OCTAVE-the-RAVE

I heard Dennis Miller use the term "ID Reactor" the other night on Bill O' in reference to one's ego, and how often it overpowers even common sense.  In case you might be wondering why Tony LaRusso didn't use his superstar Albert Pujols in the All-Star game the other night, here's some inside scoop from the all-knowing Midwest Farmer's Daughter: his "ID Reactor!"

For the past few years, LaRusso and Pujols have had a running battle for superstar supremacy in the Midwest, and the huge $$$$ that #1 status means in terms of appearance money, endorsements, and the like.  For those who don't know, the NL All-Stars were trailing by a run in the bottom of the 9^th with two outs and the bases loaded.  Sitting on LaRusso's bench was arguably the best hitter in the game today, and one of the best to come along in decades.  At stake not only was one of the greatest comebacks in All-Star game history and home field advantage in the World Series for the NL, but also an end to the longest losing streak (10 years) in the modern history of the All-Star game.

Instead of Pujols, LaRusso allowed Aaron Rowand (who???????) to take his first-ever All Star at-bat in that mindbending pressure cooker.  Despite the fact that AL reliever Francisco Rodriguez couldn't find home plate with a GPS System ... despite the fact that he had bounced 6 of his last 10 pitches, and that a wild pitch or a walk would have tied the game ... the deer-in-the-headlights, panic-stricken rookie swung at the first pitch he saw! 

Unbelievable ... and game over! 

Afterwards, Pujols spoke his mind.  The most shocking thing he told reporters was that LaRusso never said a word to him!  Not only didn't he use him when he should have, LaRusso never even bothered to tell Pujols why not.  He just flat-out ignored his superstar, then snubbed him again in the post-game interview.

I don't know about you folks, but if that happened to me ... if I was the star of a team and had an opportunity to make a huge difference not only for my fellow teammates, but also for the game I love ... and the guy I was humping my ass off for every day let his ego override his common sense ... did his own thing instead ... kept me on the bench ... and then didn't even have the courtesy to tell me why ... I'd be mighty hard-pressed ever to play for that sumbich again, know whadda mean?

Rave

And sometimes, horses run exactly as they are supposed to.  Well, almost exactly! 

I've been reading on here this morning about how "impossible" the ticket was to hit yesterday.  I'm also a huge proponent, as you know, of learning something from every "big day" experience, and applying those lessons-learned when the next big day rolls around.  Clearly, not everyone aspires to that philosophy, some more surprisingly than others.

Here was my personal ticket from yesterday.  I'm still numb.

1,8 with 4,7 with 3,4 with 4,7 with 1,6 with 2,14  =  $128

For the record, I spent a solid five, uninterrupted hours "handicapping" this card, including researching charts from recent races days for trends and biases, watching race replays, and applying lessons-learned along the way.  I did not scrimp on the ticket.  These are the only horses I liked, and a couple of them I could have left off the ticket.

The 1 in the first race was lone speed at 18-1 with the favorite.  Pretty simple, and an eyelash from a huge bonanza. The 4/7 in the 2^nd leg ran 1-2 last out with the 4 in front of the seven early, and they were shortening up.  Again, fairly academic.  The 4 in the 3^rd leg was a "DNCL" horse with the favorite.  If you watch race replays, and know how to spot a live DNCL horse, the 4 was a must use.  The 4/7 in the 4^th leg was a no-brainer.  At this point, just about everyone I know was still live.

The 5^th leg, for me, was a double no-brainer.  The 2^nd best filly in the world is Octave, second only to R2R.  Only one horse in her life has embarrassed her on the racetrack: Desire to Excel.  Octave would have been 1/5 against these.  The fact that Desire to Excel was 12-1 on the morning line speaks volumes to my contention of how perversely over-inflated are Left Coasters opinions of the quality of their racing stock compared to the East Coast.  I doubt 12 people West of the San Andreas fault even know who Octave is.  Her bet down to 5-1 was 100% East Coast money, and a lot of it was ours.

We crushed the race.

Even though Paula Capestro trains for my buddies @ Acclaimed Racing, I had Oh Shine as my best bet of the day even before I got the call saying Paula loved him.  The horses Oh Shine ran against at the FG are so vastly superior to the Cal rats he was facing yesterday it was a joke.  How anyone can do what we do even marginally routinely, and still not know how superior East Coast horses are to West Coast horses is inexcusable, and beyond me.

If that wasn't the worst beat for a quarter of a million dollars in racing history, I don't want to know about the other.  Still, all things considered, it was a pretty great day! 

No doubt, someone will jump on here and scream "redboarding."  Knock yerself out.  I could care less.  I know this: it won't be one of the rookies.  They'll be busy re-handicapping yesterday's card, and actually learning something for future use.

Rave