Jen and I hit the track yesterday on our day off (3rd time this season), and our betting strategies continue to be refined. In the 5th race, Jen put $5 on number 5 to win (he did). I played my first straight up trifecta — also a $5 bet — and turned it into $69.50. It was a 6-horse race wherein 3 horses were the clear favorites, so I played the morning line in order (5-2-3: Run Thruthe Sun, the horse to watch for in the future since he destroyed the competition from the second he left the gate until the end of the short 6 1/2 furlong race; Stolen Identity; Tetrahedron). It paid off. That gave me some money to play with the next couple races. I decided to play the same strategy in the next race, which turned out to be a bad idea since I lost.
However, I came really close to hitting another trifecta in the 7th and would have had I played the morning line favorites again. The conditions were the same as the 5th race in which I won — only 6 horses, a short race (7 furlongs), and 3 clear favorites. I made the mistake of following the odds, rather than my gut, for the place and the show horses. Horses are animals of habit, so they ran the morning line again, and I lost. It was 2-1-5: Vision of Beauty, who, like Run Thruthe Sun, smoked the field; Ten Carat Ruby, who made a solid final stretch comeback to place; Wild Storm. I had bet 2-5-1. I realized later that I should have bet 2 with 1 and 5 boxed. Then I would have won. Every day at the track is a new lesson.
Before yesterday, we were down $5 for the season. Now we’re up $50.50.
