Rick G's Blog

3/28/07

Santa Anita

7th Race

# 3  Seven Steps (4/1)

3/27/07 

Philadelphia

9th race

# 2  Tease (5/2)

Gulfstream    8th race

# 3  Grand Champion

I just took an online IQ test and my score was 10% lower than it was 40 years ago.  I knew I was getting slower, but man...the realization came today when I was trying to figure out how to program a simple light timer.  I'm feeling stupid enough already, but after reading the directions and feeling confident I know what I'm doing I try to do it and I can't even read the display and the buttons are so tiny that I had a hard time coordinating the finger to the button.  This involves three diminished capacities...intelligence, vision and hand-eye coordination.  I feel like I've entered the Twilight Zone.  But it's too late to stop partying so I'll just have to get used to it.  As long as I can remember my name without looking at my drivers license, I'll be O.K.

Today's race is the 9th at Gulfstream.   Hcp-G3 $125K    1 M   (T)   4up

# 2 Steel Light (5/1) gets the nod. For an exacta I like him on top with either # 4 Giant Wrecker (6/1) or # 9 Gin And Sin (10/1).

My sons are going to Hawthorne today so I handicapped that whole card.

Hawthorne Sun. 3/4 Top 2 picks each race:

1st      # 4 Hail Victory (7/2)
    # 3 Scrapbook (5/1)

2nd    # 6 Tricky Launch (5/2)
    # 3 Nearly Over (2/1)

3rd    # 5 Shakeel's Command (5/2)
    # 1 Over Budget (3/1)

4th    # 1 C F O Lite (5/2)
    # 6 Plenilunio (9/2)

5th    # 3 Negra Noche (2/1)
    # 1 Shezastormin (6/1)

6th    # 4 adoodle (5/1)  (Editor removed some of the name...what does a rooster say in the am?)
    # 7 Court Ruler (4/1)

7th    # 6 Dr. Nicole (7/2)
    # 5 Ay You're Adorable (5/2)

8th    # 3 Lawabidingcitizen (6/1)
    # 2 Grab The Cat (4/1)

9th    # 4 Hot Shades (12/1)       
    # 2 Simply Santa Fe (10/1)
    (Check out those odds...I'm betting on this race...# 4 to win and a 2-4 exacta box).

   
Results from today's Hawthorne card won't be tabulated with Race of The Day stats.

Good luck!   

Saturday 3/3/07

Today's race is the 7th at Santa Anita.  Hcp-G1  $300K  1 M (T)  4up

 # 2 Silent Name (8/1) has a history from hell in his past performances.  For starters, he has a trainer who has saddled only 2 winners from 35 starts at the current meet.  Not an encouraging sign.  The nightmare really begins when you look at the trouble this horse has encountered with his former jockey.

Here are the last six race descriptions (when that jockey had the mount):

Pulled; lost whip 1/8
Bobbled start; 2 wide; weakened
10 wide stretch; no bid
Lost whip chute
3 wide into stretch; lost 2nd 
6 wide into lane; rallied   

Today's jockey switch to Nakatani is an encouraging sign.  This horse is speedy and it should be a good value.


Good luck!

Today's race is the 7th at Santa Anita.  Alw  50K  6.5 f  (T)  4up

# 4 American All Star (7/2)

 
Good luck! 

Today's race is the 6th at Fair Grounds.  Alw 50K  7.5 furlongs   (T)    4upF&M

Top pick is # 12 Toolights Ruckus (5/1).

Second choice is # 9 Haughty Hottie (7/2).

Good luck! 

2/28/07

Today's race is the 1st at Santa Anita.  (F) Alw 59K n2x 1 1/4 M (T) 4up F&M

A small field of five will be going in this one.  Top pick is # 2 Rafaela (2/1).  Second choice is # 5 Dancing General (9/5). 

Good luck! 

2/27/07

Today's race is the 9th Race at Philadelphia Park.    Alw 32K n3X    1M70 yds    4up

# 6 Stringtown Wonder (5/1) should be running very close to the lead at every call and should win this route on pace advantage.  # 2 Talent Search (4/1) will be the main threat.   # 7 Brian's Echo (8/1) is the third choice that might go off at a decent mutuel and rounding out the contenders is # 10 Untoppable (5/2).

6 - 2 - 7 - 10

Exacta Value Plays:  2 - 6  /  6 - 2

Good Luck!

I was rudely awakened this morning by a rough rocking motion of my van.  I pulled the new floral print curtains aside to see what was going on.  The Chicago River had a strange fog shrouding it due to the sub zero temperature.  My homeless buddies were out there rocking my van to wake me up.  They were wild-eyed and jabbing there fingers towards the sky.

Squinting skyward through the mist and dirty window I beheld an incredible sight...it was Saint Ditka.  He was smiling down upon Chicago with a polish sausage in one hand and a football in the other.  I stumbled out of the van to get a better look.  

Someone in the throng screamed, "Lo, he speaketh!"  A deep rumbling ensued, akin to thunder.  There were flashes of lightning arcing from  His Holy eyes.  Seated at his right side was Saint Walter and on his left, Saint Singletary.

