April, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Experts Say Difficult Winter Could Be To Blame For Woes With Laurel Track Surface

Thursday's announcement that live racing would be not be held at Laurel Park until further notice, with this weekend's races cancelled and future racing moved to Pimlico Race Course, stemmed from concerns about the safety of the racetrack surface. Officials from the Maryland horse community appeared on a teleconference meeting to discuss the issues with the surface, which Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory's Dr. Mick Peterson believes may originate from a tough winter in the Mid-Atlantic region.

The entire track cushion will be rehabilitated in the coming weeks, with a timeline that is expected to take less than three weeks as light training (no workouts) continues over the Laurel Park main track. Meanwhile, horses will be able to ship to Pimlico for workouts using the Maryland Jockey Club shuttle.

Training tomorrow will be held from 5:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., with no break. Only jogging and galloping will be allowed at this time.

“From a race track operator's perspective, we have a couple of responsibilities,” said Aiden Butler, Chief Operating Officer, 1/ST RACING. “The most important one is to make sure that the sanctity and the safety of the racetrack is the best it can be at all times. Varying degrees of weather and varying degrees of protocols mean that it's not always as optimum as we would like … When we got the heads up last week that the track was not performing quite as well as we'd like it to, we immediately rallied and put a team together.

“We decided that for Maryland to be as good as it can be, there was only one approach, and it's one that's a heck of a lot of work, and unfortunately going to be a heck of a lot of inconvenience for everyone on this call. But there really is no other way. Maryland has the opportunity to be as good a racing jurisdiction and as good a racing surface as any in the country, and we're not going to get there if the track isn't as good as it can be.”

A total of four equine fatalities, one during racing and three during morning training, have occurred at Laurel this year, Stronach Group chief veterinary officer Dr. Dionne Benson told the Paulick Report. The four fatalities resulted from different types of injuries and occurred at different locations on the racetrack, Benson said, adding that the numbers are very similar to this time last year. One morning fatality occurred in February, the racing fatality on March 7, one morning fatality during March, and one morning fatality over the past week.

“The bigger issue was that we weren't happy with how the track came out of winter,” Benson explained.

The general consensus was that the issues with the track surface have been a concern for the past two weeks.

“I don't want to focus on how we got to this point,” said Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association President Tim Keefe. “I would like to focus on how to avoid it in the future.”

Butler continued the conversation by adding that he'll be on the grounds in Maryland over the next several weeks and is looking forward to speaking with horsemen, both formally and informally, about how to open a more direct dialog so similar issues can be avoided in the future.

“We definitely want to be proactive on this, not reactive,” said Peterson, adding that the MJC has implemented the some of the RSTL's improvements over the past couple years, including an on-site weather station and other rapid-response testing abilities.

Peterson went on to explain that the issues with the Laurel Park track cushion stemmed from several factors.

“Winter racing on a dirt track is challenging, and it's clear that in the Mid-Atlantic region, some years are more challenging than others,” Peterson said, “especially with these years where the freeze/thaw cycle leads to a lot of salt usage. The other challenge, and this is not unique to the Mid-Atlantic tracks, is getting consistent materials in the quantity required for racetrack maintenance.

“The key is not only meeting the immediate needs, but in changing the operation mode for the Maryland Jockey Club.”

1/ST RACING's Senior Track Superintendent Dennis Moore and the Maryland Jockey Club's Track Superintendent Chris Bosley have located a supplier and began the project on Friday, stripping material off the track. Moore has experience mixing the material on site for consistency, and will be confirming the process along the way with additional samples sent to the RSTL and Peterson.

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Gambling Secrets

Yes, there ARE a few gambling secrets that can help you beat the casino. In the nine years I worked at the Leelanau Sands Casino near Suttons Bay, Michigan, I saw a lot of hopeful schemes and ideas. Some of them even worked. Here are a couple examples.

Card Counting Secrets

Card counting is a technique for beating the house at the blackjack tables. If the deck is “rich” enough in face cards (10,J,Q,K), the odds tilt slightly in favor of the player. This has been proven statistically. The idea then, is to monitor the cards as they come out, and when the deck has many face cards left in it, bet more. If you bet less when the house has the edge, and more when you do, you can make money in the long run.

