Bloodlines notes by hsw 111913 Racing fans and “punters” from 10 cent super players to those who have the stomach to toss 10K on a ponies beak, employ a never-ending series of strategies and systems to gain the coveted cavorting in a winners circle- or snatching the paper dispensed at the pay out window - many horseplayers may be sympathetic to chestnuts or gray runners- others will only handicap a bay with no white markings- etc. --many more are like calibrating machines, figuring track bias to the concordance of fractional times- others are sticklers when it comes to distance or current condition- some will never play a horse returning from a lay-off while others will not play any other racing beast!! Many more students of handicapping will support a favorite jockey or trainer or combinations of the two- many fancy post positions and others the style of the silks and the attendant colors running as they watch the passing post parade- still others are students of physical types- the champion handicapper Lawrence of Woburn, would only play the biggest dog to show!! Many people attending the races will play a horses name > “Jolly Happy” will gain much backing if only that its name evokes a good feeling - where “Old Junk” may discover its odds have soared as who wants to back a steed with that name! when I had the time and inclination to get to the races 3 or 4 times a week - I found that the greatest number of people I conversed with or “hung” out with at the races made the “jockey” the most important consideration and the logic behind that formatting is strong - for the best “boy” or “gal” will be in demand by the best stables, who employ the most talented and experienced trainers etc. and the waters of the sport as in most things in life coalesce to the most talented and “hottest” jockey or trainer or horse or owner or post position etc.- I became interested in the breeding aspect of the sport simply because often horses which I handicapped with the devotion of a monk, were consistently being knocked over by winners who did not seem to have much “form” in their pp’s- why did this hoss beat the one I backed?- when the one I played seemed to have far superior form?- this question which I have pondered until weak and weary, usually had but a single reliable answer- it had something to do with the up setters’ “breeding”- so when I played say, Bingo Ringo by Loose Bowles out of Constipation, and looked up to see that it was nosed by Lucky Fluky by Buckpasser out of Ruffian’s Cousin - the reason for my assiduous study being rewarded with a torn ducat became abundantly clear- ……hmmmmm “pedigree” - therefore I’ve spent 50 years studying bloodlines- unfortunately I must report that on a race to race accounting- perhaps 1 race in ten ends up with the presumably best pedigree line winning the silverware- OTHER factors seem to have sway-- over 90% of the races run- to my understanding of what the deciding factor I come to the rationalization when “everything becomes clear” after the race is run!! That last statement was made to me by the brilliant handicapping legend Brooklyn’s “Rube the Pearl”- Whatever handicapping approach is undertaken by the race fan, winners will emerge- if they occur with any frequency, a true fan is made- if a person gets shellacked on a regular basis, another form of entertainment will supplant gambling, perhaps playing Monopoly or going to the 12- plex and becoming a move buff- but for me I want to know what the parents contributed to Ze Pippin beating Integrity in the 11th race at Aqua Caliente on a pleasant Sunday afternoon- for I derive pleasure and education knowing that Ze Pippin was inbred to Broomstick 5x5 while Integrity was sans the blood of Broomstick- the fallacy of this sort of thinking of course is that had Integrity beaten Ze Pippin, then I might come to the conclusion that it was because Integrity had the vital blood of William The Third in his genetic protons- Hs watnik @2013
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 16:45:32 +0000
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