Jan
25
Stewards Deny Triple Carryover
Filed Under Uncategorized
With a carryover of more than $723,000 into Wednesday, and an additonal $3.1 bet into the pool yesterday, Pick Six mania was in full swing at Santa Anita. First leg, $19 winner. Second leg, $20 winner. Third leg, $42 winner. Was this thing really going to carry again? Finally a “logical” winner when favorite ANTIFREEZETTE took the 6th race. Then the pivotal race in the series, the $75,000 added Tuzla Handicap. When CONVEYOR’S ANGEL swept by the field to “win” at 48-1, we were looking at a truly monstrous pool for Thursday. However, the stewards put up the inquiry sign and looked at the replays for at least 10 minutes. ‘ANGEL had come in slightly in mid-stretch (I would call it one lane) and bothered MOVIE STAR, who was being outrun at the time and would then clip heels slightly behind the winner. The stewards took down ‘ANGEL and placed her behind ‘STAR, which moved up SINGALONG at a much more realistic $9.00 payoff. When TONY MONTANA won the last at $14.40, there were six winning ticktets at slightly more than $400,000 apiece. So long $2.4 million carryover.
I agreed with the call. It was borderline and press box observers were divided. I got a couple emails from fans who felt they had been robbed. But I thought the foul was enough to warrant the change, although ‘ANGEL was best and ‘STAR was fading anyway. I thought the stewards got it right, although I’m not sure why they need to look at replays for so long. I say take a three-minute hourglass, turn it over, and make your decision by the time the sands have drained to the bottom. Read the book Blink and you realize experts in their fields make decisions almost instantaneously. They don’t ponder, re-think and agonize. Stewards, I think you got it right this time, but can we please speed up the process?
Victor Espinoza won four on the card (including the DQ win) and narrowed the gap behind leader Garrett Gomez.
Went to the Eclipse Awards on Monday night and had a great time. Although many have commented that the ceremoney was a bore, it was my first time and I had a blast. An open bar has a way of doing that. One disappointment was that Gomez did not win the Eclipse for top rider. He actually finished a distant second to Edgar Prado, which shows how much weight the Barbaro saga carried this year.
To view a Free Sample of yesterday’s Premium Plays, click on the link below: Premium Plays for Jan. 24
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