Playing with other people's money
D. Wayne Lukas appeared to have figured out a way to keep from being hammered in the Triple Crown races. Quoted in an Associated Press story, Lukas said to a group of writers interviewing him prior to the Preakness that they should pick a horse, any horse, and he'd fade the wagers, the point being, 3-year-olds are big trouble.
Bookie for a day?
The House for a day?
Sounds good.
Exceptionally good.
I had in my pocket at the time about $150 in office bets for the 130th Preakness Stakes, wagers made by casual bettors as best, some of whom might not know which end of a horse went around first. Betting the Triple Crown races is a tradition like playing the college basketball brackets at tournament time. It's done by sinners and Christians alike. I had hauled to bet at the off-track parlor for friends and co-workers mostly $2 wagers, a couple of $5 Exactas, one $20 win, one $50 win, some $10 place and show action.
What horse player hasn't taken some money toward the windows to bet for somebody only to think at least once: Wait a minute. This guy couldn't pick himself off the floor to say nothing of pick the winner of a hard horse race. Maybe I should serve as teller and cashier in this instance and handle the beery bet myself.
And so if during the 2005 Triple Crown races, D. Wayne Lukas himself is thinking the same thing, that few could pick a winner if they stopped the tape at the top of the stretch and let everybody bet again, if D. Wayne would offer to serve as croupier, as it were, surely I could handle a lousy hundred and a half in wagers from left field.
There are a number of reasons why handicapping the Triple Crown races is difficult.
1. Most national handicapping experts don't know what they're doing. I can't tell you how many times I heard after the Derby that Afleet Alex bore in, as though that had been a bad thing. Drifting out is not good, it means a horse is tired. Please remember this: bearing in can and frequently does mean that a horse has some more run in him.
2. The Kentucky Derby is not so much a horse race as it is a land run.
I wish that I had been carrying the bets for most of the ESPN handicapping crew. Hank Goldberg continued his unbelievable spring picking tour by selecting in this Preakness Closing Argument, Noble Causeway and High Fly, here comes one of them now. Kenny Mayne picked Wilko even though this horse had bled through Lasix two weeks ago! Bob Neumeier had Closing Argument. Mike Battaglia had three that battled Hank's for the caboose. Jeannine Edwards, Charlsie Cantey, Randy Moss and, of course, myself had Afleet Alex. Had you put my three picks in an Exacta box (isn't Scrappy T the cutest name) you would have won $150-some odd for every $12 wagered, no problem, you're welcome.The image of the first two horses staying on their feet is an instant classic forever more. The point here is, office wagers are the most dangerous to keep in your pocket because these bettors put money on things named the same as their bird; in this vein, $2 can turn into a lot more in a hurry.
If you ask me, ethics come into play if you're thinking about booking somebody's horse bet, and also possibly the cops might come into play as well, as accepting wagers without a license could be a violation.
So I went ahead and put through all the bets except for a $50 win on Giacomo and called the person sending in that win wager at home and asked if it would be all right if I booked that bet myself as something of an experiment to see what being a bookie felt like. He said no. I said okay and put that one through the windows as well.
Of the $150 that I bet for others, a little more than $180 came back.
Anybody interested in booking horse bets, perhaps even offering better than track odds as a hook, should specialize in male handicappers appearing on national television.
Always put through the wagers from people not watching the experts.
Watch the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 11 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC
