Breeders Cup 2012

I've been handicapping horse races for decades. It started many years ago when I read a fascinating book on mathematical probabilities. It's not quite as crazy as being a psychic, but it's equally challenging. Predicting the future is never a boring game.

Once a year, they have something called the Breeders Cup. It's like the World Series of horse racing. The best of the best show up on the first Saturday in November. Every horse owner wants to have an entry in one of the many Cup races. The purse (potential earnings) for the winners is astonishing. In fact, the biggest race has a purse of five million dollars. Having a chance at that kind of money makes it well worth the trip, against all odds.

This year, the races were held in nearby Arcadia, California at the Santa Anita Race Track. The female runners (known as fillies and mares) ran on Friday. They usually don't try to tackle the big boy colts, horses, or geldings. The male runners always go on Breeder Cup Saturday. 

My handicapping is pretty good, but not always great. This year was the exception. I hit several winners on Friday, which I viewed as the practice run for the biggest day in horse racing. Then, on Saturday, we really nailed them. I won five of the nine Cup races, including these gems:

George Vancouver $20.60
Groupie Doll $3.40 (My predicted BEST BET of the day. And, it won easily.)
Trinniberg $29.40 
Wise Dan $5.60
Fort Larned $20.80

Plus, we hit the two-day Daily Double for $63 and the closing Pick Three for $420. Not a bad day.

The best day that I ever had was many years ago, but my kids will never forget it. The track has a wager called the Pick Six. For just $2, you try to predict six consecutive winners. Never easy, but the jackpot can be enormous. Once, I hit all six winners. And, I didn't have to share the winning pot with anyone else. I held the only winning ticket in the entire country. That was a day of special significance. At that point, I knew my handicapping was well above average.

In the past, I've even sold my picks at the race track. Boy, that was a lot of fun. I got an idea of what the old-time paperboys must have gone through. But, it was a learning experience that I never regret. I also came close to becoming a published handicapper at a large local newspaper. As the saying goes, "I can that close!" The newspaper didn't think they had a big enough following to take up so much space in their sports section every day. They missed a golden opportunity to sell more papers and I missed having a good second job outside of radio. That's just my humble opinion.  

Special thanks to Tim Conway, Jr. who has had me on his radio shows more than once, in an attempt to predict the annual Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners. As for the Triple Crown, that can be the biggest challenge of the year. Although one very memorable year, before the radio interviews, I hit all three winners of the Triple Crown races and they were all different colts. Sometimes you just get lucky.

So, as we get ready to finish 2012, I'm in the black (profitable). Which is more than most corporations can say today. I'll see you at the upcoming Hollywood Park meeting. Let's have some fun and make some money! 

October Has Always Been a Lucky Month

October has always been a lucky month for me. Over the years, I've started several great jobs in this month. I also purchased my latest home, had a child born and won large amounts of money in the month of October. So, when a friend suggested that I start my own personal blog this month, I thought ... why not? Let's see if we can combine tremendous good luck, huge success and lots of fun in one cool place. Thanks for joining me here!