Before we look at the recaps, I just want to take a moment to note my victory in the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance Breeders’ Cup handicapping contest. The win was largely on the strength of Vale of York’s upset score in the Juvenile, which netted me a cool $100 on the leader board.
The contest was only for pride (or at least nobody filled me in on a grand prize), and I didn’t make it up to Mount Pleasant Meadows to place any bets, but the thrill of victory is sweet no matter how it is served. To check out the board and see how my picks compared to the rest of the blogosphere, click here.
I am also entered in a Breeders’ Cup handicapping contest sponsored by Darby Dan Farm where the top finishers receive a complimentary season to one of the farm’s stallions. The final numbers have not been tallied, but unless Vale Of York provides a ridiculous point total, my ground to make up is probably insurmountable. Stay tuned for the final results.
Anyway, 0n to the haikus…Feel free to overlook the fact that I went 0-4 picking winners in the races I covered…
Classic
Zenyatta dazzles
Her legend, Eclipse case, grows
Race for the ages
Sprint
Four-wide in the stretch
Longshots fill the exacta
Sa-wing and a miss
Ladies’ Classic
Silky Sweet stretch drive
Escapes Zenyatta’s shadow
By running like her
Filly & Mare Turf
Midday goes all day
Reeled in stablemate from rail
Score one for Europe
The Michigan-Bred Claimer 
Love the blog. Added a link to it on mine. Haiku is deceptively simple, kudos for making it a handicapping tool. 🙂
You did not win the contest. Mark Ripple won it with $99 gross winnings
skipaway2000,
Thanks a bunch! Sometimes classroom boredom can produce some pretty neat things. I’ll be sure to add your blog to my list as well.
Freddie,
This is a new development. As the time of the post, I had won the competition. This tweet from the @TBABlogs Twitter feed also confirms my victory.
“@michbredclaimer CHAMPION TBA H’Capper for the #BC09, check out his blog http://mibredclaimer.wordpr…”
Unless someone hacked the sheet and changed their responses after the contest closed, here’s what I got: Mi-bred Claimer profited $98.40, They Are Off profited $90.20, and @realmarkripple took $81.00. If you’re talking pure winnings, it went 182.40, 174.20 and 165, in order. Not sure where the $99 came from. (It was possible to change answers part-way through the contest; I accidentally added my own picks halfway through, realized what I had done, and erased them again. Someone could have changed theirs inadvertently. If there ends up being a dispute – which would be silly ’cause this was just for fun – I saved a copy on my computer on Friday morning.) Go Joe!
Emilie,
Thanks for keeping record and crunching the numbers. It definitely enhanced my Breeders’ Cup watching experience.
Just a little update, there is no disputing the fact that I didn’t win the Darby Dan contest. The winning score was 1552 and I finished with a 1376. I end up with the same prize as the last-place finisher, but I’m not too disappointed with how I finished.