CNL Tournament News

[km]

Hurrikane Greg w/ Sue and Don Marconi were involved in the Colonial Racetrack qualifier today (Sat 6/28). I spoke with Don and Greg on the phone. No luck for Don, but 'Kane gave it big shot just falling short- finishing in the top 20 - another strong effort for him.

They related that this was a very user-friendly place to go in terms of nice accomodations at the track for the $100 entry fee. Contest format wasn't great though, just 8 races from CNL (2-9) with a $42/$22 cap on the wp payoffs. They reached the quota of 200 entries and had to turn many people away. There are no more "well-guarded secrets" on the tournament trail anymore. They are all filling up and people are traveling from everywhere seeking one of those precious 200 or so slots in the finals next January.

Check the newsletter, available Wednesday, it contains a list of qualifying tournaments in the next 30 days along with the mailing address to register for the KEE contest on Aug 2 (thanks TomCat). Notice that there are some free on-line contests to take a stab at.

[hurrikane]

it was a little disappointing.

not to cry sour grapes but.

the winner was a trainer (local),
2nd worked at CNL(backstretch) until a few days ago
3rd was an owner
4 was in the bus locally I heard.

my understanding is the races 2-9 were also decided because of the trn and owner having horses running in the others.

Most dissappointing was the number of big hitters that came this year. it was pretty remarkable with a bunch of top dogs and even wolfson, winner of this years NTRA there.

I'm not complaining. I missed a couple of shots...a +10 in the second would have been nice but didn't play him.

The biggest dissappointment in the entire tourney was the rule that you had to have you pick in 5 min to post. On three occasions something like this occured.

6min post 1 and 11 are good plays, both have good advantage in this field.
The 1 is 5-2. the 11 is 6-1. No brainer. I played the 11 (I think Don did too).
By post time the 1 is 6-1 and the 11 is 3-1. the 1 win. In the 4th...an unusual short field for CNL....the 4/5 fav...an overraced Lake horse didnt' figure. The next best horse was the 5. But at 5 min to post he was 2-1. I took the 3 who ended up finishing 3rd. Problem is...at post the is 4-1 and ends up paying around 11.50 which would have been great for a short field like that. And that is how the day went. You had to find a horse and then pray the friggin odds didn't go nuts.

Big change from last year. Oh well...on to the next one....

[hurrikane]

Oh yeah..just a little tourney humor.

We all set up in a private club suite they had out for the tourney. Problem was, they only had 2 suites and we were in the 3rd. So Don, Sue and I discussed it and decided we better move.
We moved into the Suite next door and set up, actually met some nice people Don knew from Colts Neck data.

Anyway, while in the other Suite(the one not for the handicappers) somone in our group(Don, Sue?) went and got a sign off one of the doors and posted it in front of the suite to look like we should be there.

Well, when we left...no one took down the sign..a wouldnt' you know it..the Suite filled up with tourney players to the hilt.

Funny thing is..it was Ferris Allen Bubble head day(which it the great trophy we all got to bring home). And of course you just know....all those people sitting the the suite someone(?) had put a sign on were sitting in Ferris Allens suite, eatiing his food and probably raiding hit bar. Once he showed they all got booted and the cusing and grumbling began.

Meanwhile, Don Sue and I just sat in the nice Suite handicapping and wondering what all the commotion was about. :D

[tomcat]

'way to go Hurricane.
I still think something needs to be done about people with inside information. I realize the inside info isn't always accurate, so maybe it evens out in the long run.

Those track insiders get burned too. I saw one bet $1000 across last week, lose it all.

[dehere]

hi all, i just discovered this bb and find it really interesting - lots of great discussions to read.

I did want to correct a little error on this thread, however. The guy who came in third (me) at CNL isn't an owner, just a (kinda) local handicapper who happened to apply a little thorograph data and local track knowledge regarding pace and such to his advantage. Last year I think I came in about last; this year my "cap horses", thankfully, did better.

My greatest interest though is to hear about how HTR can help me in the national competition in January. If someone can direct me to a relevant thread to peruse about HTR generally I'd love to check it out - or discuss things off-board. I guess I'm looking for something that will help the process of doing some preliminary handicapping work for eight race tracks over a few hours. I was thinking of All-ways, but am a little concerned about the cost.

Anyway, not to belabor things here. Any help would be appreciated.

[km]

Hi dehere - thanks for joining our bbs - congrats on qualifying for the NTRA at CNL !

HTR is a unique watering hole for tournament players. We stay on top of the buzz and network with each other very closely before, during and after every event. And that has resulted in big successes for dozens of subscribers over the years. You'll find HTR players in every major contest and nearly all the NTRA qualifiers. Start by downloading the DEMO from the homepage. Then click to the HTR LIBRARY herein and read all you can about the software, strategy, research, finding overlays and prices and general handicapping. Contact me via email next week for a free tryout later this month. I'm leaving for Gold Coast tournament now, but web supervisors Rick or Mike will send you a copy of this month's newsletter if you ask them.

If you like contests, be sure to enter our summer handicapping challenge and a chance to win free entry into the Orleans in October. I'll have announcements about dates and rules upcoming this month. Open to all.

Dehere - an awesome 2yr about 10 years ago. Did you have a connection to him? I believe his career was shortened at age 3, but he may have won a 3yr Graded Stake. He had a magnificient pedigree if I recall, but he couldn't stay Classic distances? You don't see his name much in the breeding lines, maybe he was sold to Japanese or Arab interests.

