JC / Railbird

Suffolk Downs Archive

Winning Bets I Didn’t Make

Sometimes I think that the winning bets I don’t make hurt worse than the losing bets I do.

I went to Suffolk on Saturday planning to place one wager in race seven and another on the Preakness, and arrived in time to watch the fifth race horses leave the paddock for the track. Horse #6 caught my eye, as he was sans pony in the post parade and had a bouncy jog. “That horse will win,” I thought, and looked at the tote board expecting to see that he was favorite. He wasn’t; his odds were 5-1. I agonized — should I make the bet? I decided not to, because I was all about discipline on Saturday. A review of my wagering since the meet opened on April 30 had revealed that I was doing well, but frittering away my profit with $2 flyers like the one I was contemplating.

Horse #6 won and paid $12.20.

Race six came up and horse #7 intrigued. He was making his first start at Suffolk since racing at Laurel, a profitable angle during the meet’s first couple of weeks (although one that’s become rarer now that most of the horses entered in races have started at Suffolk at least once this spring). But he was stretching out to a mile for the first time, and the favorite looked legitimate, so I passed, even though his odds were 8-1. “Discipline,” I told myself.

Horse #7 won and paid $18.40.

Finally, it was time for the race I came to bet. Race seven, horse #6, odds 5-1. I put my money down.

Horse #6 finished sixth.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on May 22, 2005

Suffolk Notes

Jockey Michel Lapensee was thrown from his mount, Explorationist, in the eighth race today when the six-year-old gelding broke down on the far turn. Lapensee was uninjured and will ride on Tuesday; Explorationist was euthanized on the track … Rider Joe Hampshire returns to Suffolk Downs on Wednesday … This Sunday, May 22, is Eddie Andelman’s 16th annual Hot Dog Safari. A fundraiser for the Joey Fund, tickets are $10 in advance/$15 at the door. Last year, more than 40,000 people (or, about 20 times the average weekday crowd) showed up for all the hot dogs they could eat and nine live races.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on May 16, 2005

Funny, Not So Funny

Suffolk COO Robert O’Malley on the state of Massachusetts racing, past and present:
“I always remember the line from Dave Wilson, who was the racing writer with the old Record in Boston: ‘Suffolk Downs is the only place where a Ph.D. from M.I.T. would chase a tattered bum across the apron asking, “What do you know?”‘”
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“There isn’t the interest in the local product from day to day. There’s more interest in out-of-town races.”

Posted in Suffolk Downs on May 7, 2005