Flamingo kid
Everybody's hands go UP!
We have a decent amount of horseplayers here, so i thought i'd open up the classroom and go over some videotape. I'm going to give you a horse to watch and i'll explain what you're watching and how to interpret what you saw.
For those of you who don't have access to free video tape replays, you can sign up for a free account at calracing.com and watch the replay (and the head on) of the race i'm going to talk about.
The focus is going to be on tomorrow's (Saturday Jan 21) 9th race at Golden Gate fields and we're going to look at a horse named Simply Sharp.
Simply Sharp ran his one and only lifetime start on Jan 2 of this year. He raced in maiden allowance class which was race 7 on that day.
Right off the bat, i notice the 'low profile' barn attracting a high profile rider. In this colt's (gelding's) first lifetime start, he broke from post 1 with today's rider Aaron "cool rider" Gryder. Gryder just breaks this horse out of the gate, and keeps him under a snug hold the entire way. Aaron 'chirps' to him in the lane and goes to a moderate hand ride (to show the judges he's trying) but in reality, he's just giving this horse a race. (in racetrack parlance, giving a horse 'a race' just means he's prepping him for a future date. Is this allowed? Not really, but its like travelling in the NBA, its not really allowed, but you can get away with it fairly often) Aaron never 'lets him loose' at any point. Simply Sharp finishes 'with interest' under the line and gallops out with energy. SS has a low center of gravity, appears professional and focused and races in a straight line. The connections got exactly what they wanted.
I believe that Simply Sharp isnt' really 'dropping' in class because i feel that THIS is the race they are pointing for to begin with. This is a cheap sale purchase who was always destined to be in this class and his first start was just a prep, Gryder never 'showed him off' to the public. He never showed him off because they knowingly entered the horse into a race he couldnt win and in a class where they could put a 'bad line' on the horse.
Now, the idea of this post isnt to alert you to blindly bet on Simply Sharp because he's some sort of sure winner. The idea is to try and point out to you some ideas that might help you get into the heads of the connections and see what they're doing. Part of the 'selecting winners' process is to really bet on the right horse in the right race on the right day and not just select 'live' horses and pray.
Now, for all we both know, Simply Sharp could be a complete dog who just can't run, a lot can happen on the way to the winners circle. I like that Gryder takes the call back off a poor past performance line for a low profile barn, that makes me think Gryder liked this horse first time out and wanted to ride him back in this class on this day.
Selecting winners in horse racing is much like selecting winners in pro sports...its not enough just to bet on the best team, you need the right situation to present itself. In horse racing, its really important to bet on horses who are 'ready' for their race that particular day.
Buying a young horse, breaking him from yearling status and getting him ready for the races takes time, a lot of patience, a lot of luck, an excellent trainer with a great game plan and a bunch of money to pay bills on a horse who's not racing. For Simply Sharp to get to this exact point in time, in this race, with a nice sneaky prep under his belt and retaining a top jockey means the connections did everything they could and put this horse into the right situation. Now, if you are the connections (or, betting on his nose) its just time to cross your fingers and hope.
Win, lose or draw, Simply Sharp is the type of horse you want to try and sniff out when you are handicapping, a horse who is entered with a purpose.
You can find horses like this on a regular basis in racing....unfortunately, you have to spend a ton of time sifting thru videotapes. Its just like anything in life, you need to work to have some success.
For those of you who don't have access to free video tape replays, you can sign up for a free account at calracing.com and watch the replay (and the head on) of the race i'm going to talk about.
The focus is going to be on tomorrow's (Saturday Jan 21) 9th race at Golden Gate fields and we're going to look at a horse named Simply Sharp.
Simply Sharp ran his one and only lifetime start on Jan 2 of this year. He raced in maiden allowance class which was race 7 on that day.
Right off the bat, i notice the 'low profile' barn attracting a high profile rider. In this colt's (gelding's) first lifetime start, he broke from post 1 with today's rider Aaron "cool rider" Gryder. Gryder just breaks this horse out of the gate, and keeps him under a snug hold the entire way. Aaron 'chirps' to him in the lane and goes to a moderate hand ride (to show the judges he's trying) but in reality, he's just giving this horse a race. (in racetrack parlance, giving a horse 'a race' just means he's prepping him for a future date. Is this allowed? Not really, but its like travelling in the NBA, its not really allowed, but you can get away with it fairly often) Aaron never 'lets him loose' at any point. Simply Sharp finishes 'with interest' under the line and gallops out with energy. SS has a low center of gravity, appears professional and focused and races in a straight line. The connections got exactly what they wanted.
I believe that Simply Sharp isnt' really 'dropping' in class because i feel that THIS is the race they are pointing for to begin with. This is a cheap sale purchase who was always destined to be in this class and his first start was just a prep, Gryder never 'showed him off' to the public. He never showed him off because they knowingly entered the horse into a race he couldnt win and in a class where they could put a 'bad line' on the horse.
Now, the idea of this post isnt to alert you to blindly bet on Simply Sharp because he's some sort of sure winner. The idea is to try and point out to you some ideas that might help you get into the heads of the connections and see what they're doing. Part of the 'selecting winners' process is to really bet on the right horse in the right race on the right day and not just select 'live' horses and pray.
Now, for all we both know, Simply Sharp could be a complete dog who just can't run, a lot can happen on the way to the winners circle. I like that Gryder takes the call back off a poor past performance line for a low profile barn, that makes me think Gryder liked this horse first time out and wanted to ride him back in this class on this day.
Selecting winners in horse racing is much like selecting winners in pro sports...its not enough just to bet on the best team, you need the right situation to present itself. In horse racing, its really important to bet on horses who are 'ready' for their race that particular day.
Buying a young horse, breaking him from yearling status and getting him ready for the races takes time, a lot of patience, a lot of luck, an excellent trainer with a great game plan and a bunch of money to pay bills on a horse who's not racing. For Simply Sharp to get to this exact point in time, in this race, with a nice sneaky prep under his belt and retaining a top jockey means the connections did everything they could and put this horse into the right situation. Now, if you are the connections (or, betting on his nose) its just time to cross your fingers and hope.
Win, lose or draw, Simply Sharp is the type of horse you want to try and sniff out when you are handicapping, a horse who is entered with a purpose.
You can find horses like this on a regular basis in racing....unfortunately, you have to spend a ton of time sifting thru videotapes. Its just like anything in life, you need to work to have some success.