Just got back to my computer and can't believe no one has posted about Roman Candles in the 5th @ GP Saturday. He was a classic forging 3 year old colt and only needed to improve about 3 points to be competitive. He was in against some tough customers, so I had him about 8/1 on my betting line. I think he opened about 18/1 or so, and drifted up to 40/1 by post time.
I was playing in the handicapping contest @ Laurel, and quickly looked at the contest rules to see what the odds cap was for the contest. I couldn't find any. I asked the guy beside me. He said, "there aren't any." I got my 20 win / 20 place bet in with about 5 seconds to spare.
The $83 to win, $30 to place price put me in the lead until about an hour was left in the contest. Then, just like the first New Haven Autotote contest in '97, everyone started betting whatever they had left in their bank rolls on longshots. I waited until the last race at Gulfstream, a wide open turf claimer, to make my last play. (I was in about 5th place by this point) I dutched four horses with my remaining bank roll so that I would end up with about $2500 if one of them came in. Enough (I thought, based on the standings going into the race) to get into at least 3rd place and earn a ticket to Vegas.
Spotted Owl was in the lead to deep stretch when he was caught by Love Your Whit in the shadow of the wire. I had bet both horses, but the late action on Love Your Whit (I bet him @ 19/1 with about a minute to post, and he closed at 15/1) only brought me up to $2200. If Spotted Owl would've held on at 9/1, my dutch would've netted me about $3000. I still don't know if that would've been enough to make it, but I have to think it would've given me a better shot, given that those who emptied out on Love Your Whit would've been out. But then, what about others who emptied out on Spotted Owl? Would they've been the ones to shoot past me? As you can imagine, I've replayed it a thousand times in my head, and I still think I played it right. The bottom line is,it's "live by the sword, die by the sword" in these live bankroll, no odds caps tournaments. I'd have never been in position to even shoot for the win if it hadn't had been for Roman Candles @ 40/1.
As it was, I ended up in 5th or 6th place and a nice little bank roll to take home, but man, it would've been nice to get to Vegas.
Anyway, it was a great experience. The folks at Laurel did a great job.
In closing, take a look at that Roman Candles race. It just goes to show that you can still get some amazing overlays with the sheets.