind home plate.

We left the hotel and jumped into a taxi. It just happened to be a pink Chevy Impala convertible.

The driver was so excited for us because we were going to see the Leones of Havana in play-off baseball. We drove through the streets of Havana en route to the Estadio Latinoamerica and you can tell this was going to be something different. As we got closer to the stadium, everything was decked out in the Blue and White of the Industriales. The throngs of people that were headed towards the stadium were cheering and dancing and a lot of them had musical instruments with them and the ever present vuvezela.

We were dropped off and we got in line. We had no idea where we were going because nothing is really marked. This stadium is old and I mean old. We were told that there are no concessions. No beer, no hot dogs, just baseball. While waiting in line to get in, vendors were hawking homemade snacks.

And don't think of sneaking alcohol in, as we witnessed a poor sap who didn't listen. He was grabbed by five police officers and forcefully removed from the stadium. As Eddie Murphy said in Trading Places, "Officer, may I suggest using your nightstick!" When the Cubans say no, they mean no. We followed the crowd in and as we entered the police just grabbed purses and I mean grabbed, without asking and searched for contraband.  Remember we are in a communist country.

We entered the stadium through the left field bleachers. We walked up the steps that lead to the walkway around the stadium and the first thing we noticed was a section of nothing but military troops. The second thing that we noticed was the noise level. It was 45 minutes before game time and the stadium was pretty much packed. The stadium holds close to 60,000 people and I think that 59,900 people were already seated. There were salsa bands playing, there was reggaeton blaring over the PA system and everyone was on their feet dancing.

We got to our seats and the noise level was still at an unreal decibel.




We looked around and we could see that there were police officers every few feet and we could also see a section all in red. Those were the Matanzas' supporters. The police were surrounding their section, just in case anyone got any bright ideas.

After the Cuban National Anthem, the Havana team took the field and the noise was incredible. A cultural thing that we learned is that when play starts, you park your butt in a seat. People very politely ask you to sit down and it is just done. When action happens, everyone stands up. When play started, every fan was on every pitch and everything Industriales did was met with an ovation. The first Industriales batter walked and the crowd stood up in unison and roared. The excitement was incredible. When a foul ball would go into the seats, I was expecting a rush of fans to attack the new found souvenir. Instead one or two fans would walk over to the ball and pick it up and proceed to throw it back on the field.  We asked the locals about this and they said that the league can't afford to lose balls.

What you don't realize is that the Cuban League can not use American baseballs because of the embargo. The Cubans receive their baseballs from China. They don't use any American made bats because of the embargo. American baseball products will not be on the field. I can almost guarantee that their equipment is sub par to what our MLB players use.

Just watching the starting pitcher for Havana warm-up, I knew I was in for a treat. Frank Montieh was throwing hard and his ball had some movement. His catcher, Frank Morejon was extremely animated to watch. He had no problem walking halfway to the pitcher's mound with his hands up and scream something at Montieh. They definitely did not have a communication problem. The defense behind Montieh was as smooth as silk. Juan Carlos, the second baseman and Rayko Olivares, the shortstop, played their positions effortlessly. When they would field ground balls, they would be so fundamentally sound and there were no tosses to first. They would fire the ball.

Two players for the Havana team really stood out. Havana's first basemen, Alexander Malleta and the center fielder, Yoandri Urgelles. Malleta is 6'2", 210 pounds. Known to the crowd as cinco cinco, 55. When he came to the plate, you could tell that this guy was big and not steroid big. When he swung, he put a hurt on the baseball. What was extremely impressive was his fielding. He was so agile and quick. One inning, he dove to his right to snag a shot and he was on his feet in no time and made the put out himself.

Urgelles was a phenomenal center fielder with a cannon for an arm. In one inning, Mantanzas had a man on first and their batter crushed one to deep centerfield. Urgelles got on his horse and made the catch on the warning track. (Dead centerfield is 408 feet away) Urgelles set himself and threw a laser to second base. Mantanzas wasn't even thinking of tagging up. That was the respect they had for Urgelles' arm.

