So the past two years it’s been Mary and me going to OTB to place our bets – this year we had a couple extra folks, namely Sean and Heather. I’m bringin’ everybody down wit me!

Here’s what I put down:

$3 WPS on Bandini
$3 WPS on Noble Causeway
$3 Exacta: Bandini/Noble Causeway
$3 Win on Don’t Get Mad

The odds will change by tomorrow, but right now I’ll be doing well if Bandini and Noble Causeway do their thing tomorrow. Then as a wildcard bet I put the $3 on Don’t Get Mad, which is currently 30-1 and has good post placement next to Bellamy Road. What I really should have done was Show for Don’t Get Mad, but didn’t think of that til we were walking back to the office.

Mary mimicked my choices for Bandini and Noble Causeway but also put small bets on Afleet Alex and High Fly. Sean put money on Afleet Alex and Heather bet on Bandini and Afleet Alex.

In all, I bet $24, down $4 from last year, and Mary bet $39, also down from her bets last year, I believe.

I just got back from OTB, where I placed my various bets. Here’s what I ended up with:

Confident that Smarty Jones is going to win, the real contest is for 2nd Place. I put a $3 Place bet on Eddington.

I also put down a $10 Exacta Wheel bet, with Smarty Jones to Win and either Rock Hard Ten or Purge to come in Place.

Lastly, Denis talked me into doing a Trifecta bet, so I went with a Trifecta Box, with Smarty Jones, Eddington and Rock Hard Ten in the top three spots.

Total amount bet: $18.

Now, Mare-Bear ended up going with me, and ended up betting twice as much. Granted, two of the five bets were for her man, but even so, it seems to me that everytime I talk Mare-Bear into betting with me she ends up betting MORE. This time around she did NOT bet for Smarty Jones at all, but placed various bets for Purge, Rock Hard Ten, Tap Dancer, and Eddington. Three solid choices and one outside shot. And what’s funnier is that once I was done placing my bets she said, “Maybe I should go ahead and bet your bets too, just to be sure.”

When we got back to the office, I said, “Mare, you might as well just put in $2 Win bets on all nine horses so you know you’ll get back at least SOMETHING for your $18.

She actually looked like she considered it.