[tomcat]

Dehere is no longer listed in the current Stallion registery,how about Defrere or Dayjur?

You will also find a nice group of people who are willing to help and share.

[dehere]

Really? Dehere is no longer listed? I still see his name show up as sire of a horse or two that I bet on, but I guess they are all older horses. Obviously, I haven't done very well at keeping up on the life and times of my namesake.

Actually, Dehere simply corresponds with my aol name, which was chosen during Dehere's two year old campaign, when he was winning at Saratoga, and I followed him with the naive belief that this two year old form would translate to a splendid triple crown campaign. I did get some great pictures of him crossing the finish line in the Hopeful, or at least I think it was the Hopeful. It hangs on the wall of my office. In fact, I've added a pic of Dehere as my avatar. It still amazes me to see all of the horse's weight on his one front leg.

Thanks for the welcome.

[Cliff]

Dehere,

Congrats and welcome! I think you'll find, at the very least, that HTR will help you feel more organized during tournament play.

At the last NTRA they did announce when a mandatory was coming up. That should help you, too.

Good luck!

CH

[Rick]

Dehere,
After you download and install the DEMO, download the latest upgrade to HTR2001 so you have all the latest features.

[Donnie]

Dehere-
Welcome to the HTR board! Test this sucker out....I think you will be quite pleased once you learn the ropes....but watch out! You will probably fall into some thought provoking discussion here!
Best of luck! Definitely, let's hook up in Vegas in Jan!

-Donnie

[hurrikane]

Dehere,
congrats on the CNL tourney. I'm glad to see someone besides an insider made the cut.
What were your major plays? I'm guessing the 7 in the first or the 11 in the second and then what? A breakdown of your handcapping work would be great if you don't mind.

Are you a local around CNL?

You may find other software out there that can perform like HTR but I don't think you can find one as cost effective. I guarentee you won't find one with a better support group than this bunch up here. Great horse players and some very seasoned tourney players. That alone is worth the 119.00 a month.

[dehere]

Gee Hurrikane, ask a horseplayer to recount their day at the races and who could resist?

I'll try to be brief, but will probably fail miserably.

I liked Improvised (7) in the 2nd race, but wasn't brave enough to pick her in the contest. Instead, I played her in an exacta with my second choice - Fantasy Jet - and got the place pay-off for the 2nd ($4.20). At least I was alive, but kicking myself for not going with a cap horse right off. I did hit the exacta though, won $128 and paid for my contest entry, so I was generally happy.

My cap horse, Frances Durden - 11, won the third and paid $51.80 (win and place), so I was definitely alive after that race. I picked her based on a 26 (Thorograph) she ran in her first race of the year, which was the last 6 furlong race on a fast track, and because I liked her pace scenario. Her 26 was a terrible number, but better than anyone else in this lackluster field. Gotta get used to lackluster fields at CNL. Interestingly, Frances Durden came back in her next race and finished last, but this day was her day.

I went with Euro Bond in the 4th, got another second and another $6.80, so at $62.80, things were looking okay, certainly enough to get the juices flowing.

After getting another 2nd in the 5th with Paisley Braes ($4.80), I was shut out in the 6th and 7th. I almost got in a fight with the track blacksmith before the 7th which is kind of a long story which I won't get into but involved with trying to get shoe change information for Renee's Approval who had last run with aluminum bar shoes. CNL has no shoe board and seems to think that sort of information is privileged for some reason. Anyway, it mattered not as Renee's Approval faded to third and led to no bucks for two races in a row.

Then came Azazel in the 8th and another nice win and another $31.20. I think it was the fact that, despite a need to be on the lead, or near it, on turf routes at CNL, the fact that Azazel had closed from 10 lengths back to lose by a neck in his last race at only a mile caused me to like him a bit. The fact that Artillery Man decided to catupult the inner rail and leave Fogelsonger on the track certainly didn't hurt matters.

So, at that point, with $98.80 in the bank I knew that, barring a long shot win in the last race, I was headed to Vegas. So I went with what turned out to be the post time favorite in the last and, after giving up hope 200 yards into the race, I was able to thoroughly enjoy one of the most spectacular combined efforts I had ever seen by a horse and jockey.

So that was the day, thanks for letting me relive it. I really think these things play out for those who are just having one of those lucky days when their long shots win rather than any real handicapping prowess and this happened to be one of those days for me.

For clarification sake, its also my understanding that only one of the four winners at CNL were "insiders". The guy who came in fourth is certainly a local kinda guy from Chesapeake who, while maybe wants to own and/or train horses, doesn't. I'm not sure about the guy who came in second. The guy who won happened to have a horse in the fifth race (either Zealous Kate or Paisley Braes), but, other than that, was not really an insider. Hopefully, we'll be a great team once we get to Vegas in January.

Now, its time to research HTR further to see whether I want to give it a try. The demo package helps a bit, but I really need to try it on an actual race day, which is kinda hard to do without some trial membership or some such thing. I'd love to talk in detail with someone who has used HTR, All-Ways and sheets (preferably Thorograph) to see how others see these handicapping methods interacting. I cannot see giving up Thorograph, but am certainly willing to see which of these other methods are worth trying - maybe for this Spa meet.