“It’s not what you lose when you lose; it’s what you win when you’re right.” – Paul Matties, National Handicapping Championship (NHC) winner 2016.
From Miami to Las Vegas, it was a big weekend of action in the world of horse racing. Out east, the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, Mohaymen, lived up to the hype with a professional victory in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Out west, Paul Matties won arguably the most prestigious horse racing tournament in the country, capturing the NHC at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas, defeating over 600 contestants and taking home the top prize of $800,000. Congratulations to Canterbury Park regular Mike Ferrozzo, who made the cut into the top 10 percent and cashed nicely for the second consecutive year. Well played!
Meanwhile, those of us not fortunate enough to qualify for the NHC this year could still play in the (slightly) less prestigious Road to Kentucky contest at Canterbury Park! Gulfstream Park was the contest track, and the perfect score was 3,553 points. This means that the likely winning score will be between 1,800-2,100 points. The double point races didn’t offer up too many fireworks with Mohaymen winning at a short price, but there was a 19-1 winner in Race 5, J R’s Holiday, that was the top point horse of the day worth 596 points and several winners were worth between 200-400 points.
(Winners of each weekly Road to Kentucky contest earn an entry into Canterbury’s June 4 NHC Qualifier which also includes an NHC Tour membership. )
At least I escaped the back page this week, ending with 1,027 points. I was hopeful for a bigger day but things fizzled late, including being disqualified on a close call on the final Gulfstream race. (I thought it was a close call but others may have seen it differently!) Some people definitely benefitted as an 11-1 shot got moved up to first which very likely decided the Road to Kentucky weekly winner. I believe that race was also a mandatory NHC final table race, so there was potentially a lot on the line with that decision the stewards made.
Roll the bones.
Next week the contest track is Santa Anita. Good luck and hope to see you at Canterbury Park!
The Oracle
