For the seventh year in a row, America’s Best Racing is challenging some of the brightest minds in horse betting to come up with their top three picks for key races every weekend leading up to the 2023 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2023 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The handicappers face off in what we like to call the “Big Race Showdown.”
Month: February 2023
Bob Baffert: ‘Country Grammer Will Get Saudi Cup Job Done If Taiba Doesn’t’
Bob Baffert has issued an upbeat bulletin on his Saudi Cup contenders and said that, if for whatever reason his short-priced favourite Taiba (Gun Runner) does not get the job done, then stablemate and last year's runner-up Country Grammer (Tonalist) should be there to pick up the pieces in the world's richest race on Saturday.
The Saudi Cup is one of the only big dirt races that has eluded Baffert and, along with Country Grammer, the American handler has sent out Charlatan to fill the runner-up spot to Mishriff (Ire) in 2021.
This year's challenge is headed by three-time Grade I winner Taiba, who had to be put through the stalls on Friday morning after his antics at the track the previous day, and the battle-hardened Country Grammer. Mike Smith will partner Taiba while Frankie Dettori takes the mount aboard Country Grammer.
“He just has so much quality,” Baffert said of Taiba. “He will do what you want–he can go forward or come from off the pace–I don't worry about him. He'll fool you, because he's such a lazy work horse in the mornings and is so laidback, but when he gets in that gate and the lights turn on, that's when his light turns on.”
Taiba will line out for Saturday's race at Riyadh off the back of an easy win in the Malibu S. on December 26, the same Grade I Baffert's 2021 runner-up Charlatan won in preparation for his Saudi Cup effort.
“Charlatan was a brilliant horse with just brilliant speed, but he got into a speed duel with Knicks Go, which cost him the race, but this horse has speed and stamina. The Gun Runners want to run longer, mostly, and this horse–while not as brilliant speed-wise as Charlatan–has that same class and he can go longer.
“He is tough to ride and that's why Mike Smith had to really get him out and get him going last time in the Malibu. Once you put him into the race, he has the stamina, and that's why, when he missed the break [when third] in the Breeders' Cup [Classic], it hurt him. He wasn't going to beat Flightline, but it cost him second.”
Earlier on that December 26 card at Santa Anita, Country Grammer returned to the winner's enclosure impressively in the Grade 2 San Antonio. Thus far, he is two out of two with Dettori in the saddle.
“I think both horses are doing really well and Jimmy [Barnes, assistant] is really happy with how they look out there. Country Grammer is a horse who always runs his race. Frankie knows him really well and if the horse shows up, he'll get the job done if Taiba doesn't. This horse has never been better-he's a better horse this year, I think-and he likes this track, which is really key.
“The Saudi Cup is one of the toughest races to win,” Baffert continued. “I've never won it and I really want to. It's a long ship and a different surface and you have to keep them at their best the entire time.
“It's a challenge and that's what I love. I'd love to win it for these owners. Amr [Zedan] and the Troutts [owners of WinStar Farm] and the rest of the connections have been so loyal to me and we have won some great races together–a Triple Crown with Justify–but to win this one would be an honor and I'm just blessed to have two good horses in the race.
“Everyone can really run in this race and it's a tough field, but expectations are high and we have some owners with a love and passion for the horse, itself, and for horse racing, so we hope we can win it for them.”
The Saudi Cup will be broadcast on FS2 beginning at 8 a.m. ET Saturday morning. Equibase past performances can be found on page 2 of the newsletter.
The post Bob Baffert: ‘Country Grammer Will Get Saudi Cup Job Done If Taiba Doesn’t’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Which Type Of Poker Are You Best At?
Which kind of poker are you best at? There is no quick way to find out and only keeping poker statistics can help you. For math wizards, you may do this manually and be sure that you never forget a game. Or if you feel that you need a professional to help you, you may use a program at websites such as http://www.checkyourbets.com.
Once you know which poker you are good at, you should be able to answer another important question: Why are you winning most of the time at one variation of poker and losing often at the other? Is it because you have mastered the technical aspects of the game? Or is it because you are simply topnotch at the people aspects of poker? The technical skills of poker involve being adept at poker math, such as pot odds. The people skills involve bluffing and being able to modify the style of play.
You will find that poker players have different opinions about which of the two types of skills are more important. Many poker blogs are dedicated to their theories. However, here are personal theories about skills and games that you may want to check out.
In Longhand Limit Hold’em, the most important advantage of a poker player is his technical skills. The winning player must be patient and understands hand value. Your people skills won’t contribute much to your winnings. It is hard to bluff and it is useless to read your opponents since many hands reaches the showdown. The pot odds make a river fold make a river fold extremely chancy.
Your people skills will be more useful in Shorthand Limit Hold’em since there is more bluffing done, compared to Longhand Limit Hold’em. A winning player in Shorthand Limit Hold’em knows precisely when to increase his aggression and when to cool his heels. But you must not forget that it is still a limit hold’em poker. Mastering pot odds is still vital in winning the pot.
To win in a No-Limit Hold’em, both sound technical abilities and fairly accurate people skills are needed. Your technical abilities should include knowing when to call, to raise, to check, or to fold. Your people skills involve the reading of styles of your opponents. If opponents are timid, you can win and steal a lot of pots by bluffing. But you must also know when to fold if your opponent shows obstinacy. If your opponents are reckless and loose, you can win by patiently waiting for that opportunity to trap them. Then, wipe them out in one hand.
If you have a “gambling spirit”, you may be able to tolerate the huge swings in the Pot-Limit Omaha. The winning player should also be good at avoiding a tilt. A tilt is to play poorly or wildly after losing big or winning over awesome players. In Pot-Limit Omaha, you should be an expert at dealing with your opponents and at controlling yourself. Have fun.
The Friday Show Presented By Walmac Farm’s Core Beliefs: Racing’s Unbreakable Records
Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen's unprecedented 10,000th career win, registered at Oaklawn on Feb. 20, came just a couple of weeks after LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the National Basketball Association's all-time leading scorer. The latter record, 38,387 points, set by Abdul-Jabbar at the end of a 20-year career in 1989, was a mark that many sports fans thought could stand forever.
That's also true of Asmussen, who surpassed Dale Baird as North American Thoroughbred racing's all-time leading trainer by wins with his 9,446th victory at Saratoga on Aug. 7, 2021. With each win, Asmussen is putting more and more distance between himself and his closest pursuers in that category (Jerry Hollendorfer, also a member of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, is second among active trainers with 7,759 wins).
At 57 years old, Asmussen would appear to have many years ahead of him to further pad his lead.
In this week's Friday Show, Ray Paulick is joined by bloodstock editor Joe Nevills to discuss Asmussen's seemingly unbeatable record and those of some other well-known and not so known horses and people who figure to be in the record books forever.
Not all records are meant to be broken.
Watch this week's episode of the Friday Show below:
The post The Friday Show Presented By Walmac Farm’s Core Beliefs: Racing’s Unbreakable Records appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
