Baffert and Barbaro Big Winners. Broux Not a Big Winner

Saturday was seemingly simple. When I got home from my little sojourn to the track, my husband made the loud proclamation, "Honey! You must have been a big winner!"

True, Bandini won. Honey Ryder won. Barbaro won. Gulfstream race card was simple. But what do you think happened? I could not keep my grubby little hands away from the exotic bets; win payoffs would be paltry and barely worth the effort unless I bet big, and if you have been following my musings for the past few months, the bet big philosophy doesn't sit well with me. Therefore, this particular Honey did not come home a big winner.

I didn't even bet on the Florida Derby. I just kept looking at the past performances and handicappers' perspectives and in the end, opted to be just a spectator, which once again proved to be a dumb decision. I, like many others, like Barbaro, however his hooves had yet to feel dirt in a race. I, like others, like Sharp Humor, however he had not run past 7 furlongs. And I like, others, looked and looked and looked for an outside possibility of "some kind of longshot" for the Florida Derby, and could not even find one that was remotely appealing. Okay, okay, okay all you smart guys, I should have at the very least done an exacta box ... oh well.

So where does that put Barbaro and Sharp Humor on the Kentucky Derby trail? The last time a horse won the Kentucky Derby on a five week layoff was in 1784, or something like that.

Which reminds me, for factual and insightful handicapping and race wrap-ups, there are some very factual and insightful racing enthusiasts out there, many of which are part of the TBA. This collective group of racing geniuses has added another horse racing expert extraordinaire, The Lemon Drop Kid. With the addition of another horse racing expert as well as someone who has real reporting and writing credentials, this affords me more opportunity to be a slouch, although I should tread lightly as not to get voted off this island.

Okay. I plugged the new guy. Back to business ...

I will admit, the races at Sunland Park - the WinStar Oaks and WinStar Derby - were the easiest races of the day. I just glanced at the Oaks and Sweet Fourty, looked like a cinch. I even bet big, which was handy because she only paid $3.60. And as for the WinStar Derby, it was all Baffert. Hard to miss that one, but once again, the payouts were not going to pay for our trip to Walt Disneyworld.

But it was a fun weekend in a break-even kind of way.