In unison they bellowed,  "DA.....Bearz, da Bearz, da Bearz.......DA....Bearz, da Bearz, da Bearz..."

The hypnotic chanting continued as Chicago citizens, awakened from their frigid slumber, crawled from the warmth and safety of their cocoons with waddling toddlers in tow and began singing as one, "Bear down Chicago Bears..."

Meanwhile, 200 miles to the south great storm clouds had gathered over a once-proud city in Indiana.  The frightened citizens looked skyward and agonized as they witnessed a certain Peyton Manning crawling on hands and knees through a gauntlet of the '85 Bears team and being paddled mercilessly.

There was great wailing and gnashing of teeth that could be heard throughout the countryside.  Grown men were crying as they realized their foolish mistake of picking the Colts and giving the Bears 7 points.

                                                              

Brett Favre is coming back to work in the fall of 2007.  This is not surprising, it was just an exercise in wasted breath and air time for the sports announcers to fill the time gaps when they couldn't report on the game they were supposed to be covering, which was the final NFC Central intra-division game of the season.  It started early and stayed late regardless of the score or the plays being missed by the inane banter and personal interviews by Mr. Madden and friends.

Before the final NFC Central game between the Bears and the Packers, The Chicago Tribune sports writers begged John Madden and company to please spare us the game-interrupting speculation of his highness' return to the game.

Their pleas went unanswered.  During the three hour football game, John and friends interspersed the game with twenty minutes of interviewing Mr. Favre and then speculating on their interviews whether this man was going to come back to work.  Will he, won't he, will he, won't he retire?  almost became comical. This became the biggest NFL story at the end of the season.  He kept us all in suspense with vague answers, innuendos and plain ole BS.  John Madden chased the bone like a professional frisbee-chasing Border Collie.

So he's coming back to work and we all have to go through this rigamarole again during Green Bay's last game of 2007.  I hope to all that is good and holy that they won't be playing the Bears that day so I don't have to once again listen to the Brett Favre fireside chat speculations.

Defecate or get off the pot, Mr. Favre.  You're a good quarterback but give us a courtesy flush.

Now I know why the geese have been high-tailin' south the last few weeks. Gotta hate this global warming.

WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE IL-OGLE- LEE-DE KALB-KANE-DU PAGE-COOK- LA SALLE-KENDALL-GRUNDY-WILL-KANKAKEE- LIVINGSTON-IROQUOIS-FORD- LAKE IN- PORTER-NEWTON-JASPER-BENTON- 420 PM CST FRI FEB 2 2007

...COLDEST FEBRUARY TEMPERATURES IN OVER TEN YEARS EXPECTED THIS   WEEKEND...

SUBZERO TEMPERATURES WILL AFFECT NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA AS ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO INVADE THE REGION THIS WEEKEND.

THE FIRST SURGE OF ARCTIC AIR HAS OVERSPREAD NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA ON FRIDAY WITH SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATING SINGLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES ABOVE ZERO ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO TONIGHT...POSSIBLY DROPPING TO A FEW DEGREES BELOW ZERO ACROSS NORTHWEST ILLINOIS AND ACROSS THE ROCKFORD AREA. WINDS WILL DIMINISH SOMEWHAT THIS EVENING...BUT THE COMBINATION OF THE WINDS AND THE COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE WIND CHILL VALUES OF 10 BELOW TO 20 BELOW ZERO TONIGHT.

A PERIOD OF SNOW LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SATURDAY IS EXPECTED TO HERALD A SECOND...EVEN MORE INTENSE PUSH OF ARCTIC AIR. HIGHS ON SATURDAY WILL REMAIN IN THE SINGLE DIGITS ABOVE ZERO...WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS SATURDAY NIGHT DROPPING INTO THE 5 BELOW TO 10 BELOW DEGREE ZERO RANGE. WIND CHILLS ON SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING ARE EXPECTED TO BE 20 BELOW TO 30 BELOW ZERO. DAYTIME HIGHS ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY ARE ONLY EXPECTED TO REACH A FEW DEGREES ABOVE ZERO WITH NIGHTTIME LOWS AS COLD AS 10 BELOW ZERO. DAYTIME WIND CHILLS SUNDAY AND MONDAY WILL DROP TO 15 BELOW ZERO WITH NIGHTTIME WIND CHILLS OF 20 BELOW TO 30 BELOW ZERO.

POLAR AIR IS EXPECTED TO HOLD ITS GRIP ON THE MIDWEST THROUGH TUESDAY...WITH MODERATING TEMPERATURES ARRIVING MIDWEEK.

AT THIS TIME...TEMPERATURES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS COLD AS THE 1996 EPISODE THAT BROUGHT RECORD COLD TEMPERATURES OF 20 BELOW ZERO TO THE AREA. NONETHELESS...SUBZERO READINGS ARE FORECAST TO COMBINE WITH WINDS OF 20 MPH AT TIMES TO PRODUCE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO FROM FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT.

