Not much of a choice, eh ? – That has been the weekend from hell for this handicapper. You can either be off the board and run down the tubes, or you can be so close it hurts to think about it. – One way has you going back to the drawing board to revamp your methods, the other is good handicapping with a dose of bad luck. – Like I said, pick your poison.

This weekend has been tough to swallow. Here is a little snapshot of the weekend for me.

Los Alamitos had a nice pick four wager, and on Saturday the feature race was the Great Lady M featuring Fantastic Style who looked like a dead-lock with Bejarano travelling 6 1/2 furlongs. – I had the first two legs on very small tickets, and they paid – $17, and $19.- Things were looking good coming back to a (1-9) shot with the leading rider in California aboard for Bob Baffert. – Well, chalk gets beat and this did me in for the day. – I closed out on my single in the last paying $2.80 and I would have had the P-4 ten times. -Small tickets for a solid payout went down the tubes.

I was playing in a handicapping contest, and it was a multi-level sort. I had to be in the top six to move on to the next day. – I was in 22nd place with two races to go. I chose Dylan Davis on #14 at Aqueduct at a huge (30-1). – Then I started looking deeper and found a (16-1) shot who looked like gold. He even went off at (22-1). – #14 – Cody’s Notes won at 30-1, and I ran an even 5th trying to close for minor awards.- Needless to say I didn’t make it to the next round on Sunday. I finished a dismal 32nd, and felt like kicking myself.

Keeneland’s card looked good on Sunday.- Not all chalk and easy pickings, but the possibility of prices. – So, back to the drawing board, and I came up with a decent pick-four ticket as I watched the computer while paying bills. – The first leg was a big time win with Paco Lopez paying $17.40 beating the big chalk. – Leg #2 paid $13 with a super patient ride by Julien Leparoux. – Leg #3 was tough and had eight runners. Up to this point In had two things in mind. Go small in the first two legs and stretch-out in the third to ensure a shot at beating the (4-5) chalk in the last. – After the smoke cleared, I finished 2nd – 7th and was bested by one of the runners I left out. – Even Winning Ponies had this runner 8th out of eight, and was a speedster facing a ton of early pace. – So there I am once again watching the last race hoping that (4-5) would win and I wouldn’t have had the score. – I would have liked to tell you I was out of the money, but that wouldn’t be the truth. – One of my three runners scored and it paid $5,105.55 for a 50-cent ticket which I would have had twice. – My ticket would have been about the same as a (25-1) scored in the feature and my horse was (28-1). – So what’s a player to do ?

My plan is to sit on the sidelines until Keeneland kicks up on Wednesday, and I’ll download the E-Z Win Forms and get back in the game. – No sense crying anymore, and “you can’t win unless you get in it.” – So I’ll lick my wounds and comeback strong. That’s what players do, but I have to admit I’m really close and feel like I’m knocking on the door. – Be sure to check back on Wednesday and I’ll let you in on my big ticket comeback.- With only 12 days until Derby, extra bankroll sounds like a good plan.