One thing that really stood out was the way every ball player hustled on every play. When they would throw the ball around the horn, they would really zip it. They had an interesting way of going around the horn, it was almost like they were seeing who would drop the ball. The catcher would fire it to first, first to third, third to second, second to short, short to second, second to short, short to second, second to third, third to first and first would fire the ball to a streaking short who was in full sprint to the pitchers mound. Once he received it, he would toss it to the pitcher. Even the batboy would sprint to pick up a bat or collect a piece of equipment from a player standing on second.

We learned from the locals that all of the ballplayers are paid the same. No one gets more money because they are a better ballplayer. Interesting.

We learned from the locals that the Victor Mesa, the manager for the Matanzas team, was a Cuban baseball player and Olympic Gold Medalist. His nickname is "El Loco" and he is a baseball legend. His antics make Ozzie Guillen look subdued. While the line-ups were being brought  to the umpires, Mesa (wearing all red) got into an argument with the Havana manager. Over what? Who knows, he is known for just arguing. As you will notice, the umpires just stand back. I guess in Cuba it's "Victor being Victor.




When Victor Mesa decides that he needs to go make a visit to the mound, watch out. He jumps out of the dugout and while sprinting to the mound, he is screaming at his pitcher. When he gets to the mound,  Victor Mesa berates his pitcher. If he is going to remove the pitcher, he grabs the pitchers arm and yanks the ball from him and with a wave of his hand the pitcher sprints from the mound and into the dugout. We witnessed this on a few trips to the mound.

I already said that the Cubans have a passion for a number of things but I failed to mention that one of their passions is arguing. Early in the game, one of Matanzas' light hitting players hit a double. The ball boy jumped out of the dugout and sprinted to the tossed bat. At the same time the Havana manager jumped from his dugout and sprinted towards home plate. An argument began over the legality of the baseball bat. Mesa was arguing, the umpires were arguing, Industriales' manager was arguing and the fans were screaming. This argument took one hour and the final result was the bat was considered legal.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the eighth when Industriales scored two runs and eventually won the game 4-2.

The game was exciting, the fans incredible and the experience was once in a lifetime but I was a little saddened. I knew that a number of these ballplayers will never be seen by the world because of their situation. I also knew that a number of these ballplayers would be superstars in Major Leagues. We have been lucky to see a number of great Cuban ballplayers who have defected but there are so many more.

I did come away with a new found passion for the game of baseball (bought a Brooklyn Dodgers hat in honor of my father), the Cuban League (bought a Industriales hat) and a new found passion for my team.

The trip was definitely an educational experience.

THE RUN FOR THE ROSES

The 138th Run for the Roses ended in an exciting charge to the finish line for the number 19 horse, I'll Have Another. There were a few things that made history during this race and they came from the winner and from the horse that finished second, Bodemeister.

The day started nice and early for me as I got to Hollywood Park at 7AM. When we got inside Hollywood Park, Stu the Swim Coach already had squared away the seating arrangements. Dave, John and myself were in one row, with Sandman sitting next to King Stooge and Stu the Swim Coach sitting next to him. Mush was on his own when it came to his seating assignments. The scratches were handed out to the lot of us by Stu and off we went into a handicapping frenzy.

I had already put our groups tickets together the night before. We were calling it the Kentucky Derby Retirement Trifecta. I purchased our voucher and punched in our numbers for our trifectas. The machine spit them out and placed them in my pocket. It was now 8 AM and the race wasn't scheduled to go off until roughly around 3 PM.

I went back to my seat to watch the show and handicap Woodbine. Just as I sat down, I hear this guy screaming at the top of his lungs, "Sandman!! Sandman!!" Off in the distance is this disheveled heavyset guy. He is wearing a blue stained polo shirt, khaki pants and topsiders with no socks. In his right hand is a beer. It could only be one person, Mush. Sandman asked him, "How do you have a beer already and you don't even have any money?" Mush laughed and walked over to my buddy Dave and asked to borrow 20 dollars because he had a hunch. Dave gave him 20 dollars and Mush ran off screaming, "I love you Dave."