This is a simple explanation, and you need to study a good counting book (and practice) to make this work. Your play needs to be precise to really have the edge. One gentleman I dealt to for years would sit at the table for hours, almost always betting the $2 minimum. I watched as he shifted chips from one hand to another, his way of tracking the “plus or minus count.” Then, when the shoe (five decks of cards) happened to be rich enough in face cards, he would suddenly be betting two hands at $20 each.

I am fairly certain that he made money, but not much. Depending on how well you do it, and how many decks are used, you may only get a 1.5% edge on the casino overall. If between your minimum bets and the others you average $8 per hand, and the dealer deals 75 hands per hour, you’ll make about $9 per hour. That assumes you can tolerate alternating losing and winning days and hours of concentration. Betting more brings that hourly rate up, of course, along with the risk of bigger losing days.

Roulette Secrets

For years I watched people foolishly writing down the numbers that came up on the roulette wheel. I say foolishly, because their their theories were mostly nonsense. Most casinos will always welcome these players and even hand them the pen and paper.

There was one player, however, who was actually scientific about it. He found a bias in the wheel, after “charting” it for 5,000 spins. This means he simply wrote down every number that came up during that time.

Once he identified the bias, he made thousands betting on just one or two numbers. When a number comes up (the ball lands in that pocket), it pays 35 to 1. In this case, one of the numbers, because of manufacturing imperfections or whatever, was coming up 1 in 27 spins, instead of the average 1 in 38 spins (There are 38 numbers on most American wheels).

This guy bet $10 a spin, and he profited $90 for every 27 spins of the wheel in the long run (a $350 win minus 26 losing bets of $10 each). When I ran the wheel, I often was doing over 50 spins per hour, so if you can do the math you can see he was doing well. The ups and downs are dramatic though, so this isn’t for the faint-hearted. I watched this player lose $700 some nights, but he later confided that he profited over $80,000 before the casino changed the wheel.

Promotional Gambling Secrets

Learn to figure the odds. Casinos often give the edge away for various promotional reasons. If you know when the odds are in your favor, you can take advantage of these promotions. For example, one man made thousands betting the “money wheel,” which is normally the worst bet in the house. However, in this case the casino was selling $20 in tokens for $10, with no limit on purchases. The man played the tokens once each as required, then repeatedly cashed in the real chips he was paid with, and bought another $20 for $10. When the odds are in your favor, it’s investing, not gambling, and that may be the most important of these gambling secrets.

Federico Tesio, A ‘Win And In’ Race For Preakness, Returning To Pimlico

For the first time since 2015, Maryland's local audition for the 146^th Preakness Stakes (G1) in Baltimore, Md., will provide horses with an opportunity to prep over the same legendary Pimlico Race Course main track that serves as home for the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown.

The $125,000 Federico Tesio headlines seven stakes worth $750,000 in purses on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program Saturday, April 24, originally scheduled to be run at Laurel Park. With the ongoing evaluation of Laurel's main track, live racing has been shifted to Pimlico effective Thursday, April 22.

Laurel's spring meet, delayed seven days to an April 8 opening amid an equine herpesvirus (EHV-1) quarantine, was scheduled to run through May 2. The Preakness Meet at Pimlico is scheduled for Thursdays through Sundays through May 31, with no live racing Sunday, May 16, or Thursday, May 27, and a special Memorial Day holiday program Monday, May 31.

The 1 1/8-mile Tesio – named for the noted Italian breeder, owner and trainer whose homebreds Nearco and Ribot dominate Thoroughbred bloodlines around the world – debuted at Pimlico in 1981 and stayed every year but two through 2015. Laurel Park hosted the Tesio in 1987 and 1989 and each year since 2016.

For the sixth straight year, the Tesio will serve as a 'Win and In' qualifier for Triple Crown-nominated 3-year-olds to the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes Saturday, May 15. Among the horses under consideration are Grade 2 winner Brooklyn Strong, Grade 3-placed Tarantino, stakes winners Hello Hot Rod and Maythehorsebwithu, and stakes-placed Tiz Mandate.

All five horses are Triple Crown nominated, with Laurel Park-based Maythehorsebwithu and Tiz Mandate's eligibility coming at the late March 29 deadline. Shackled Love, another Laurel horse that beat Maythehorsebwithu in the March 13 Private Terms, is also being pointed to the Tesio.

