Derby Hunches: My Picks

So, Derby Day is finally here. And it's probably gonna be run on a sloppy track. Nice. As they say at the track on days like this, 'you can throw it all out'.

That being said, Rags to Riches still looked like a monster in the Oaks slop. I caught that race while at Santa Anita today at the "off-track" get together. I couldn't pick scratch today at Hollywood or Golden Gate and spent most of my time betting around the winners and watching the real big gamblers sweat it out.

I almost hit an exacta with a 9-1 shot on top. But that is neither here nor there.

A guy at my table received a call from his girlfriend in between the 5th and 6th races. She wanted 20 bucks to win on Any Given Saturday. He was busy trying to figure out a "tri" for the next race "up north". He told her he could do it, once it was determined that advance betting was available.

The guys at my table were also kicking around the idea of betting a Pick 6 at Hollywood today. They handicapped the races, circled their horses and then decided against it, after much deliberation.

After the 7th, it was revealed that their ticket would still have been alive. I hesitated to ask but did anyway, "which horse did you have in the 8th?"

"We were gonna single the 5," one of them answered. Five minutes later he left, before the 8th ran. The 9 won. Whew.

I'm not a big better but I like handicapping races. I also tend to bet on hunches. I like to bet maiden first time starters based on how much they were purchased for as yearlings or 2-year-olds.

I like the expensive ones. And sometimes, like today, I throw it all out and bet on a $750 horse because his grand-sire was Nijinsky II. I always liked Ferdinand.

But, the horse ran last or at least appeared to.

So just before the last race at Hollywood I put it all together and made some selections for the Derby.

My bets were all over the place:

I boxed Tiago (my official win pick) and Dominican in an exacta.

I also placed win bets on Hard Spun and Liquidity. Oh yeah, and $2 to win on Sedgefield because my 3-year-old son picked him out of a hat.

How's that sound?

One more thing: Oscar over Floyd.