Wagering Weekend

Several weeks ago on this blog I wrote a piece titled "Call Me Ismael" where I documented my failures with the Pick Five wager at Turf Paradise at various junctures throughout the season. I detailed how close I had come to hitting the wager and compared myself to Captain Ahab and the Pick Five to Moby Dick. I also made a point of stating at the end of that article that I intended to hit the Pick Five before the end of the current season at Turf Paradise and that I didn't care whether the ticket paid $40 or $4,000.

Well, readers, today was finally the day. I hit the Pick Five wager at Turf Paradise for the first time on a $54 ticket for a total of $475. Believe me, it was an incredibly satisfying feeling for me. That satisfaction was heightened by the fact that a friend of mine visited the track today from California along with a friend of his and after I advised them of the carryover entering the day, they also hit the Pick Five with the help of my selections. It was a rare day of handicapping prowess for me since my top pick won six of the nine races on the card and my second selection won the other three. I can attest to the fact that this has never happened before.

Today came on the heels of an exciting Sunday that was created by the NHC Tour free handicapping tournament which awarded trips to the 2012 National Handicapping Championships to the first four finishers. For a fleeting few minutes, I was on my way to Las Vegas on Sunday. I correctly selected the winners of three of the first four contest races and was sitting in a tie for second place at that point of the contest. Unfortunately, I only managed a pair of decent priced seconds in the remaining races, but I still managed to finish a respectable T-209th in the contest with just over $55 in earnings from my picks. That was certainly a far cry from the brutal bagel I went through in the first free contest of the year, which I documented in another earlier blog piece titled "Behind The Bagel".

All in all, it was an excellent weekend handicapping-wise and wallet-wise as well. I am certainly encouraged by the last few days and hope to build on this success going forward. Tune in again tomorrow for the Super Six Derby Pix from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone... GOODBYE.