Time to see if Santa was nice to me with my selections, or if the Grinch hit my pocketbook. As a reminder, wages on e ach race included a $2 win bet on my top pick, and a $2 boxed exacta using all three picks (total $12\/race) along with a similar $2 trifecta box (also $12\/race). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
NINES ARE WILD (sponsored), G1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4-Sea Kink Kamilla 7\/1-Settled in nicely to fifth slot and had a cozy journey. Was unable to run a 121 speed, which winner had, but took the second spot in a 3-way photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8-Cracked the Case 7\/1-Failed to deliver anything. Finished 12th and ran backside the whole race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11-Brinley Joke 12\/1-Decent outing, finished fifth and moved up a few slots late in race passing tiring horses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings-Not a cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n DEEP SOUTH SPRINT, G2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 10-American Move 7\/1-This Breeders\u2019 Bowl Sprint winner put in a decent effort and could not get the win this time, finishing 2nd. Beating him was the horse that was 4th in the Breeders’ Sprint, Darth Var. Probably should have gone with him somewhere in my top 3 picks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 14-Awesirmed 10\/1-Took a half-furlong drop in distance and may have benefited this pace setter as he had enough in tank to finish third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12-Practically Gold 11\/1-I liked this runners form coming into the race, good speeds, positions nicely near or just off the lead. That ended today when he dropped to back side of field from the start and lost ground every step of the way, finished 13th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=Zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n REFLECTION FUTURITY G3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 7-Lorne Romsey 12\/1-Got a decent late run from this promising 2yo lady, but wasn’t enought to hit the board as she came up short in fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5-Spring Melt 9\/1-A disappointing mile effort as she never got into the race and ended the year with a 9th place finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12-Rightthroughyou 9\/1-A very impressive late run, going from 14th to cross the line in third. Would have been nice if top pick was in top-3 with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=Another bust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MERRY CHRISTMAS (sponsored) G1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 9-For My Lil Bro 5\/1-I really liked this ones chance to win and he almost did. The Breeders’ Bowl winner end up in second squandering the lead he had in late stretch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 10-Winstonyev 13\/1-This late runner was late to fire up. Running dead last, he did cut his 14-stride deficit in half at the end of the race, but waited to late to make his run. Finished 11th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11-Arkhan 6\/1-The second place finisher in the Breeders’ Bowl got his revenge as he caught For My Lil Bro, and got the win. Hooking up with my top pick, got me the boxed exacta!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings-Boxed Exacta worth $120.50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE WINTER CUP G1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 12-Sometimes Evil 6\/1-Had very poor timing in this race, perhaps jockey Gossett’s fault. Late runner did not make a move until after the third call and it was way to late by then. Finished 7th and could have been there if move was better timed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8-Blackrose Prison 9\/1-Sat in mid-filed position and put in a decent run in second half of event to get third spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6-Channeling Longer 10\/1-Ran up on front end third spot early but the tank went empty past the half and this guy crossed the line on fumes in 12th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=A pile of losing tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NORTHERN BEER CAP G3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1-Pressure Cooked 4\/1-After a great 2022 season coming into this race, Pressure Cooked put in his worse race of the season running in the basement throughout the race and advanced only one spot to 13th. Hope 2023 won’t replicate this effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6-Eyeshathnotseen 6\/1-Was in second throughout the race, taking lead briefly in stretch but ran down late. Finished second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8-Kiama Calott 16\/1-Had decent third place positioning early on, but did nothing with that and faded into the dust. Ended in 11th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=Nothing but dust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE RANGE ROVER HANDICAP G3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 9-Flat Out Bad 9\/2-Got into a five horse battle for the lead and was able to break out just past the half. Led all the way to the wire from there, winning by a half stride. Win worth $11.50.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3-Mazing Blue 15\/1-Made a humongous late run from 12th to gain the third spot before running out of real estate. Another half-furlong it could have been hers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13-Big Swamp B 8\/1-Should know better than to go with a horse with “swamp” in the name. This one looked like she ran in a swamp, finishing next to last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings-$11.50<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE LA ZEBRA G2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3-Genuine Bluegrass 11\/1-This pricey longshot is the real thing. She came from the backside of the field and fired through the stretch to win by a half stride and filled my pocket with $25.20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14-Just Regal 6\/1-I had the right horse, but wrong post position in my initial write up, it should have been #14, not 6. Anyways, Just Regal ran in the mid-section of the field and put a steady run in the second half of the race to nail down the second spot, and kicked out an exacta worth $197.10<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9-More Than Shape 5\/1-Ran near the front throughout the race but could not get past the pacesetter who finished third. More Than Shape was one spot behind, in fourth, failing to complete the trifecta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=$222.30<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n THE HAPPYTIME STAKES G3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 10-Frustratedbyapathy 6\/1-Made his first dirt appearance and looked very promising, siting a stride or so off the lead in fourth. But could not close the deal as others passed by in the stretch leaving him in 8th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8-Ghostziano 8\/1-Stayed close to the front in the third position but unable to advance, ended race in fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1-Rocks Mines 14\/1-Returned after a decent rest break but still had cobwebs and ran flatly in tenth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=None.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MORE SLOP (sponsored) G3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 Static Support 6\/1-A sloppy racetrack worked favorably for my top pick who had no problems beating this group by over two strides. Winning ticket was worth $14.90<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12 Better Be A Joke 6\/1-This runner turned out to be a joke and after a decent start, had nothing to offer when needed. Finished 11th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11 Infinity Jef 5\/1-Disappointing favorite who found an off-track win as a 2yo, was never in this affair, finished 9th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=$14.90<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n XMAS IN TEXAS (sponsored) G2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4-Flip of Fate 7\/1-I was really hopeful with this runner. He ran well, was 9 back at the half and came on strong in the stretch. In the end, he was a stride short and finished second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14-Sheer Dumb Luck 8\/1-I liked this front runner who has a knack to hit the board. He did his thing, went to the front. But that’s all I got as his knack of hitting the board failed and he was a well back ninth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7-American War Front 10\/1-Was one spot behind my 2nd pick, and 10th place finisher. His late speed did not show up, and neither did he.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Winnings=Empty Stocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n TOTAL WINNINGS\/LOSINGS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Holiday graded racing selections were on 11 races, with a total of $26 bet on each race, for a total outlay of $286.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three winners picked as top picks brought in $51.60. Also had a pair of boxed exactas that added a decent $317.60 for a grand total of $369.20. Taking out the initial outlay of $286, left me with a profit of $83.20. Thankfully, it wasn’t the Grinch that came, but I’m not sure about Santa…usually he’s more generous. Must have been one of the elfs. I’ll take it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Time to see if Santa was nice to me with my selections, or if the Grinch hit my pocketbook. As<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60541"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60544,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60541\/revisions\/60544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}