Handicapper's Page by Brian McGregor-Foxcroft

04/ 07/ 99 - Vancouver Put it down to a strange conjunction of the planets, or perhaps just bad luck, but June turned out to be a bad news month. It all started with the 10th Race at Woodbine, when the 3 year old chestnut gelding, Receive the King broke his leg on the grass, and had to be euthanized. It was a lucky day for jockey Mickey Walls, who had just ridden Woodcarver to victory in the Queen's Plate, and was due to ride Receive the King, but was called away to give a press conference, leaving Emil Ramsammy to take his mount. Ramsammy received a broken collar bone and is out of action for a month or two. This had no sooner happened than Three Ring, one of the most promising 3 year old fillies in North America, flipped in the paddock at Belmont, and was instantly killed. For those of us who have been following Three Ring's steady advancement, this was heart-breaking news to take. And, if these incidents were not depressing enough, word went out that Mr. Prospector, who along with Northern Dancer was the leading thoroughbred sire of the last two decades, died of colic. Understandably, those of us who own race horses are very nervous every time our chargers leave the starting gate. Even Hastings Park had a brush with potential disaster when the Donald McMillan trained Couthy flipped in the starting gate, leaving a field of only three horses to race in the $11,990 feature 7th race last Friday night. Admittedly, bad weather and an off track have added to the dangers, and there are a significant number of horses being scratched each racing day. On the plus side, those who love wagering on "slop freaks" are having a ball!

I will not depress readers any further with the news about all the champions who have had to end their racing careers because of serious injuries this year, but will instead get on with brighter news from Hastings Park and elsewhere. The continuing wet weather has presented a significant challenge to Hastings' horses. Fans have been complaining about the difficulty of handicapping the off track, and attendance has been down. There was, however, a very good turn out for Canada Day, which featured events for the kids, including pony rides, face painting, and a special event in which kids could receive prizes on the first four races, if the color of their watch bands matched the color of the winners blankets in each race. In spite of a vicious downpour towards the end of the day, it was reported that everyone had a good day. And, if the handle on the tote board was anything to go by, the track had a good day also.

The smaller barns continue to do well at Hastings, but some of the heavyweights are also getting up in the standings. Trainer Allan Jack is second from the top of the list right behind Jim Loseth. Jack's track burning Mike K continues to earn his barn all the top stakes money. Mike K is the toughest horse at the Park right now. He is one of those versatile horses that doesn't mind an off track, and is even speedier on a fast track. Last year's top trainer, Harold Barroby, is third in the standings, just two ahead of veteran Lance Giesbrecht.

In the jockey standings, Ben Russell continues to dog the heels of Gerry Olguin. Both are sitting at .21% wins. Also doing well are Chris Loseth and Frank Fuentes. Jockey Larry Lacoursiere, who got off to a slow start this year, is quickly gaining ground in the standings, while Tammy Snow, who finished off last season with a flourish, is still struggling to get wins.

For those who enjoy playing the simulcasts from all over North America, Woodbine offers some very consistent handicapping opportunities. I particularly enjoy handicapping turf races, which require careful handicapping skill and scrutiny. When handicapping a turf course, remember to watch back breeding. Especially keep an eye on Irish bred horses by Theatrical and Irish River. These horses have family connections to Prince John and Mill Reef. Both sires produced turf monsters, and their progeny fire for me about 65% of the time. Speaking of exiting turf runs, Hollywood Park had one on the 3rd of July, when, in the 7th Race Virginie went off at fairly long odds to beat the heavily underlaid favorite, Tranquility Lake. For about two thirds of the 11/4 race, Virginie was the trailer in the field. As the field approached the far turn, Virginie poured on the steam and overtook her opponents to win by a spectacular margin. In fact, the entire racing card from Hollywood offered under-bet horses who went off at long odds and returned value handicappers good play for their money.

Also worth noting are the simulcasts being beamed in from the Northern California Fairs. These are fun to handicap, and offer many fields with horses running at good odds. It is not unusual to see the one favorite in a race being over bet, while the rest of the field is running at odds of 4-1 or higher. What I do is look for those good Place/ Show bets. With such long odds I can triple my money or better. Some of my track cronies razz me about my show betting extravaganzas, but I have had some very good and profitable days at the track placing nothing but Place/ Show bets. Try it some time, and let me know how you make out.

Until my next page, may all your bets be good ones!

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June 1999

The 131st running of the Belmont Stakes was a genuine heartbreaker, Charismatic, the solid favourite and contender for the Triple Crown, came in 3rd and fractured his leg in two places, ending his racing career at three years of age. What makes his run so disheartening is the fact that he was the underdog, the Claimer who could-and almost did- win the brass ring. No horse in recent history has captured the hearts and imaginations of the public like Charismatic. Fortunately, his injury is not life threatening, and he will stand at stud, no doubt for a respectable fee. You have to give this little horse credit for finishing the race like a trooper, even with a serious injury. In my opinion he should be nominated “Horse of the Year”.

As I predicted, it was speed duel between Silverbulletday and Charismatic at the outset of the race that cost cost of them the victory. What surprised me was the fast break by Silverbulletday. There is only one horse I know who ran he Belmont at a breakneck speed, and that was Secretariat, who set a track record unrivaled to this day. I knew that it was over for Charismatic when he tried to keep pace with this fast footed filly. She faded to 7th at the wire. Menifee a horse that I was hoping would do better, was 8th at the wire. the early speed in the race forced the whole field to move faster, and this set the race up perfectly for the slower paced horses like Lemon Drop Kid and Vision And Verse. I was happy for Lemon Drop Kid, a very popular horse who has received solid support from his loyal fans throughout his racing career. It was a great victory for his owners, trainer and fans. He paid out $61.50 on the win.

Racing at Hastings Park has lately, been a long-shot bettor’s delight. On Saturday June 5th, Formidable Rogue, in the 2nd, romped home first, paying $31.10 and Tick Tick Tock’n won the 8th paying $24.60. Other notable victories were Ryson who won the first $20,710 feature race, paying $10.50, and Ultimate Force, who won the seventh feature race and paid $4.50.

For those who keep tabs on the local jockeys, the bug boy Ben Russell has been on a hot streak, and has been turning in good performances on all of his mounts. Larry Lacoursiere, who was experiencing a dry spell, has come to life recently with four wins over the weekend. Dave Wilson, who’s on a white hot streak at the moment, nabbed seven wins from Friday through Sunday. A combination to keep an eye on is jockey Gerry Olguin riding for trainer Allan Jack.

If you’re looking for some live long-shots in the coming weeks , keep an eye out for two horses who should perform well at a huge price. Dr. Green and Free At Heart have both failed to score in their recent starts, both had sound reasons. with the addition of lasix, both horses should fire big. Also watch for Allan Jack’s Mike K, who failed to go wire to wire in his last, but will figure huge in his next race. Honeys Prospector disappointed this past Sunday, being sent off as a favourite and highly touted by the professional handicappers, but he bled several races back. Give him another shot, because there’s more there than currently meets the eye.

For the simulcast fans, there are some good tracks up right now. Assinioia Downs, in Winnipeg, is an even track to handicap. Belmont Park also provides some excellent events. And the ever popular Churchill Downs and Hollywood Park are up and running. Speaking of simulcasts, it is a pity that the up country tracks are not in the simulcast loop. I believe that if wagering were locally offered from Kamloops, many fans would take advantage of it, and this might give a monetary boost to interior racing. Only by supporting local thoroughbred racing can we hope to have a better track, with better horses and purses.

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