Bob - that Ciulla SI piece was amazing.

I was too young back then to understand, but that explains why my Dad was always so focused on "smart money", which was often identifiable via the DD Will Pays.

Back then the last race of the day, being one of only two DD's on the card and the only one that offered the longer exotics as well, was a virtual magnet for race fixing.

We used to drive 40 minutes every day after I got out of school to the closest OTB in New Lebanon or Hoosick Falls just to check the Will Pays in the last race.

I can still remember the names of some of those horses we uncovered better than winners I had just yesterday. Many of them aired by the length of the stretch, but you couldn't bet a dime on a single one of 'em on paper.

The preponderance of exotic wagering today has since diluted things to some extent, but whether it's corruption, drugs or outright larceny, I still see the same sort of thing going on today via the Will Pays, whether it's the 9th at Mahoning Valley or the 2013 Belmont Stakes, which is part of the reason why I still track them so religiously to this day.

- Rocky