Amen! You're betting against yourself and the takeout will get you. Go horizontaly rather than verticaly. Pick threes and fours if the exactas and trifectas are not working for you.
yeah I understand takeout - for example the rolling pick 3s at Keeneland. They are great. You can win 2 races in a row and lose the 3rd leg and get taken out of 3 bets.