After the Derby Day debacle, I got back to work the next day. The major reason for my losses on that day was my incomplete preparation, so I decided to focus on my personal odds line. Preparing a personal odds line can be a long process, but it’s usually worth it and is a good way to recognize opportunities. Basically, I break down each contender in a race using multiple factors. Among the many variables are the standard speed, pace, trainer, and class differences among the contestants as well as specific items such as breeding and distance, depending upon the race. All races are not created equal. I weigh these factors based on the class and conditions of each race. I have a good idea of what to look for because I keep notes in the charts highlighting the key handicapping elements that contributed to each winning performance. I am not complacent with my lines and constantly tweak them to make the process more effective. During the process, my familiarity with each horse becomes clearer. By the time race day comes, I can watch and wait for the right opportunity to present itself. My first goal was to regain some of the confidence I lost on Derby Day. I started lightly. I watched, waited, and tweaked the lines over the next week. On Sunday, May 10, at Belmont I thought some races were wide open and might present a wagering opportunity, so I played a late pick three looking for some magic. I spread in the first leg with five horses. Race 7 Contenders: A's (4) Upgrade (ML 4-1/My Value Line 4-1):  8-year-old gelding with back class running first after a layoff for top trainer Chad Brown. Has done well at distance and track. With four wins first off a layoff, he figured to run well fresh. (9) Exclusive Strike (ML 10-1/VL 5-1): Another 8-year-old with back class off of a layoff who has performed well at the distance and at Belmont. Top three candidate on my odds line, so he was a must use at 13-1. (12) All Included (ML 3-1/VL 4-1): Another layoff horse and first time 4-year-old for trainer Todd Pletcher. The horses’s two turf races last year were very good. A must use, despite the bad post. Contenders: B's (7) Comes the Dream (ML 20-1/VL 6-1): Lightly raced 5-year-old who projected as a value pace play on my odds line. He was coming off a layoff with a good workout pattern for trainer George Weaver.  Contenders: C's (3) Fox Rules (ML30-1/VL 10-1): Although he has run better on dirt, he has back turf form. If he can translate recent form to the surface, he is worth using. A fringe contender on the line but at a big price is usable. Race 8 Contenders: A's (7) Clearly Now (ML 7-2/VL 3-1):  A question mark coming off a tough trip in the Carter, but I have always been a fan. Palace Malice would be over bet in this race, so I would get some value. I decided to single him, despite my odds line telling me that I should spread with Piquant, Doubledown Again, and Stallwalkin’ Dude who all rated at the same level as Clearly Now based on the calculations. Race 9 Contenders: A's (12) Tree Fire (ML 5-1/VL 5-1): Cutting back from a mile to seven furlongs on turf with a good effort and positive trip note in his last, this seemed a good spot. The outside post was not a concern in this one-turn affair, and I did not see the apprentice jockey Eric Cancel as a negative. A solid contender. (6) Jeremy’s Song (ML 7-2/VL 9-2): Well bred for grass, class dropper and first-time gelding who tried turf in his third career start more than a year ago. In that race, he had to contend with a fallen rival and never had a chance to compete. Today’s conditions should suit him, and he appears well spotted. Contenders: B's (11) Reach For Yield (ML 5-2/VL 6-1): Class dropper for top turf trainer Chad Brown. Well bred and needs to be respected. (12) Elcinico (ML 10-1/VL 6-1): Despite questionable breeding for the turf, he rated high enough categorically on my line but generally showed enough ability that he was a must use in a race likely to be short on quality talent. In the first leg, All Included (9-5) stalked the pace and won going away. Comes the Dream (26-1) ran well and finished second at big odds. On my line, Comes the Dream was a top three value, and although I did not play the race correctly by only playing the pick three, my confidence was boosted from mining out the value horse in the race. In leg 2, my single, Clearly Now (2-1), lost by a neck in a stretch duel with Stallwalkin’ Dude. Once again, my line was correct as I had Stallwalkin’ Dude rated almost as high as Clearly Now. I was knocked out of the pick three but based on my line I hoped there would be value in the last race. Tree Fire was hovering at double-digit odds throughout the wagering, and I had him as top three with a value play at 5-1 or more. Given the chaos of the wagering, the bet was an easy win-place decision. With a horse at odds of greater than 10-1 in a big field where the favorite is more than 3-1, there was going to be value in the place pool. I bet $150 to win and place on Tree Fire and watched Eric Cancel (the Angel Cordero protégé) give him a perfect ride on the way to a two-length win, paying $27.40 to win and $11.80 to place for a total profit was $2,437.50. Preakness week With my confidence restored, the plan was to attack Preakness week using the same philosophy. I mapped out a schedule that I felt would give me a chance to prepare better than I was able to do during Derby week. On Tuesday morning, my wife called me at work and said, “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. I have bad news. Mrs. Lewis died.” Mrs. Lewis was the mother of my wife’s best friend whom she had known since childhood. I knew Mrs. Lewis for almost 20 years. “Are you there?” she asked. “It’s Preakness week,” I said. “I can’t go to the funeral.” That didn’t go over very well. This was an argument I was not going to win. My schedule could not survive a full day at a funeral in eastern Long Island, which is a two- to three-hour drive from my house. On the drive to Long Island, I realized that I didn’t know Mrs. Lewis’s first name. When I asked my wife she said, “I’m not sure.” I was missing valuable preparation time to mourn somebody who I only knew as Mrs. Lewis. Like a 10K open claimer, her first name was a mystery to me. When I got to the funeral home I did not get any clues from the program or the pastor. He called her Mrs. Lewis, and she was listed in the book as Mrs. Lewis. I thought of Mrs. Hudson, an impressive maiden winner out of the dam Sara Louise, who won her maiden impressively first out at Aqueduct a few weeks ago. She also was listed in the PP’s as just Mrs. Hudson. She was a horse. She didn’t need a first name. What was the gravestone going to say? Here lies Mrs. Lewis, devoted wife, mother . . .  When she was alive I remember her daughter calling her mom and her son-in-law calling her Mrs. Lewis. There were bigger things than just preparing for the Preakness card. There was life and death. There was family, and there was the question of what was Mrs. Lewis’s first name. When the service ended, many people were going to the burial. We were not going to do that as I had a lot of work to do. However, I took the opportunity to mingle, where I found her sister. We had never met, but my wife introduced us. Her name was Mrs. Hudson. We went home. My preparation was interrupted, and I lost valuable time but unlike on Derby Day when Preakness Day arrived I only played the races where I thought I could get an edge. I again lost on an early pick four, but on my line I had Holy Boss as a bet at 5-2 or better. He went off at 9-2, which meant a win bet. Later at my home track, Belmont, I keyed Jadam in the last race at 7-1 and hit the triple. This was a relaxed day where I did not wager as much as on Derby Day, but I wagered more wisely. I recognized that my racing life and funeral life were overlapping. Given that I neither had nor wanted an active funeral life, this felt odd. However, I made the best of the situation, and unlike Derby Day, I played within my preparation.