Laurel-based trainer Lacey Gaudet was an assistant to her late father when Eddie Gaudet won the 2011 Tesio at Pimlico with Maryland-bred Concealed Identity, owned by his wife, Lacey's mother Linda, along with Morris Bailey. Sheldon Russell, still part of Maryland's jockey colony, was the rider.

The Tesio was actually the second straight win at Pimlico for Concealed Identity, a two-length triumph over Ruler On Ice, who would go on to capture the Belmont Stakes (G1). It would be the only Preakness appearance for Eddie Gaudet, patriarch of one of Maryland's best-known and respected racing families.

“I remember my mom and I discussing, 'OK, this is our goal. If he can win going two turns, and then win the Tesio, we'll go to the Preakness. It was the local prep and it we decided that if we won it, we'd go,” Lacey Gaudet said. “It was fairly cool. There was a lot of personal sentiment at the time. Sheldon had rode him for us and if you watch the replay when he comes past where we stand in the regular winner's circle at the wire, Sheldon kind of pointed over at us.

“He won convincingly,” she added. “Sheldon pointed at us as he crossed the wire for the Tesio because it was like, 'OK, guys. We get to have fun now.' It was really cool and it definitely gave us a confidence booster that he won over the racetrack. He was essentially the only horse going into the Preakness winning two in a row and at the track. It was exciting.”

Serving as the Tesio's co-headliner on the Spring Stakes Spectacular program is the $125,000 Weber City Miss, a 'Win and In' qualifier for 3-year-old fillies to the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2) Friday, May 14 at Pimlico. Each of the first four Weber City Miss winners since its 2016 debut have gone on to run in the Black-Eyed Susan including Lights of Medina, second by a head in 2017. Grand Cru Classe did not race in last year's Black-Eyed Susan.

Spring Stakes Spectacular includes a pair of $100,0000 dirt sprints, Frank Y. Whiteley for 3-year-olds and up and Primonetta for fillies and mares 3 and older. With the change in venue, the Whiteley has been shortened from seven to six furlongs, same as the Primonetta.

Also scheduled are the first three turf stakes of the year – the $100,000 Henry S. Clark for 3-year-olds and up and $100,000 Dahlia for females 3 and older, both at a mile, and $100,000 King T. Leatherbury for 3-year-olds and up, carded for 5 ½ furlongs at Laurel but to be contested at five furlongs at Pimlico.

The Preakness highlights a program of 10 stakes, six graded, worth $2.25 million Saturday, May 15 that includes the 120^th edition of the $250,000 Dinner Party (G2) for 3-year-olds and up on turf, Pimlico's oldest stakes race and the eighth-oldest in the country, debuting in 1870.

Other graded-stakes on the Preakness undercard are the $200,000 Chick Lang (G3) for 3-year-olds sprinting six furlongs, $150,000 Gallorette (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/16 miles on the grass, $150,000 Maryland Sprint (G3) at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, and $100,000 Arabian Derby (G1) for Arabian 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

A total of six stakes, four graded, worth $1 million in purses help comprise the May 14 Black-Eyed Susan Day card, including the historic $250,000 Pimlico Special (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/16 miles, $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3) for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs, and $150,000 Allaire du Pont (G3) for fillies and mares 3 and up going 1 1/8 miles.

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Baffert-Trained Medina Spirit Breezes; No Derby Decision On Concert Tour

Zedan Racing Stables Inc.'s Medina Spirit, a game second to undefeated Rock Your World in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby in Arcadia, Calif., on April 5, worked five furlongs Friday morning in a minute flat as Bob Baffert prepares the $35,000 bargain son of Protonico for the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

“He worked five eighths, galloped out strong and looked good,” said Baffert, who swept the Triple Crown with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 and seeks his seventh win in the Run for the Roses, which this year Baffert said “looks very wide open.”

Medina Spirit will leave for Kentucky “either Friday (April 23) or Sunday (April 25),” Baffert said. “I'm not sure yet.”

Meanwhile, a decision on Concert Tour's participation in the Kentucky Derby remained on hold, even though the bay son of Street Sense is already in the Bluegrass State.

Concert Tour was a disappointing third as the 3-10 favorite in last Saturday's Arkansas Derby, but whether he starts in the first leg of the Triple Crown remains undecided.

“Nothing yet,” said Baffert, who trains Concert Tour for owners/breeders Gary and Mary West. “I'll be talking to Gary, but we wanted to give the horse a week and see what's happening.

“He looks good but there's no decision yet.”

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