DAY THREE- FIRST WEEKEND RECAP

35% eliminated first weekend alone...of those remaining, @ 2/3 are in dire straits: have only cashed the minimum once daily and/or have used up their free pass(missed logging in once) already. Based on performance so far 6-700 total have any chance at all... but the races up to now have been easy...it will only take one / two days of chalk biting dust to reduce total number to under 100-- Though at the present attrition rate, look for this(few contestants left) to occur within the next 2-3 weeks, even if favorites continue coming in. *** We're gladly chugging along in 139th place, $50 off the lead...not a single one of our selections has failed to hit the board. If/when we see a longshot chance, we'll take it...but we may not have to the rest of the way. And we're in decent shape for bonus prizes: one of 45 with one 3 X 3 day so far.... & at 4 wins, only 8 others top us(all tied at 5 each). ***

Race 8

Underlayed(huge understatement) entry finishes 1-2. We had actually noticed its place finisher(darn, we thought our choice actually got the place!)... its last race last year was very solid-- much more so than readily apparent-- but we disliked how it quits when pressured on the lead, and as well its trainer's ice cold stats. Our choice lay back a bit further than we thought it would...all in all we were pleased the first two choices finished off the board.

Race 9

Our odds-on choice much the best...we'd have traded the win for a loss, in order to eliminate beaucoup contestants. Small consolation though: 2nd & 3rd choices(very lukewarm though), one w/ Bravo, finished off the board.

Race 10

Again, we'd've been very happy to see our choice run off the board. Very little in the pp's to recommend top two longshot finishers...esp. the winner. Place horse confirms speed bias(as if that's news) w/ the insane fractions it cut out: 21.54 - 44.08 - 1:08.76 ... Lezcano wisely took back off it by as much as 6 lengths early, and was gaining considerably at the end(bore out badly early stretch into the eventual winner's path-- possibly while switching leads--that probably cost it place, maybe even win), although seemingly nothing was stopping the freight-train winner-- who won despite a hard bump out of the gate. We actually feel sorry for those who backed that winner- only to see it come in at a measly 10-1 odds. *** Good Luck.