June 26 Churchill Downs Points Picks go here
 

We are playing the full 12 race card at Churchill Downs featuring the Stephen Foster. Please have your selections for the points contest posted on this thread not later than 12:45 PM Eastern.

Success to all and thank you to Plenilune for scoring.

Repeat Or Rubbish?
 

PURRRFECT OR POINTLESS
REPEAT :tro: OR RUBBISH :(

R1
9-3-4-1-10
R2
1-5-9-11-14 ae
R3
12-11-5-2-7
R4
9-4-7-1-2
R5
6-4-5-1-3
R6
6-1-4-8-10
R7
5-7-8-4
R8
8-3-1-7-6
R9
8-9-4-1-2
R10
1-3-7-8-9
R11
8-6-5-9-1
R12
7-8-1-4-10

Calculating Catnip �� For Calculator ��

R1...10-9-5-1
R2...1-8-5-11
R3...2-10-12-5-11
R4...9-4-5-3-6
R5...1-6-3-5-4
R6...6-7-10-1-4
R7...7-8-4-5
R8...1-3-8-6
R9...3-4-9-2-1
R10..3-8-7-1-9
R11..8-9-4-2-1
R12..10-4-5-8-1

Thanks to Plenilune for scoring

That is a very interesting race card we have to contend with on Saturday. I would almost be so bold to say it is two race cards, since the first 4 races are so different from the rest of the card. I found the stakes races to be challenging to handicap but not impossible. You could identify realistic contenders, consider several throwouts and get a reasonable sense of the likely race flow. The first four races, however, were a complete mystery to me. My best chance of success in them is to break out a dart board. It was obvious that the morning linemaker was also having difficulty with that part of the card. In race 4 for example the linemaker made the favorite 7-2 in a field of 9 and then made the longest price in the field 8-1. I sincerely doubt that the actual betting will reflect that. But I'm out at sea as to how to play the race.

Hope that all of you do not have as much trouble with this part of the card.

R1…8-1-10

R2…4-10-11

R3…12-7-11

R4…4-2-1

R5…4-6-3

R6…9-1-7

R7…1-8-4

R8…5-8-6

R9…1-2-10

R10..4-2-1

R11..8-1-7

R12..4-13-1

r1: 1 6 8 5
r2: 5 1 15 2
r3: 10 12 5 2
r4: 3 2 1 4
r5: 4 6 1 3
r6: 4 6 1 2
r7: 5 4 6 8
r8: 3 7 1 8
r9: 9 4 2 3
r10: 7 9 8 1
r11: 8 3 6 5
r12: 1 12 10 4

R1 8-10-9-5

R2 1-9-10-11

R3 7-11-5-12

R4 4-3-9-1

R5 6-4-1-3

R6 6-1-4-10

R7 7-5-8-4

R8 3-1-8-7

R9 2-3-1-4

R10 3-1-7-8

R11 8-5-6-9

R12 8-1-7-12

Race 1: 9-1-3-10-2
Race 2: 1-5-11-14-4
Race 3: 12-11-7-5-6
Race 4: 9-3-2-1-7
Race 5: 6-4-1-3-2
Race 6: 1-6-4-9-3
Race 7: 7-5-1-8-4
Race 8: 1-8-3-7-5
Race 9: 9-8-4-2-3
Race 10: 3-1-8-7-6
Race 11: 8-6-4-7-1
Race 12: 8-1-7-5-10

Success to all and thank you to Plenilune for scoring.

1: 9-1-8-10-4
2: 1-14-5-9-11
3: 7-12-5-11-9
4: 9-4-6-1-5
5: 6-4-1-5-3
6: 6-4-1-3-10
7: 5-7-8-4-6
8: 8-1-3-7-6
9: 9-4-8-2-1
10: 1-3-8-9-7
11: 8-6-5-9-1
12: 8-7-1-4-12

Ga'luk to all!!!

R1: 1 10 9 alt: 3 4
R2: 9 1 11 alt: 10 14
R3: 7 4 9 alt: 10 12
R4: 4 9 7 alt: 3 6
R5: 4 6 5 alt: 1 3
R6: 1 6 4 alt: 9 7
R7: four horse field
R8: 8 6 1 alt: 7 3
R9: 9 8 4 alt: 3 1
R10: 1 3 9 alt: 7 8
R11: 8 7 5 alt: 3 1
R12: 8 1 6 alt: 5 4

R1: 1-9-3-4
R2: 1-5-9-10
R3: 7-9-8-5
R4: 9-1-4-3
R5: 6-4-5-3
R6: 6-1-9-4
R7: 5-7-8-4
R8: 3-7-8-1
R9: 4-9-2-11
R10: 1-3-8-7
R11: 8-9-11-6
R12: 1-12-8-7

Good Luck!!

R1. 8-10-4-3
R2. 1-5-11-4
R3. 9-13-11-10
R4. 7-5-2-9
R5. 6-4-1-5
R6. 6-1-4-9
R7. 7-5-8-4
R8. 1-8-3-7
R9. 9-2-10-3
R10. 3-1-9-4
R11. 8-9-4-7
R12. 7-13-2'-12

I couldn't make any sense out of races 1-2-4. Race 3 was pretty much the same with a case being made for at least 4 different horses so I just threw them in a blender and wanted to see what came out . Of course I saw 7 horses with a chance so it will be interesting to see which one of the 3 remaining wins the race.

Well I found out which one.

Would I be correct in concluding that it was the other one?:o

I threw it out also. Been that kind of day so far.

You would be correct. Race picking is a humbling experience.

Right now I feel like a snail with salt on my back!!! And I don't mean escargot.

I wanted to post this followup as an example of how far off of the mark some morning lines can be. On Saturday I had questioned the line for race 4 as what I thought was way off of the mark. Comparing the ML with the charts, #3 Bourbon War was the co-4th choice with odds of 6-1. He went off at odds of 2-1. On the other hand, the other ML co-4th choice was American Tatoo, also at 6-1. He was sent to the post as the longest shot in the field with actual odds of 30-1. I shouldn't be too critical- I've had bad days at the office also. But this is just one example of how far off of the mark you can be by blindly following the ML rather than trying to do your own analysis. Then again, since American Tatoo finished 2nd perhaps the linemaker was smarter than the bettors. But, his job isn't to predict winners but to predict how the betting public will place their wagers.

Strangely, my opinion was far better in races 1 and 2, both maiden races, than in 3 and 4. I wish I was braver in the ROI and played difficult races like 9 and 12. I probably wouldn't ever hit the board, but if I did, the returns would be so much better. Those races looked like any one of 6 or 7 horses could win so I wisely avoided them and hit the race I played, but it was hardly worth it.:( As the keeper of the abacus said, "humbling."