Learning To Bet: 4th Day

by Taylor Kalkbrenner

After everything I have learned so far regarding wagering, I decided to focus on exactas trifectas today. I got the chance to place these types of bets on races 2,3,4,7,8,9, and 10. I started out my day with an adventurous mindset and bet a trifecta on race 2. With the 3 2 and 6 looking like the favorites for this race, I decided to go with a 3 with a 2 6. The 3 horse was Sunshine Express driven by Dave Palone and trained by Paul Kennedy. The 2 horse was Kannections Honey driven by Mike Wilder and trained by Dirk Simpson. Lastly, the 6 horse was Theresnoway driven by Jim Pantaleano and trained by Katricia Adams. The 3 horse wasn’t in a good position to take the win for the race although, the 2 and 6 horse took first and second which made my pick a little easier.

For race 3, I switched to an exacta to change my luck. It seems like 5 is usually a lucky number for me and the 5 horse was also a huge favorite for this race so I knew it would be a nice pick. Talking with some owners too, they said that they also tend to pick the same numbers some time due to luck or other reasons, which I thought was quite interesting. I decided to go with a 5 2 exacta box with a tough pick debating between the 2 and the 4. I thought about trying a 5 with a 2 4 trifecta but I decided against it. The 5 horse was Fear the Dragon driven by David Miller and trained by Brian Brown and the 2 horse was Boogie Shuffle driven by Tim Tetrick and trained by Mark Harder. The race was very successful for me due to the fact that the results were 5 2 4 1. I was disappointed in myself due to the fact that if I would have gone with the trifecta, I would have also won that too but I was rather thankful for just winning the exacta.

Race 4 came along and with the close call with the trifecta for the last race, I decided that I would go with a trifecta for this race. I looked closely at my program trying to pick the best horses for this race. I ended up betting an 8 with a 6 2. The 8 horse was Tamarind driven by Aaron Merriman and trained by William Bercury. This horse was one that everyone was raving about so I had to have it place first. The 6 horse was Classicality driven by Brian Zendt and trained by Lisa Dunn and the 2 horse was Tall Cotton driven by Yannick Gingras and trained by Ron Burke. The results were 2 1 8 6, so no victory there but I was proud that my three picks were at least in the top four.

I took a little break in between all of the action and was ready to bet on race 7. I decided to place an exacta but it was quite the difficult decision to choose which horses I wanted to bet on. There were 10 horses in this race and I was sure to take into account all of the times, drivers, and trainers that I have learned to recognize in this wagering process so far. I decided to go with a 6 1 exacta box. The 6 horse was On The Gogh driven by Brad Prevost and trained by William Prevost. As for the 1 horse, I know the horse was Sheriff Baird and trained by Dirk Simpson, but I was unable to catch the driver due to the fact that the driver listed in the program was injured. Before I went to place my bet, something about the 10 horse struck me as a good pick but I just stuck with my gut and went with my pick. The results were 5 9 6 10, so I wasn’t very successful, but I was ready to keep wagering.

Race 8 came along and I was ready for a trifecta. There were 6 horses in this race and the 2 3 4 and 6 were ones that could really stand out in this race. They all had close tight knit race times so I struggled to pick for this race. I ended up going with a 2 with a 4 6. The 2 horse was Blood Line driven by Brett Miller and trained by Jimmy Takter. The 4 horse was Huntsville driven by Tim Tetrick and trained by Ray Schnittker. The 6 horse was Downbytheseaside driven by David Miller and trained by Brian Brown. I considered this race as one of my semi successful ones of the day due to the fact that the results were 6 4 1 5.

The day was coming down to a close and I was ready to try for an exacta. I was truly between the 1 2 and 3 horses but I decided to go with a 2 1 exacta box. The 2 horse was Beach House driven by David Miller and trained by Rich Gillock and the 1 horse was The Wall driven by Brett Miller and trained by Jimmy Takter. It was a close race with the 2 and 1 horse staying in the top 3 most of the race until the end when the 3 and the 5 horse ended up coming in at the end. The results were 3 1 5 2, but It was a very close race.

Race 10 was the last race I was going to bet on for the day and I was ready for a victory. Since I was trying to master the exacta, I decided to go with that to finish things off. I heard some really good things about the 1 horse Jenaleah so I was positive that I would include the 1 horse in my exacta box. I ended up placing a 5 1 exacta box. The 5 horse was Mac Deeno driven by Tony Hall and trained by Rich Gillock and the 1 horse was Jenaleah driven by Mike Wilder and trained by Dane Snyder. The 5 horse took the first place finish so I was happy about that, but the 1 horse didn’t come in second so I wasn’t entirely successful.

Today was quite the day of wagering and a full set of new knowledge of wagering. I am starting to really get what an exacta is and becoming more successful with it. Next time, I plan on trying to become more successful with trifectas and cannot wait for that!