See a Man About a Horse

Denis alerted me to the fact that the Kentucky Derby is being run tomorrow afternoon. So I hopped over to the website and did my research, and this afternoon I’ll be putting money down on two horses.

I’ve decided to go with Lion Heart (10-1) and Imperialism (15-1). These two raced against each other earlier in the month and Imperialism beat Lion Heart by a neck after TRAILING IN LAST PLACE the entire race. They’ve both done well in their careers in the smaller races, and I think Lion Heart could be poised to win this one, with Imperialism giving him a run for the money but not quite beating him. Although Imperialism has the advantage of a high winning jockey that truly knows how to handle a horse.

And there you have it. Now I just need to decide how I’m going to bet. Last year I got all confused and when I turned in my betting sheet the guy behind the window said, “That’ll be $125 dollars.” I TOTALLY didn’t know how to bet and I know there were a few snickers as I left the window, cowering in shame, to fix my bet to something more financially doable. But this year I’m prepared – Race 10, $2 Across the Board on number 3. And Race 10, $2 Across the Board on number 10. Those two picks should cost me $12, if I’ve done my research right. If he says any other number as my total cost, I’ll slink away again then come back and just bet a $2 WPS on Lion Heart and be done with it. That’s $6 ($2 for Win, $2 for Place, $2 for Show). I think.

Arg! Any regular horse bettors out there that can help educ-ma-cate me on how to wager on this race?

Update at 3:23 p.m.: I went to OTB on my lunch hour and changed up my bets a bit. I did Race 10, $3 Across the Board on number 3 and another on number 10. Instead of $12 it came to $18, which is less than I spent on the NCAA Tournament in May, so it’s all good. What’s even funnier? I was studying the sheets about to fill out my form when I heard a woman say, “Ask that woman next to you.” They then asked me how to fill out the forms for the race tomorrow. I guess I looked like I knew what I was doing. I showed them how to fill it out, then completed mine and went and placed my bet. They were still agonizing over their sheets after I was done and on my way out.