Ok, thanks! If I had my druthers, I'd take the outside post rather than the rail as well.......Hopefully it will be a fast track - I'm really looking forward to seeing this colt run again.

I doubt it was an accident that the horse with Cohen won. Pletcher has a lot of confidence in Cohen, as he should. If a jock was winning for you at a 37% clip from 113 mounts with a ROI of $2.51, I don't think you'd be afraid to put him on a good horse.

If a trainer has 2 first-time starters in a maiden race and one is being ridden by his go-to jock and the other is being a ridden by a no-name jock that is 0 for 20 for that trainer, I would usually assume that the horse with the go-to jock is the live one. But if both jockeys have a really high win percentage for the trainer, I would not put nearly as much weight on which horse the #1 guy is on.

And if one of the horses has already run once and has run pretty well (as is the case for the upcoming race on Saturday), then I wouldn't put any weight on which jockey is riding which horse, because the same jock will almost for sure be riding that horse again even if the other horse is better.

Can you find a jockey that has ridden for Pletcher that doesn't have a high percentage when riding for him? Those Cohen-Pletcher stats were not accumulated during a time when the racing is nearly as competitive as it is at Saratoga.

NT

The answer is clearly "yes". Do the math. Pletcher's winning percentage this year is 27%. What was it last year? I believe it was about 24%. For the two years combined, his win percentage is about 25% or so. He is winning with Cohen at a 37% clip for that time period. If he's winning with Cohen at a 37% clip (from 113 mounts) for that time period but his overall win percentage is 25%, that means that there have to be other jockeys out there that are only winning at about a 13% clip for Pletcher. I don't know specifically which jocks. I'm sure you could look it up.

Another stat that is significant is the ROI. When JV and Pletcher pair up, the ROI is only $1.67. When Pletcher and Cohen team up the ROI is $2.51. That means that if you bet $1,000 to win on every Pletcher/Cohen horse, you would be up about $28,000. If you bet $1,000 on every Pletcher/JV horse, you'd be down over $80,000.

I was able to find one that is significantly lower. The Pletcher/Dominguez combo wins at a 20% clip.

Thank you for explaining to me what you'd be up if you were betting the horses and the amounts. Can you explain to me what front bandages are for and why some horses make a poop while they walk in the paddock?

I don't know why you're on such a crusade with this. So Dominguez winning at "only" a 20% clip means that Cohen is somehow a more potent combination with Pletcher? Come on, he's riding 2nd tier horses, that's not a mystery. His 8 winners with Pletcher since Aqueduct ended all happened during Triple Crown weekends, when JV was at Monmouth, or when JV had another mount in the same race.

They're 1-7 together at Saratoga with the 2YO firster being the only winner. Is Cohen a negative? Of course not but if you're using him as the rationale to play a firster bred to go long from the rail in a race that's going to have a sub even money favorite then you probably lose often.

NT

Jesustapdancingchrist. Tell us more.

I'm not sure you understand my point. What started the conversation was that Simon Bray and FreddyMo both said that they would throw a Pletcher horse out if Cohen was on the horse and JV was on another horse. I'm saying that would be a mistake. That's all I'm saying.

I think it would be a mistake with any trainer to throw out a horse based on the jockey, if the jockey has a record with that trainer that is better than the trainer's average. When a jock rides a lot for a trainer and has done well for a trainer, that jock is obviously working plenty of horses for that trainer in the morning. If Cohen, for example, works a young horse for Pletcher and Cohen really likes the horse and wants to ride the horse, it would be quite possible that Pletcher may let him ride the horse, even though he is not Plethcer's #1 rider. I think it would be crazy to throw out a Pletcher horse with the rationale that "Pletcher must not like the horse or he wouldn't be riding Cohen."

All these well-bred firsters are really working quite well, as if at least one or two of them will be good ones.

Have you seen them in the mornings?

So how is it that he is smart enough to acquire all that money but dumb enough to spend 2.3 million on a horse when the average lifetime earnings typically are what 50 K. I guess plying the customers with free drinks is a good idea.

for one...who even bets these races seriously? those baby races are like the worst betting events known to man. they are for mostly watching. secondly, johnny v. is many times given the slower horse. they are not stupid, they laugh when the 8 to 1 comes in, while johnny v loses on the 6-5. i've seen it many times where hes on the overbet horse and the "other" jock gets the rocket at a price. he did this with decarlo too. other than watching the money (thats wrong alot too). those races are a crap shoot. if you are saying to bet these sub even money faves...you are nuts....i'll take my chances somewhere else.

No...........but based on the workouts listed, it seems like they are all working well. Darley has a Bernardini Briswatch on their site, so I can check the PPs of his upcoming runners (and other horses).

If you are paying attention to anything other than the spacing of the works, it's really a waste of time imo.

:tro:

the only time I think its helpful to look at works is for Maidens & first time starters. just my opinion but I like to see a first time starter throw a bullet work before the race..

all other races works are meaningless for me... except for the spacing of them.

I demand 5 furlong works and hopefully a bullet within the last month

Listening to a trainer and getting the word from the backside is generally the best way to bet firsters.

:eek:

So what are supposed to be well spaced works? I see the closer look guys say works are "well spaced" but I've neglected to take note.

I give more weight to the most recent workout.

I look for works spaced about 7 days apart. Obviously there are different factors in play that may explain a missed work.