Palm Beach Weekly Wrap Up 5-21-2017
This month is just zipping by isn't it?
As May starts to dwindle down and the temperature keeps rising down in sunny South Florida, the racing action remains at elite status. Lets take a look back at the previous weeks top stories we saw at "The Beach."
Another Million Dollar Day For The Preakness
This is a perfect example why horse racing and greyhounds make an outstanding combination.
After Palm Beach did over $1.1 million in handle for the Derby two weeks ago, PBKC again scored a major victory for the Preakness when just over a million bucks were bet between the Matinee & Evening cards.
It's time to officially bury the notion that this is a "dying" sport because the evidence is clear that the interest is there and people love racing. Handles were up all over the country on Saturday for the big race. Huge crowds rocked "The Beach" all weekend long and the same can be expected when the Belmont Stakes happens in three weeks.
Congrats to Palm Beach and the sport for another blockbuster weekend of wagering.
SuperUpset Saturday
I should have known something was up.
Superstar Saturday is a name we have given the weekend Matinee for being notorious in showcasing the best greyhounds Palm Beach has to offer. Preakness Saturday had a record 11 Grade A showdowns, with Top 10 greyhounds galore sprinkled throughout the day.
Maybe it was Hot Prospect Gal getting her preferred 8 box and taking the lead only to end up finishing third. Or it was alpha sprinter Super C Martha going against a seven dog field and running a dud. Or maybe it was 45 time winner Superior Tyson taking a big lead only to give it up for the first time in his career. It could of been also soon to be track champion Fraulein Morgan coming up short in her quest for her 34th win in the finale to end a disastrous betting day for most players. All of this made my preview I put out before the card as valuable as a Detroit Tigers relief pitcher.
The only normalcy we could find all day was Big Red Dog from Rader Racing going box to wire for his 22nd win on the season.
Days like this are going to happen but to watch this card live and see all of these stars all come up short was really remarkable. It didn't surprise me at all that this long shot theme continued right into the Preakness with Cloud Computing jockeyed by Javier Castellano taking home the most valuable trophy in horse racing with the 14-1 upset.
Anything can happen in racing and we saw it firsthand on this Saturday.
Check The Turn And Win?
You watch enough races and you'll see something you've never seen before. That happened on Saturday for me.
We discussed how Superior Tyson was beaten from behind in his race. The girl that foiled him at the end was Dutch Jackie from the Lester Raines Kennel. Jackie took the most unusual way to win a race that I've ever seen, as she went into the escape turn, almost completely stopped and looked to the left with her ears at full attention. Any gambler will tell you that this is called "checking" and is a 99.9% bet killer in this game.
#7 Jackie though defied the odds after checking by kicking it into high gear and taking the Grade A victory in 29.90 secs.
She'll have to run a schooler race as per track policy for the check, but it made for one entertainment race that is worth the watch.
Here a replay of the race to see for yourself:
Wicked Twista Back In The Winners Circle
I always love to keep track of the Palm Beach alumni after their careers take them to other parts of the country to race. Wicked Twista from owner Brianna Burkhart was immensely popular when she ran at Palm from August of 2016 to last April because of her wickedly awesome name and fantastic game she brought to the track.
Twista became a household name in the Derby tournament last February, making the Finals against many of the top distance hounds in the country.
She transferred up to the big money track at Southland in April and has been trying to find her footing since. That all changed on Sunday as Twista sprang out of her favorite 1 hole and came back for her very first Arkansas win in Grade C. Congrats to Twista, Brianna and all her connections on her victory! Hopefully there will be many more trips to victory lane in the very near future.
That's all we have for this week. We'll see you next time for the Wrap Up!
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