The day continued and the system that I developed was doing real well at Woodbine but it wasn't fairing too well at Churchill. I was happy about two things, one was that I was cashing tickets at Woodbine and Mush was nowhere around to mush our trifecta tickets. Just when I thought it was safe, there was Mush standing right in front us. Mush says in a hushed tone, "I have another hunch, can I borrow maybe 15 dollars?" I'm not moving but Dave reaches into his pocket and gives him another 15. Mush tells Dave, "Don't tell Sandman." Mush takes the money and runs off. At least he didn't ask about the Derby.

The Derby is about to begin and we all have our opinions. Stu the Swim Coach is a different sort of person. Sandman calls him RA for "Root Against". Stu likes to root against anything you have. What gets Sandman all bent about this is that Stu bets 2 dollars across the board on a horse that will completely ruin your big ticket. Stu has 2 dollars riding across the board on Dullahan.

We are watching the race but the televisions at Hollywood Park are so bad it is hard to tell which horse was flying up to overtake Bodemeister and we sure couldn't tell who had third. We all realized that the 19 horse, I'll Have Another was first and that Bodemeister was in second. The bunch of us realized that I still had a live trifecta ticket and they were scrambling to find out who was third. Stu was howling for his 2 dollar bet on Dullahan to finish third. Stu was looking at making no money what so ever with his 2 dollar bet across the board. When we finally realized that the number 5 horse was third, Sandman said that I was RA'd and he told Stu that he should go cash his ticket for his $1.20 in winnings.

All in all, it is always fun and entertaining at the track but a lot did happen during this race. Bodemeister set records for the first three fractions that he recorded. They were blistering and he almost hung on to win. Give Mike Smith credit, he took the horse to the lead and set a blistering pace and challenged anyone to keep up. He gambled that his horse could keep that pace for the whole race and he lost that gamble but he did finish second. That speaks columns for the type of horse that Bodemeister is. I'll Have Another was the first horse to win coming from the 19 post. This was the first Derby win and start for 25 year old Mario Gutierrez.

In two weeks we will see if I'll Have Another can add to his march to the Triple Crown. In two weeks, we will have another episode of Sandman and the Stooges and hopefully another great Triple Crown Race, The Preakness.

AND AWAY THEY GO

At 7 AM Pacific Time, I will be entering the gates at Hollywood Park to watch and wager on the Kentucky Derby. The usual suspects will be there, Sandman and the Stooges, Swim Coach Stu and of course Mush. This year I will not ask Mush who he has bet because last year he told me, "Stay Thirsty can't lose" and that was my horse and I got mushed.

A few of us decided to pool some money and play a few trifectas. After handicapping the race, a few things came to mind. This Derby is wide open. Anyone can win. It is going to be a great race and the money pools will be spread out. That is good for us if our ticket hits.

Tomorrow is also the first day that I am going to get to play Woodbine in Toronto. That is one of my favorite tracks.

To recap, tomorrow is the Derby and Woodbine is on the card and the cavalcade of characters will be quite entertaining. No matter how you look at it, it's a win win situation.

OH, MO YOU DIDN'T

This is definitely a cursed season for Yankee pitchers. Joba and his trampoline mishap, Robertson and his stepsecade while carrying boxes, Michael Pineda and his mysterious shoulder. Now we have Mariano Rivera doing his best impression of someone not being able to play the outfield and he tears his ACL and meniscus.

This is going to give Yankee fans a peak into the future because this is what it is going to look like without the greatest closer. He might return next year and he might not, remember he is a free agent and he might just retire.

The Yankees are of to a rocky start with no middle of the line-up production and shaky starting pitching. Add this wrinkle and it is going to make for one interesting season.

I have to throw a little blame at Girardi. He really needed to tell Mariano not to be goofing in the outfield. You want to shag balls, cool, just don't be running full bore after them. We don't need you to catch fly balls, we need you to finish games with your arm.

I was hoping that if he was going to retire, it would be at the end of the year. He would be coming into the game from the bullpen with Enter Sandman playing and shutting down whatever opponent the Yankees were playing that day for his umpteenth save. I do not want his last baseball game to be that of him being carried off like a limp broken doll and Exit Sandman.

