All Munky Business to race at Yonkers

Published on June 16, 2011 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

After a very disappointing two year old campaign we gave All Munky Business the winter off.  Over those 5 months she matured and filled out adding over 200 pounds.  We brought her back to the track in May and had to qualify her twice.  But it looks like she is now ready to race (and hopefully win).

As a New York bred she is eligible for the New York Sire Stakes. This is a series of 9 races, each with a purse of around $40,000.  And the 8 horses who accumulates the most points over the 9 races come back in the finals where the purse will be approaching $200,000.

The first leg was run on June 6th at Yonkers.  AMB drew the 7 hole adn it was felt that the best she could do from out there was to stay flat and maybe get a check.  And that is exactly what she did trotting the mile in 2:01.1, finishing fifth and bringing home a check for $2,305.  And the good news is that her driver, Dan Dube felt she could have done even better if he had pushed harder.  But since the mission was to stay flat and finsih the mile he settled for a fifth place finish and hopes for the next race.

In tonight’s race we drew the 2 hole which should allow us to be a little closer to the front.  Dan Dube is back in the bike.  Tonight’s race will be a great test for AMB, let’s hope she has matured and can trot a strong mile.

In case you want to make a wager, the 3 horse (Epona Blue Chip) will be the favorite and should win the race.  I would put AMB and the 6 horse (Pass the Popcorn) underneath in the trifecta and hope for a price.

Jetty racing at the Meadowlands tonight

Published on January 8, 2011 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

After a well deserved rest, Jetty will be back in action tonight at the Meadowlands for his first start of the year.  He drew the 2 hole in the 7th race, a non winners $22.5L5 or $100k in 2010. Yanick Gingras has been named to drive.  I’ve never seen Jetty run on a mile track, but you have to like his chances anytime he draws an inside post.  Let’s see what happens here, the long term plan is still to have him racing at Yonkers.

Jetty makes it into the I-95 finals

Published on December 14, 2010 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

It was a tough race for Jetty, but his third place finish yesterday gets him into the finals with seven of the best pacers at Chester.  As I commented the other day, we would have a good idea of where he would finish by the quarter pole.  And it didn’t look good as he had to be urged pretty hard to get the lead in 27.1.  Napolitano was able to get him to relax a little as the second quarter went in 28.3.  But when the 3 horse (McRae’s Mate) tipped to the outside and went past Jetty I thought he was done.  But to his credit he hung in there and actually gained back some ground down the stretch finishing a strong third, a head behind Four Trumps A and a half length behind McRae’s Mate.  This gave us a win and 2 thirds in the series for 65 points.  This was good for 6th place in the standings and an entry into the finals.

The competition in the final will be strong.  Vertical Horizon had the most points with 2 wins and a second. Close behind was Schoolkids (2 wins and a third) and Bilitenkoff (1 win and 2 seconds).  We are really going to see what Jetty has next week against these horses.  It will likely come down to the post position draw, the closer to the rail we draw the better our chances will be.

Jetty to race in the third leg of the I-95 series

Published on December 11, 2010 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

The field has been reduced to 24 horses going in 3 races on Monday with the top 8 making the $60,000 final on December 20th.  Jetty has drawn into the first leg, the 4th race on Monday.  He will be leaving from the 5 hole with George Napolitano Jr back in the bike.  I would have liked to draw a little closer to the rail but with Jetty’s speed and racing style he will be going for the top regardless of post position.  As you know, on a 5/8 track they start and go immediately into the turn.  This means the outside horses need to work a little harder to get the lead.  So I think we will have a pretty good idea of how Jetty will do as they cross the finish line the first time.  If he gets hung out and has to work hard for the lead or the rail we might be in trouble at the end.  But if he has an easy time of getting to the rail, even if he sits second, I will be feeling much better about his chances.

With only 8 horses making the finals, our 1st and 3rd place finishes give us enough points to be in there at this point. Depending on how the other leading horses do on Monday, we are definitely in the finals with a win and should also make it with a second place finish. If we come in third we will need some help to get into the finals.  So my advice to Jetty is Just Win Baby.

