Then, some tracks went to "nickel break" that rounded down to the nearest amount evenly divisible by five. This calculation returned slightly more money to a winning payout and therefore was viewed as a positive for the bettor. Mutuel clerks were thus given nickels to make cash payouts.
Churchill Downs recently went to "penny breakage" resulting in rounding down to the nearest penny. This has produced some odd looking payouts, like $12.32, etc. but is the one calculation that returns all the money to the bettor they're due. Churchill clerks thus needed pennies added to their till to complete these odd payout amounts. Pennies count, and now go to the bettor.
A typical race payout at Churchill goes:
$4.68 $3.50 $2.82
$3.88 $2.74
$9.42
NYRA has stuck with nickel break, but can still have payouts using cents due to 50¢ and 10¢ Trifecta and Superfecta bets. On Saturday there was a 50¢ payout for the Trifecta of $13.87. The 10¢ Superfecta for the same race paid $7.92.
The Assembled made a late-in-calendar appearance at Belmont this year. Attendance was delayed due to rotator cuff surgery for Johnny D. Even with that, there initially was no quorum on Saturday with only Bobby G. and Johnny D. at the start of the races. Johnny M. was home with a cold, and Jose B. forgot the date, at least until a 10:30 A.M. text asking him about his plans for the day when he realized he did say he would be there. He recovered and arrived after the first two races, and in typical fashion immediately hit the $1 Exacta for $11.50.
Saturdays at Belmont are hardly what they used to be. The card was full of maiden races, state bred and otherwise and incredibly a $12,500 claiming race. At least the field size didn't dip below six.
But straight claiming races can be fun to handicap since generally there are horses in there that have been around for a number of years and usually show a good number of starts and double digit wins. There are the war horses.
One such horse was No More Talk in the 5th Race with 83 starts and 13 firsts, now running for $25,000. The horse showed 5 ownership/trainer changes in the 10-race past performances and was morning line favorite at 5/2. And deservedly so.
Favorites, low returns, have been dominating. There was only one horse on the 10-race card that paid over $10 when it paid $13.40.
Bobby G. pulled back from $20 bets, but will still bet up to $10 to win. He plays win and exactas, like Johnny D. Jose can be counted on to of course play that, plus trifectas, a bet generally avoided by Johnny D. and Bobby G.
There is a lot of late betting to goes through the tote board. So even win bets played near post time often finding the odds dropping drastically by the time the bell goes off. Or even after the bell, it still seems.
As such, some decent priced favorites plummeted to odds-on, 4/5, or barely even money. Bobby G. hit a few of these, and the joke was that if it wasn't 4/5 he wasn't going to win. It's a tough game. In the end, when the dust settled on the 9 races he played he announced he came out around $25 ahead, which of course barely covers, parking admissions and the $11.00 newsstand copy of the DRF. Oh, he had a hot chocolate as well.
Jose B. finished in the red, as did Johnny D. to the tune of an $18 loss. Johnny D. did have some short prices, but only for a deuce, generally only betting $4 a race; $2 to win and a $1 boxed exacta.
The breakout bet was the feature race exacta hit for a $2 ticket that returned $16.20. Johnny D's numbers were good, and yielded the mentioned exacta with commanding numbers over the third ranked horse, thus the $2 exacta box bet.
There was a split exacta, 2-3 where it was looking very good, very good until the 85¢ favorite Shadow Dragon ranged up late and took my exacta away.
On paper, Shadow Dragon looked like the proverbial "bad" favorite. The horse pretty much showed nothing in its last two stars, racing significantly over its head in the Wood Memorial and Holy Bull. The third back showed some promise in a week field Fountain of Youth in Florida at 34-1 finishing second. The one before that was a bad effort in a New York State bred stakes race, The Sleepy Hollow. They did win their first start, a NY State Bred Maiden Special Weight. The Peachtree Stable colt was Triple Crown nominated. I still thought it was a bad play, despite the angle that "class relief" was going to get it over the finish line first.
But Jose Ortiz was on the Bill Mott trainee, so there were expectations that were met with a ¾ length life and death triumph.
Irad Ortiz won 4 on the card; his brother won 2. Thus, the Ortiz family accounted for 6 of the 10 winners, with only 4 other jockeys winning a race.
In addition to the 2-3 exacta finish, Johnny D. had a split Exacta 1-3 and a winner coupled with an out-of-the money finisher. The handicapping numbers were good. The day turned on a dime.
As is my custom I start the day with a $60 voucher and bet against it and credit it throughout. If there's anything left, or better yet a surplus, I cash out.
I closely follow the credits and debits to the voucher, but I must say I was stunned when my final value was $41.91. Ninety-one cents! Where the hell did that come from? I made no bets that returned odd cents. I was surprised when the cashier handed me the $41 and change (90¢) and then punched out a voucher for a penny—1¢. The picture that leads this posting off is the 1¢ voucher. I intend to keep it uncashed.
Where did this odd amount come from? The only theory I have it that when I punched out for the balance after the 10th race bet, I didn't notice the odd cent I must have picked up from someone who left their payout in the machine. It had to be small, because the $41 was correct. If you don't close out with RETURN BALANCE and walk away with your bets and not your voucher, you lose the amount left in the machine. Johnny M. once got a gift of over $100 from abandoned money added to his voucher. There are many expected ways to lose at the races, and a few more unexpected ways to lose.
The weather was solid overcast and cool. Not that you could say that held the crowd down. There is no crowd at downstate races, on other than a few special days. For Belmont, that will be this Saturday when they proudly run the Belmont Stakes, the only time there is any crowd to speak of at Belmont.
With NYRA's push to sell tickets in advance of knowing whether there will be Triple Crown, NYRA can count on a decent crowd from those that shelled out beaucoup bucks for their one day at the races.
Anytime I'm at Belmont, perhaps twice a year, I see ghosts. I've ben going since Stage Door Johnny won the Belmont in 1968. Those photos are in black and white outside the Trustees room. The crowds that were once there are no longer there. The people I used to be with have passed on. The concession stands that were once open where you could even get clams on the half shell—which I did often— are no longer there at all. But why have food available when there's no one to eat it? Would make no sense. The silverware in Woody's Corner needs polishing.
The third floor is not open. It's better viewing because you can look out over the boxes and get closer to the finish line. The second floor is truncated due to construction of something. There is no Grandstand/Clubhouse dichotomy. It's just $5 admission for everyone.
The dining room is priced so over the top that I have to wonder who can afford to take part in a simple buffet? We used to, but at $65-$85 a head, it's a no go. They've got to be kidding. There is no Fourstardave-type sports bar to get a table at and order drinks and a snack. The place thoroughly lacks in any basic amenities. But then again, we're not at Saratoga. The Saratoga people are not Downstate people. There are no Downstate people, and a $45 million loan is not going to create them.
NYRA has secured a $45 million loan from New York State to make improvements. They are actively building a tunnel from the infield to the backstretch that will allow fans to be admitted to the infield. It will also allow maintenance trucks to access the inner portion of the track easier. Even on a Saturday the earth movers were busy until 4:00 P.M. If they make the dirt track an all-weather track they are playing with tradition. Secretariat did not set his record on an artificial track.
Belmont is a nice place to look at. But nobody goes there anymore.
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