The shift to winter racing begins in earnest Saturday with the opening of the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park. Gulfstream opens with the always-popular nine-race Claiming Crown, headed by the $200,000 Jewel.
Claiming Crown Rapid Transit
Love the Claiming Crown just like I loved an old horse named Jet Again, who ran in Maryland claiming races back in the 1980s. Love the consistency of the good claimers that just love to race. Jet Again was like that. So are most of the horses entered for the Claiming Crown card on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Bernard Flint saddles Miss Ann Can (#11, ML 9-2) in Thursday's fourth race at Fair Grounds, an about 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race. Since Jan., 1, 2014, Flint is winning at a 29 percent clip when saddling a horse coming off a 31-60-day layoff, for a return on investment of $3.95.
Before the start of the Gulfstream Park championship meet last year, I used DRF Formulator to look at a handful of trainers with an eye toward bets to target, as well as ones to avoid. The recap article of that meet features a number of bets that I expect to remain positive or negative for this meet. For this article, though, I wanted to use some other features of DRF Formulator to find other wagering opportunities.
Shippers
Grade 1, $300,750 FrontRunner Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Santa Anita; Sept. 26, 2015
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Nyquist (Sire:Uncle Mo)
Trainer: Doug O’Neill
Jockey: Mario Gutierrez
Owner: Reddam Racing LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 79
In my last article I started with $20 and built the bankroll to $105.80. The objective is to build a bankroll by continuing to move the chains. Using a football analogy each $100 is the equivalent of 10 yards. When I get to $1,000 that will be my first touchdown. On 11/25 and 11/27 I played a few races with the $105.85 bankroll and it grew to $138. I documented each race as they took place and followed up with a review. This brought me to …
11/28
Bankroll: $138
Focus: Aqueduct with an eye around the country
RIOT WORTHY
Trainer: Charlie Baker
Last race: Nov. 29, 6th
Finish: 2nd by 2 1/4
Beyer: 56
Private purchase finished well behind front-running stablemate Absatootly in first outing for owner-trainer Charlie Baker, and galloped out with good energy past the wire of a maiden special weight sprint.
Grade 2, $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Churchill Downs; Nov. 28, 2015
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Airoforce (sire: Colonel John)
Trainer: Mark Casse
Jockey: Julien Leparoux
Owner: John Oxley
Beyer Speed Figure: 87
