Downs After Dark

Downs After Dark - White Party!Video Recap

It was a fabulous night at the races with fifteen of us donning our best summer whites and enjoying four graded stakes under the lights at Churchill Downs! After getting settled in our seats in two reserved box seats (see group picture below) - where we had a great view of the finish line and the run to the wire, as well as the clubhouse turn (see panoramic below) it was time for the racing action to begin! When I had handicapped the races I did not find a stand out in either of first two races, but felt I had solid enough selections in a top three in both to play the daily double .... something I rarely, if ever do. 

In the opener two of my choices were battling through the final 16th of the stretch, so I felt good about being alive in the double, and it was certainly the case when #1-Hilary D edged clear as they approached the wire. WHOOO HOOOO! I had three live runners in the second, though I would not have had to be hard pressed to sell you my ticket on two of them.... why? Because this race was written for non-winners of two lifetime and those two had already piled up double-digit losses in their careers. The worst of the two was #6-Starter who had but a single win from TWENTY career starts! As the betting unfolded I was surprised at how much play he got, and by post time he was the 8/5 favorite. 

When they were loading in the gate and I took one final look at the odds, I was thinking to myself that this would be the "perfect" time for a horse like Starter to score....because under no normal circumstances would I have been playing this horse with this kind of record at these kinds of odds. Luckily, I told myself, because I had not had a strong enough opinion on any of the runners in here to think they provided me with an edge to bet them straight up to win, I DID have him included in the double. As they hit the final furlong the race played out in much the same manner as the opener......I had the leader and bearing down on the outside was #6-Starter, who was also mine. When he hit the wire first I'd hit the early double!