NEW YORK MARATHON

I am exhausted and I didn't even play. The Rangers went up 2 games to 1 in the series against the Capitals. These two teams played a triple overtime game and finally Gaborik put one in the net for a 2-1 Rangers win.

All I can say is what a game and I know I should say, "Neither team deserved to lose" but it's the hockey play-offs and the Rangers deserved to win.

Wow, never seen anything like it.

BEST HORSE EVER

This is Kentucky Derby week. On Wednesday the post positions will be picked and on Saturday, the Run for the Roses will go off. Is there a triple crown winner in this bunch? Is there going to be a horse for the ages? But my big question is, will there be another Secretariat.

Watching Secretariat in 1973 was one of the main reasons I became such a big horse racing fan. He was the greatest athlete for that year.

On July 4, 1972, Secretariat finished fourth, beaten 11⁄4 lengths, in his first race at Aqueduct Racetrack.  After that loss, Secretariat then won five races in a row. Secretariat won the Eclipse Award for American Champion Two Year-Old Male Horse.

Secretariat started off his three-year-old year with a win in the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct. In his next start, the Gotham Stakes, Secretariat led wire-to-wire for the first time in his career. He ran the first 3/4 of a mile in 1:083⁄5 and finished the one mile race in 1:332⁄5, equalling the track record. However, in his next start, he finished third in the Wood Memorial to his stablemate Angle Light and Santa Anita Derby winner Sham, in their final preparatory race for the Kentucky Derby.

Churchill Downs bettors made the entry of Secretariat and Angle Light the 3–2 favorite in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. (Sham was next at 5—2.) Secretariat broke last, but gradually moved up on the field in the backstretch, then overtook Sham at the top of the stretch, pulling away to win the Derby by 21⁄2 lengths. Our Native finished third.

On his way to a still-standing track record (1:592⁄5), Secretariat ran each quarter-mile segment faster than the one before it. The successive quarter-mile times were 251⁄5, 24, 234⁄5, 232⁄5, and 23. This means he was still accelerating as of the final quarter-mile of the race. No other horse won the Derby in less than 2 minutes until Monarchos in 2001.

In the Preakness Stakes, Secretariat broke last, but then made a huge, last-to-first move on the first turn. After reaching the lead with 51⁄2 furlongs to go and won by 2½ lengths. Secretariat broke the record for the Preakness that day but there has been a controversy over that due to the on track clock malfunctioning. A handheld clocker showed that Secretariat did not break the record. I believe he broke the record but what do I know.

Only four horses competed against Secretariat for the June 9, 1973, running of the Belmont Stakes. With so few horses in the race, and with Secretariat expected to win, no "show" bets were taken. Secretariat was sent off as a 1–10 favorite. Before a crowd of 67,605, Secretariat and Sham set a fast early pace, opening ten lengths on the rest of the field.  Secretariat astonished spectators by continuing the fast pace and opening up a larger and larger margin on the field. Viewers heard the wonder in CBS Television announcer Chic Anderson's voice as he described the horse's pace: "Secretariat is widening now! He is moving like a tremendous machine!"

In the stretch, Secretariat opened a 1/16 mile lead on the rest of the field. At the finish, he won by 31 lengths (breaking the margin-of-victory record set by Triple Crown winner Count Fleet in 1943, which won by 25 lengths), and ran the fastest 1½ miles on dirt in history, 2:24 flat, which broke the stakes' record by more than two seconds.  Secretariat's world record still stands, and in fact, no other horse has ever broken 2:25 for 1½ miles on dirt.

Secretariat raced throughout 1973. He retired after he won the Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine  Racetrack in Toronto on October 28, 1973. He retired after this race.

Altogether, Secretariat won 16 of his 21 career races, with three seconds and one third, for in-the-money finishes in 20 of 21 starts, and total earnings of $1,316,808.

At age three, Secretariat was again named Horse of the Year, and won Eclipse Awards as the American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and the American Champion Male Turf Horse.

There has never been a horse like Secretariat and I am not to sure there ever will be.