Too Good To Be True
January 24, 2008
*This a post from when my blog was located at http://www.blogger.com/. The events described occurred sometime around May.*
I woke up Sunday morning and went through my usual motions. I went for a quick jog, took a shower, and then I ate some breakfast. After finishing this morning ritual I decided to head over to my local track (River Downs). It was a beautiful day which I spent in the grand stand handicapping races.
I was doing great. I had doubled my money by the time the feature race came around. I decided to try and make it an even better day. In this race was a horse called Free Thinking. He had raced earlier this year in the Shoemaker Breeder’s Cup Mile, and the Breeder’s Cup Mile. Also in the race was an older gelding that had raced in the Grade 1 United Nations the previous year, along with the Del Mar Handicap. To top it all off the winner of the Gendelman Handicap, a local stakes race was competing. Quite a deep field for a $12,000 allowance race if I do say so myself.
Free Thinking was coming out of a Grade 2 in which he was last by 14 lengths. Despite this he was still even money. I thought to myself “wow, this sounds like an easy way to double up”. Man was I wrong. I’m not the kind of person who will bet even money but this looked like a sure thing, which in my idiocy I forgot doesn’t exist.
As the race went off Free Thinking sat in second and seemed to be under hand. He made a move to the lead and absolutely quit. Dean Sarvis was beating the hell out of him too, or I would’ve thought something was up. Free Thinking was lesson learned the hard way. If it seems too good to be sure, then it probably is.