[ Interesting aside to the last paragraph...We had a guy whose furnace was not working after vacating his apartment during this particular cold snap, The winds were 25-35 MPH so the wind chill was about 80 degrees below zero and his unit faced due west, the direction the wind was coming from. The water in his toilet bowl was frozen solid and the temperature in his unit was 0 degrees. The pilot light of the furnace that services the common hallways had blown out and it was 32 degrees in the hallway. The furnace for the hallways is on the roof of a 3-story building and the guy's unit furnace is outside in a closet on his patio.  And I was on call... ]

I went to the local NFL licensed sports memorabilia store today.   I picked up a magnetic Bears logo (the black and orange bear head) to put on my van but my van must be made out of styrofoam 'cuz it wouldn't stick on the surface and the flower print window treatments got in the way of viewing it on the glass so I had to bring it inside.    

I found a suitable location on the interior of my front door.    Then I googled 'colt pictures' and found a picture of a newborn colt lying on the grass with its legs all akimbo and looking at the camera for mercy.

Underneath this darling picture of a frail colt I printed " "Breakfast of Champions" This was then placed under the gaping jaws of the Bears logo.
 

The only things left to do are washing the jerseys that are provided to all that enter my domicile for a Bear's game and purchasing the mass quantities of alcohol and tailgate food products that are requirements of the event...I also have to work on a betting square.

The Most Reverend Coach Ditka finally shared his inspirational knowledge and picked Da Bears over the Colts, 28-24. Gotta love the enthusiasm of the Reverend. I only had Da Bears 27-24.

Have a fun and safe weekend everyone. And on a serious note, Super Bowl Sunday is the single biggest day of the year for domestic violence calls to our men in blue.   Keep it cool, gentlemen....it's just a game.   Leave the wife and kids out of it.

Info for the sports bettors.  Source: MSNBC.com.

I would be comfortable betting on the Bears with 7 points.

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http://www.coversexperts.com/includes/article_spot.aspx?ur=6517


Lucky number 7: Super Bowl Line

By Stephen Nover

January 22, 2007

As far as Super Bowl betting lines go, this one was easy: Indianapolis -7 with an over/under of 48 ½.

Now comes the hard part – figuring out which way to go.

Some sports books, including the MGM Mirage and Station Casino hotels in Las Vegas, opened the Colts -6 ½ against Chicago in Super Bowl XLI.

Mistake. The line quickly was adjusted to 7.

“I wouldn’t go to 6 ½ regardless of how much money comes in,” professional sports bettor Dave Malinsky said.

OK, how about the other way then, making Indy -7 1/2? CRIS (betcris.com) tried that and lowered the line to 7.

“Seven is the right number,” said Mike Seba, a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, who recommended Colts -7 with an over/under of 49 ½ to their Nevada hotel clients.

“These teams are pretty even except for the quarterback disparity,” Seba said comparing Peyton Manning to Rex Grossman. “But how high can you make the line because of Grossman?

“It could go up to 7 ½, but if it does it will come right back down because they’ll grab that.”

Professional sports bettor Ted Sevransky hopes the line climbs higher. His power rankings have the Colts just a couple of points better than the Bears.

He says public perception factored in the Colts being such a heavy favorite. The Super Bowl is the one matchup where public money outweighs wise guy money.

“This is not unique,” Sevransky said. “The better offensive team always attracts the public’s interest. We saw it when the Raiders played the Buccaneers and Tampa Bay was the underdog.

“We saw it when the Patriots played the Rams and were two-touchdown underdogs. The better offensive team is going to be overvalued. Power ratings-wise, there’s no way there is a seven-point difference between these two teams.”

Malinsky believes some bookmakers will get off 7.

“I think you’ll see some 7 ½’s, but I think a book would be comfortable just sitting on 7,” he said.

This past weekend, though, some bookmakers moved the Colts from -3 to -3 ½ against New England. This surprised some who never thought enough money would come in on Indy for bookmakers to budge off a sacred 3, the most key number in football.

Even though 7 is a key number, too, it’s still far more difficult for a bookmaker to move off a 3.

It wouldn’t be a total surprise either if the total moved higher. There were some 49’s out there Sunday. Bookmakers currently are down to either 48 or 48 ½. Recreational gamblers have yet to get involved, though.

“The public won’t play the Super Bowl under,” Malinsky said.

Nevada bookmakers and oddsmakers are anticipating a record amount to be bet on this year’s Super Bowl. Both Chicago and Indianapolis are popular public teams.

“I think it will be the biggest handle ever,” Seba said. “It really is a dream matchup.”

Last year, a record $94.5 million was wagered on the Super Bowl in Nevada, according to Gaming Control Board figures. It was the fifth consecutive year Super Bowl handle was up in Nevada. The state’s 176 sports books won $8.8 million on last year’s Seattle-Pittsburgh matchup.

Expect this year’s Super Bowl handle to top $100 million in Nevada, especially with a number of large Internet books no longer booking to American customers. The game is set for Feb. 4 in Miami.

People, of course, are going to bet the Super Bowl no matter if they have to fly to Nevada, have to deal with a street bookie or wager with a smaller offshore bookmaking company. Any person with half a brain, or politician, should be able to figure that out.