Sunday's Feature Race - Handicapping Challenge - Zenyatta Foal

First comes the bragging. If you invested $48 in the Pick 4 I handed out for Sunday you got a nice return of $156.70 for a $112.70 profit (enough for a insanely nice dinner for 40 at Sea Galley). Not bad for a boy from the wicked mean streets of Ballard. Just like the neighborhood playgrounds in The Wire, the playground at the Nordic Heritage Museum, two blocks from my old house, was not for the weak:

Told you. Surviving Viking Days was rough, but I got out alive. 

Someone challenged me to keep a tally of my investments for the year in a tab at the top of the blog page. Challenged accepted! Most handicappers wouldn’t dare do this for being ridiculed, but I am willing to put what little self-esteem I have left on the line. My only condition is that if I get too far in the negative I am allowed to block my wife from the Blog. No matter how bad I do it can’t be worse than my $5,000,000 investment in Betamax:

Saturday's feature race was won by a Washington-bred so we will deal with that in tomorrow’s post. Sunday’s race was an exceptional field of 10 runners. I watched the replay a few times and here are my brief thoughts (you can see all replays at the EmeraldDowns.com website):

Emerald Race Replay

(1) As I said in my prior post, Scat Daddybaby had too much speed for this group and was never really challenged. I was surprised he went off at 8.70-1 because I thought he was the most likely winner the second I looked at the racing form. His workouts were swift and the distance of the race was too short for some of the other very good horses in this field. Maybe because I supported him this time, I have relieved myself from Scat Daddybaby Syndrome.

Click to See Feature Race Chart

(2) The newly-turned four-year olds held up well in this race. Scat was first, Finallygotabentley ran very well to close for third and Mike’s Man Gold ran a very credible sixth after trying to keep up with Scat in the beginning of the race. 

(3) Winning Machine got completely left at the gate and ran a much better race than it appears on paper. After the poor break, he got a nice rail trip but tired in the last 2 Furlongs.

(4) Jebrica closed well but this is just not his distance. He would have finished third were it not for some interference in the stretch. As things stretch out and another horse looks Scat Daddybaby in the eye, the results will likely be different.

Zenyatta had a War Front filly born this last weekend. Terrible breeding of course. This was simply one of the greatest sport performances I have ever seen: 

[If you get the email and can't see the YouTube video, here is the link or just go directly to my website every hour of every day (it looks better than the emails anyway): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud_XPH6Eix4 ]

Still gives me chills. 

Tomorrow will focus on the Washington-bred winners from last weekend. Next week will be dedicated to the Kentucky Derby.

Always love your animals,

Will Brewer 
Brewer Thoroughbreds