In the winners circle

Published on December 6, 2010 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

Jetty won his leg of the I-95 series going the mile in 1:52.2.  That doesn’t seem too fast, but it was fast enough to win. He did go off  the favorite paying only $4.80 to win. I will not be able to see the charts or the replay until tonight but I’m guessing he wired the field.

The next leg is on 12/13 where another solid showing from Jetty will get us into the finals.

Jetty favored in 2nd leg of I-95 series

Published on December 6, 2010 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

After a solid third in last week’s opening round of the I-95 series, Jetty draws the rail and is the morning line favorite for today’s race.  It’s the 5th race with a post time of 2:05 and George Napolitano will drive again.  We should be out front and winging it every step of the way. None of last weeks winners drew into this race and the only real competition will be the 3 horse (Saint William A).  So I’m hoping for a 1-3 exacta and another winners circle photo for my wall.

Jetty entered in I-95 series

Published on November 28, 2010 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

Jetty continues to impress with another strong race last week.  Once again he left the gate and went right to the top taking them around the track in 27.2, 55.1, 1:23 and finishing in 1:50.4.  He was beaten by only a head and picked up another check for FMS.  So now we have him entered in the I-95 series starting on Monday.  It a 4 race series, the first 3 legs go for a purse of $25,000 each race.  The final is set for December 20th with the best 8 horses competing for a $60,000 purse.  If Jetty stays sound and continues to race as he has this past month we have a real good chance to make the finals.

As for Monday’s race, we are in the 13th race and drew the 5 hole.  George Napolitano Jr will once again be driving.  He is the leading driver at Chester with over 300 wins and a 23% winning percentage.  The favorite (Schoolkids) drew outside of us so we should be able to hang him out on the first turn and get the lead.  Then we see if Napolitano can relax him enough so that we are on the lead when it matters, the finish line.

Back to the track

Published on November 13, 2010 in Gambling and Horse Racing. 0 Comments

The wounds have healed and the bloodbath in Vegas is a fading memory.  It’s time to focus once more on the horses.  And it looks like we have found a good one in Jetty.  After we went back and forth with Lou Pena we ended up winning the claiming battle and Jetty is ours.  And in the three races he has had under Funky Munky he has a win and two seconds.  And his race at Pocono was amazing, going a lifetime best of 1:50.4 and just missing the track record for four year olds.  And if that isn’t enough, he came home in 27.4 with absolutely no pressure.  Who knows how fast he could have gone if he had any competition.

So that’s the good news.  With all his recent success, he has made a fair amount of money which means we have to step him up in class.  So he will be racing this Sunday at Chester in a NW$25,000L5 with a purse of $23,000.  This is a “big boy” race so we will see how good Jetty really is.  I’m happy that George Napolitano opted to stick with us.  It’s always a good sign when a top driver chooses your horse in a race.

The morning line has us the 4th choice at 6-1, so if we are good we should also be a good price.

From the photo archives

Published on October 22, 2010 in Dice Club and Gambling. 0 Comments

I had to dig deep, but I was able to find the picture.

Five and a wakeup

Make a point, get a Twizzler

Published on October 15, 2010 in Dice Club and Gambling. 0 Comments

The dice club had just finished up at FatBurgers, with King Fatties all around.  Joel and I walked across the street to Walgreens and picked up a bag of Twizzlers for desert and the club continued down the strip to the MGM Grand.  The tables were a little slow and the whole club was able to get on the same table. There was another couple already there and the wife had the dice and a fair amount of chips in her rack.  Anyway, we all got down on her number and sure enough she goes on to have a great roll.  And each time she hit a point Joel gave her a Twizzler.  This went on for a while and as the dice made their way around the table whoever hit a point earned a Twizzler.  Sounds like innocent fun – right?

Wrong – the pit boss does not like to see anyone having fun.  And they really hate to see anyone making money.  So they tell us that we have to stop giving out Twizzlers.  And they excuse they use is that it is making the dice sticky.  In typical fashion we ignore them for a while but they won’t stop harassing us.  So with the memory of being tossed from NY NY fresh in our minds we decide it best to cash in out chips and move on to another establishment.

Next up – I’m reviewing the Henry archives and will post one of his older write-ups.

12 days and a wakeup.