Recently, Capital OTB had their annual “Sun and Snow” Showdown contest. The bi-weekly five week contest consisted of three races at both Aqueduct and Gulfstream Park on Friday and Saturday. The object was to correctly choose one horse to finish either first or second. If you were successful, you received the price it paid for both those positions. Fifty contestants entered and my luck was consistent showing a plus ROI (return on investment) the first three weeks of the contest. This placed me in the top ten standings and was the best I’ve done in this type contest ever. Week #4; I slipped a bit with negative showing, but maintained the 3rd place showing going into the final two days last week. The first place contestant was about $25.00 ahead of me and the second place contender. He decided to play it safe the final week, while I took a chance with a morning line longshot in the final race at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Barclay Tagg had a well bred first time starter entered for a maiden claiming tag named Jersey Town. Amazing, this horse went off at odds of 10-1 and won by a little over a length. The payouts in the race $22.40 for win and $9.40 to place, which gave me a five week total of $324.10 in the contest, which earned me first place by $5.20 margin over the current leader. The total money wagered for the five week contest was $240 by each contestant; my final money total was +84.10 more than the amount wagered. For me, it was the best result I ever had in such a contest. I looked at each race and was looking for a horse that wasn’t a favorite, yet not a huge longshot.
Carefully looking at the past performances, I selected a horse with odds that would be between 5-2 and 7-1 and had consistent “in the money” finishes. The handicapping the races on the Aqueduct Inner-track part of the contest was a little easier than at Gulfstream because of the smaller fields and cheaper type claming races. The Gulfstream races had full fields of three year old maiden races and full fields on the “proper surface” grass. The first four weeks of the contest, the Aqueduct portion of the contest seemed to be easier and more successful for myself. It was the final day of week #5 at Gulfstream where my biggest and most important score, put me over the top.
Not only was it a successful contest for myself, but the 3rd place finisher rallied for the spot and is a good friend of mine from high school. It was a victory from two boys from Fort Plain, who grew up loving thoroughbred racing and spent many days at the Fort Plain OTB branch throughout the years. One week from today, we’ll both head to the Albany Tele-Theater to receive the second part of our contest winnings and a wager on the Florida Derby. If our luck continues and the “handicapping gods” shine down on us, it will be another winning day for the boys from Fort Plain.
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