My First Live Tournament Experience: Sam's Town In Las Vegas
From the start of racing at Belmont Park on Friday morning, until Mr. Cartagena crossed the wire to culminate an 11-race Saturday afternoon card from Santa Anita Park, it was an intense, thrilling weekend for me in “Sin City.” Only having competed in online handicapping events thus far in my short lived stint as a horse racing tournament player, my first live experience was intense, rewarding, exhausting, and most importantly something I recommend all horse players take part in as soon as possible.
When I arrived at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas at 7AM Pacific Time on Friday morning, I was prepared for the races, but knew it would be a learning experience as well. A field of 150 entries, including multiple ones from several contestants, was set to “break from the gates” for the two-day event that encompassed six racetracks from across North America. With my knowledge base and majority of recent experience being in New York, California, and Kentucky, I spent the majority of my time preparing for those races, as well as select events from Gulfstream Park. I omitted the races from Arlington Park after my handicapping did not lead me to any contenders that provided value and decided to dismiss Woodbine races since I have not followed that circuit in years. It was certainly a full workload, but one that I found both challenging and enjoyable.
The rules for the tournament were perfect for me, yet to others probably less than ideal. Choosing any race at the chosen racetracks, as opposed to being given mandatory events, fit my style perfectly. I tend to have the majority of my success in maiden and turf races and often times many of my “top plays” on weekends are omitted from contests I compete in. Plus, I personally found the option of choosing your own races as much more typical of what handicappers do on an average day at the track. Finally, being paid on Win/Place/Show, instead of just Win/Place gave tournament participants a bit more of a reason to take a chance and still be somewhat okay with a third-place effort. Those that play shorter priced runners were still paid for finishing two spots behind the winner, but not as nicely as say a 22-1 shot who finished in the third slot.
I did not purposely wait on the first of my twelve plays on Friday, but the two I had listed as potential options in the first few races were bet down quite a bit, making them underlays. I decided to pass on them. Therefore, my first tournament play was not until Belmont Park Race 4. Swipe, for the Desormeaux brothers, was a maiden making his second start and first amongst stakes company in the Tremont. I saw this one acting up in the paddock at Santa Anita Park, yet still run against a speed bias and close for a strong second. I thought he was well meant despite the cross-country ship and would be a nice price. He made a nice middle move at odds of 14-1, but was fortunate to hold onto third place money. The Win/Place/Show format fortunately got me on the scoreboard to get the day started, as well as helped me maintain a confident attitude about my handicapping.
Underneath finishes at solid prices seemed to be the story of the day as I was able to put up points with 7 of 12 of my tournament plays, yet only get one runner across the wire first. Despite the less than ideal results, I was able to put up 795 points (points based on $20 WPS wagers) and put myself in the top 25% of the standings heading into Day 2. This was despite only one winner in Mongol Bull who finished first in Race 7 at Churchill Downs at odds of 9-1. Things could have gone better, but I remained confident and in striking distance heading into Belmont Stakes Day.
Despite only a few solid hours of rest, I was ready for one of the better racing cards I have seen in years. Belmont Park offered stakes races much of the day as well as a few incredibly strong allowance events. As it turned out this card would make up half of my tournament plays on Day 2. The other six plays ended up being at my home track of Santa Anita, as well as Churchill Downs and Gulfstream Park.
The day started poorly in terms of handicapping and took at turn for the worse when the second of my two long shot options ran a strong runner up effort in the Grade I Acorn Stakes. I knew this was a race worth taking a shot in, but my tournament play ended up going to Cathal Lynch trained Danzatrice instead of Michelle Nevin conditioned By The Moon. The $26.40 to place and $13.40 to show really would have aided my Day 2 rally and honestly made me “go on tilt” for the first time during the event. I needed to cool down and decided to take a short break. During this brief respite, a potential maiden play at Santa Anita Park won at first asking at odds of 7-1. I thought my chances to finish in the money were done. I needed to make a serious rally both mentally and physically to have any opportunity at success in my first tournament.
Patriots Rule was a strong play of mine in the one mile Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita and fortunately he got the job done at odds of 8-1. Mentally, I was back and if I could get another solid winner in the coming events I would have a chance to get back into the top 20. I did just that with Ricky Agarie trained Vegas Street who paid $21.80 to win in the fifth at “The Great Race Place.” I was now just one “price play” away from being in the top ten and potentially cashing. I had three “bullets” left after Honor Code in the “Met Mile” soundly defeated Bay of Plenty. I decided to use one of them in the Grade I Manhattan Stakes at Belmont Park.
Slumber for Chad Brown and Irad Ortiz was not the likeliest of winners in this event, but made a lot of sense to me getting blinkers for the first time. I was all but certain this was my top pick in the race and made my move to the windows after New York Racing Association’s Maggie Wolfendale made him her paddock pick before they entered the track. I strolled to the window when I got my look at this son of Cacique. He looked immaculate and much better than I remember him appearing in his last few races. The young Ortiz saved ground every bit of the way and exploded home to win easily at odds of 14-1. With two plays left in the contest I was now in 7th place.
I was hopeful that I could get into the top 5 with another winner in my final two tournament decisions, but unfortunately my final two contest plays were off the board. As they tallied the final results, I was somewhat confident I still finished in the top ten and would make the money, but a bit nervous I had blown that opportunity. Luckily, I held tenth place and was able to turn my qualifying entry into over $1800. Not only was I able to get an incredible learning experience and have an amazing time, but I turned a profit as well!
As previously mentioned, I knew there would be lessons learned as a “first-time starter” in the live tournament setting. The first was that I did not need to start throwing darts at long shots as early as I might have thought. When I was rattled half way through Day 2, I nearly dismissed playing Patriots Rule at 8-1 and going for bigger priced runners. That would have been poor judgment and kept me out of the money. Sticking to my game plan ended up yielding positive results. The second lesson learned was that I could have done a better job in planning my strategy for the final few races. I was as prepared as most in the Sam’s Town tournament, yet could have had a better grasp on the final few races on the cards. If I knew those events as well as I did those at the beginning and middle of the day, I might have been able to move even further up the standings. Finally, getting rest is imperative. These events are strenuous on both the mind and the body, especially when in contention at the end. I was drained by the final few races and could have used more brainpower and energy. Thankfully, I had the help of tablemates Emily Gullikson, Dylan Donnelly and Jason Phillips. They helped do some math, as well as maintain a positive approach throughout the final races.
In the end, things worked out well for me in my first horse racing live tournament. I made money and absorbed a great deal that I hope aids me in future success. I plan to make solid efforts to qualify for upcoming events in Las Vegas and Southern California. Hopefully, you will get involved in what is the one of the more exciting experiences a veteran horseplayer can take part in.