Weekend RECAP - River City, Delta Mile, Bob Hope & Mahoning Valley First Lady - Super Screener
Super Screener

Weekend RECAP – River City, Delta Mile, Bob Hope & Mahoning Valley First Lady

Photo: Coady Photography

From feast to famine.  Last week the Super Screener could do no wrong scoring in every race… and this week we nearly got blanked in all four races featured.  It happens once in a great while but it stings every time, as I am wagering right along side with you. Time to move onward and upward… but first a recap of this weekend’s selected races:

River City (G3)

Man, I was really looking forward to this race, as it had all the makings of one offering bountiful payout potential. Given that trainer Brad Cox acknowledged Mr. Misunderstood had some issues that interrupted his training early this summer, and after just so-so recent races, he was coming up as a great stand-against at odds of 9-2.  But, this horse-for-course rose to the occasion in an oddly-run race and got the job done.

The pace for this race projected to be quite slow with little pressure, with Get Western taking the lead and Emmaus pressing that rival through easy fractions. We got that part right, but a Top Long Shot pick, Lascaux, who we said would secure a great position, got into the pace mix early rather than sitting off it and paid the price late, not being able to hold onto 3rd place at odds of 48-1.

We were right about Admission Office in that he would sit last, but was a better play “under” than in the win spot… “Vulnerable for the Exacta but strong 3rd/4th play.”  He did finish 3rd and in our Q&A session on Saturday we discussed a wagering strategy of using that one as a single in the bottom of Exotic wagers while going wide in other tiers but we needed Bemma’s Boy to get in the Exacta with that strategy.

Bemma’s Boy had no excuses with a pretty good trip, but lacked that late kick that was projected off the big cut back in distance from his last race. Even worse, after a rough start and wide trip, our other Top Long Shot pick, Blue Sky Kowboy, tossed the bit and finished dead last.

First Lady Stakes

The Super Screener Top Board Hitter pick, Drillit took advantage of the pressured pace and finally got off the schneid and won this race versus the typical “under” finish. Also leveraging the the pace set up was our 4th place pick, H.F. Carmel who closed from last to complete the Exacta.  As what became the theme for the day, our top choices finished a disappointing 4th and 5th.

Bob Hope (G3)

This became an unbettable race when it was reduced to just 4 horses. Baffert won this race for the 10th time, with High Velocity getting stronger as the race went on. It was a decent effort despite the “numbers” coming back less than impressive. Always tough to gauge the quality of a race that turned out to be a match race but this one will certainly get on a lot of Kentucky Derby lists…too early, perhaps?

Delta Downs Mile

The Delta Downs Mile offered a shot at redemption and we were close. The big surprise in this race was the fact that Extirpator, our 3rd ranked horse in the race went off at crazy good odds of 13-1 (and flirted with 20-1 in the earlier wagering) and he was good enough to finish 2nd.

#9 Extirpator – PACE – This gelding is 3 for 3 in the Exacta running on this track. While most of his success has come sprinting he does have a big win at the route distance against easier. Does his best running on a fast track. Last 2 dirt races before going on the shelf were quite strong. Was stopped on from late Sept. to late Oct, but last work was very strong. Key early contender with some risk.

Our 2nd ranked pick, Late Night Mischief, finished 3rd as the favorite and the Super Screener’s other “B” horse, Stephen’s Answer ranked 4th overall went wire-to-wire to win this at odds of 9-2.

Forevamo was a firm stand against by the Super Screener despite taking a big drop here and tabbing him as a Vulnerable Favorite was validated as he finished 5th at odds of 9-2.

Plenty of minor stakes action next weekend offered by a number of racing venues including Aqueduct, Del Mar and Woodbine. We’ll search for the best wagering opportunities and we’ll come back big!

Until next weekend go fast and win!

Mike Shutty