NOVEMBER 7, 2010
Well, well; in the first BC race on Saturday, my pick won. # 13, Pluck won the BC Juvenile Turf. The horse had to avoid trouble near the start when a horse in front of him slipped and fell. The horse had to be put down because of broken shoulder. The rider was fine. My pick, Pluck, paid $14.80 to win. In horse racing, the payout is based on a $2.00 bet. Therefore, I received $148.00 for my $20.00 win ticket.
So, after seven races, where I bet $20.00 each race, I have $148.00 in money returned. I am up $8.00 for the entire race card. Not bad for being $140.00 down when the last race began.
The BC Sprint is next. I am betting # 11, Atta Boy Roy. He was in it for a while but didn’t win. He was apparently injured in the racer. Now down $12.00. After betting the next race, BC Sprint Turf, Unzip Me, # 4, I will be $32.00 down with the race still to run. I did not win another race until we got to the BC Classic, the Greatest Race of them all. I was at the betting position of having $132.00 on the line after betting the Classic. My betting was complete; I had one race left to watch.
The BC Classic had Zenyatta running in it. She was running her last race, retiring after this race. She was a perfect 19-0 having never finished a race when she didn’t have her picture taken in the winner’s circle. She was running against the boys in the Classic. She had done this before but not that often.
Zenyatta was the heavy favorite. Not only was she the best horse in the race, she has an enormous following of fans. She is based out of California and has a Hollywood personality. She prances and plays in the post-parade march (in horse racing the parade of horses leading from the paddock area-the barns-before the race is called the post-parade). She likes to whiney at the crowd likes to stay close to the other race participants. She is good; she knows she is good and she intimidates the other and their jockeys.
Her racing style is to settle in the rear of the horses, wait for them to tire out and then pour it on down the stretch with her fresh legs. She will race like this regardless of the jockey’s plans. She runs the race her way. Down the stretch, as she catches the leaders, she slows down enough to make sure they see her. She will run stride for stride with a leader, eyeball to eyeball. She stares ‘em down and in every race she has run, it has worked. The other horse always blinks first and slows down as she rushes to the lead. She is generally on the outside meaning her left eye is staring at the horse and the infield. The horse she is staring at is staring back, if it is, with the right eyeball. It is staring at Zenyatta and the crowd of people in the grandstands. The horse on the rail invariably gets intimidated and slows down.
Zenyatta is not the first horse to use its eyes as a weapon. The last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed did the same thing in 1978. It won each of the Triple Crown races by staring down the second place horse in each of the three races, Alydar, down the stretch. All three races were close with Affirmed winning all three. For the final race in the Tripe Crown, the Belmont, the trainer took the blinkers off Alydar hoping he would get a better view of Affirmed. He did but still finished second. These two horses ran against each other nine times through the Belmont with Affirmed having a 7-2 record.
Zenyatta had never raced against Blame before, until Saturday. Zenyatta started slowly and was in last for over one-half of the race, at one point over thirty lengths back. That is not unusual for a closer in a long race. The Classic is 1 ½ miles long, the classic American horse race distance and the same length as the Belmont.
Zenyatta started to move forward in the pack of horses. She easily caught the pretenders in the race. When Blame made his move for the lead, Zenyatta was in striking distance, about ten lengths behind Blame. With one hundred yards to go, the race was Zenyatta’s to win. She had done this numerous times in her career, catching the leader at the wire. Blame did not blink. Zenyatta caught him with twenty-five yards to go. Blame pushed forward. They were neck-and-neck, eyeball-to-eyeball. As their heads bobbed up and down, the horse with its head up had the lead. It was exciting, thrilling and captivating; a display being staged by animal athletes because they love to run not because they are paid millions of dollars to entertain us.
Zenyatta was not going to retire 19-1 She was going to win. Blame missed that press release. He won the race. Had Zenyatta stuck out her tongue like Michael Jordan famously did, she might have won. Blame was the winner. It was his day not o be denied. All the experts had picked Zenyatta, except me, but that is why we run the races. Experts are only experts when they are right. The last two days of betting showed me that.
Blame paid $12.40 to win. I got $124.00 for my ticket. Since I had $132.00 on the line, I ended up losing $8.00 for the two days. It was well worth it. I was a winner betting against Zenyatta.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2010
Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/attorneybruceabrennan
