As a horseplayer, I’m always looking for an extra angle; an added edge; a plausible tout. Something that preferably will put a little extra cash into my pocket. And it’s here that I will happily share my observations and comments with my fellow horseplayers. This is for my betting buddies, who are currently sitting at the smoke-filled bar area in the simulcast halls or race books, surfing the web using their palm pilot or cell phone, looking for a tip or two.
At this point, I will boldly declare that I am not a professional handicapper. Jim Mazur, Andy Beyer, Dan Illman … they’re geniuses. They write books and columns and spend oodles of time reading charts and handicapping races. I just love the sport. It’s a thrill to sift through the race form, place my wager at the pari-mutuel window, cheer on my horse, and hopefully collect some loot. $4000 claiming race or the Preakness, it’s entertaining and exciting. It is a sport that we, the horseplayers, are actually participants. It gives the un-athletic individual who couldn’t even make the third string junior varsity water polo team an opportunity to be part of the sport, whether our participation is as simple as a $2 Show wager or a $100 exacta.
So it’s here that I will share tidbits and perhaps occasional picks. My friends can tout their horses. My friends’ friends can tout. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll let my husband, a man with absolute no handicapping tenacity and bets strictly on longshots when he actually goes to the track with me, give a selection. As soon as he takes out the trash.
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