Contest Recap - NTRA/DRF at Trackside

[Scav]

So, today started out unbelievable and ended up horrible. Got there and hit the early double at Philly park for $100, got back 750, then hit Gomez in the opener at Keeneland for a c-note, then hit that chalky 2 at Duct (turf race) for 180...Turned 200 into 1205 in a matter of about an hour, and the friggin contest hasn't even started. Then an iceburg came and I sunk like the titanic, pissed the 1200 back, contest starts. My plays were.....

Keeneland Race 3: #6 Intern - BLAH!!
Hawthorne Race 2 (mandatory): #3 Five Card Monty - BLAH!
Hawthorne Race 3 (mandatory): #3 Harbor Craft - Winner - $33 back
Keeneland Race 4: #1 Divine Park - Winner - $58 back
Hawthorne Race 5 (mandatory): #4 Dancing Saints - Winner - $60 back
Gulfstream Race 6: #2 B.B. Best - BLAH!! (and this one really pissed me off because he looked loaded for bear on the turn)
Keeneland Race 8: #11 Barley Sound - Another that ran well just didnt have it
Gulfstream Race 7: #6 Americanus - BLAH!! (TG angle that didn't pan out)
Gulfstream Race 9: #8 Fly with the Wind - BLAH!!!!!!! This just destoryed me because he looked absolutely loaded and just didn't get any room to run
Hawthorne Race 7: (mandatory)#7 Catman Running - Still running - will see at Buelah soon
Hawthorne Race 8: (mandatory)#7 King of the Wind - BECUASE OF THE GOD DAMN TELLER F'N UP MY TICKET
Hawthorne Race 10: (mandatory) #2 Copy Runner - runs a bang up race and gets 2nd at 14/1

All in all I had a horrible day, but that hit from yesterday helps the pain a little bit. I proved to myself that I can hang with some big boys (Rippley was there today), at one point I was in 7th place ($$198 with 5 wagers to go) but I just spit the bit. Confidence builder

[brianwspencer]

Not a terrible day there.

When I played that one last year, it was my first contest ever, and I was moving along alright through about half of it, sitting in the top quarter of the contest.

Then stupid Jazil couldn't quite run down Bob and John, and stupid Senior Chief at Hawthorne couldn't quite run down the leader (name escapes me at the moment...) in a mandatory race. Both at great prices, both on my contest tickets for $10 win only.

It was rough to miss two close races that would have put me in a good spot, but at least I did about ten times better than the contest at Hoosier (don't ever enter there, the race selection was the WORST ever).

I'm thinking of entering the AP one in September.

Sounds like you did well enough though, especially considering that these things turn from good to bad and back on a moment's notice.

[pweizer]

It was a tough field with five past champions in attendance (Rippey, Michelson, Wolfson, Miller, and Walker). The beauty of contests is that on any given day, anyone can win. Keep at it.

Paul

[pmayjr]

Brian,
That Hoosier contest you speak of, is that the one they do on the weekend right before or right after July 4th? I didn't do that one last year, but I did it 2 years ago. I thought the race selection that year was good for being all mandatory. I'm 50/50 on goin back this year.

The contest of contests in my eyes is Keeneland's year-ender the first weekend in December. It's a top-notch contest. They made it slightly flawed this past year by restricting the race tracks you can wager on, but you still get enough versatility to hit some nice ones and separate yourself.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by pmayjr

Brian,
That Hoosier contest you speak of, is that the one they do on the weekend right before or right after July 4th? I didn't do that one last year, but I did it 2 years ago. I thought the race selection that year was good for being all mandatory. I'm 50/50 on goin back this year.

The contest of contests in my eyes is Keeneland's year-ender the first weekend in December. It's a top-notch contest. They made it slightly flawed this past year by restricting the race tracks you can wager on, but you still get enough versatility to hit some nice ones and separate yourself.

Yea, it was on July 1 this year. I thought that since all of the races were mandatory, they should have done a way better job of picking them. Out of the like 20 races you had to play, only a few were not conditioned claiming/cheap races, and only a few had good sized fields. Most of them were chalkfest 6-7 horse fields at major tracks. I absolutely hated it and would never go back to that one. If they're going to make every race mandatory, then they need to get a good array of races and good field sizes.

[pmayjr]

Wow...

That's surprising, because it was the same format the year before, but field sizes were good, and some long shots came in. I think claimers and allowance races shuold make up the bulk of the contest's races, due to the field sizes they normally offer (outside of Cali lol). So it's surprising that they had such poor selection last year.

Prairie Meadows' tourney 2 years ago was the worst one I'd ever been to. That one was totally full of mandatory races with 6 and 7 horse fields. But they completely changed the format and if I can scrunge up the $$$, I might try and go this time around. The info is here for anyone who's interested-
http://www.prairiemeadows.com/promot....php?p=83&pg=7
In case y'all don't know, Prairie Meadows is right outside of Des Moines, IA.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by pmayjr

Wow...

That's surprising, because it was the same format the year before, but field sizes were good, and some long shots came in. I think claimers and allowance races shuold make up the bulk of the contest's races, due to the field sizes they normally offer (outside of Cali lol). So it's surprising that they had such poor selection last year.

Prairie Meadows' tourney 2 years ago was the worst one I'd ever been to. That one was totally full of mandatory races with 6 and 7 horse fields. But they completely changed the format and if I can scrunge up the $$$, I might try and go this time around. The info is here for anyone who's interested-
http://www.prairiemeadows.com/promot....php?p=83&pg=7
In case y'all don't know, Prairie Meadows is right outside of Des Moines, IA.

Yea, last year it was total chalkfest, and handicapping it the night before appeared as if it was going to be. Starters, conditioned claimers, a couple allowance races and one or two stakes races -- which is fine (I have no problem playing conditioned claimers and starters, even though they aren't my favorite race types), but I was sitting in the hotel with my mom (handicapping contest partner, embarrassingly enough) and we were going crazy trying to find ANY live price horses in the races. I think I was only able to make a real case for about three horses in twenty races that had a good shot at over 10-1. It was just ridiculous, and was to be expected after they chose a bunch of 6-7 horse fields at Aqueduct and Arlington.