The social tornado that is Downs After Dark returns tonight to Churchill Downs.
Interested in following my handicapping system and probably losing $25.40 in the process? Copy my picks.
Interested in picking horses because my wife and one of our horse racing writers, Margaret, likes their names? Copy hers (assume all bets are $2 to win for her).
As with all good marriages, we're keeping score (it'll be posted tomorrow).
Race 1
Zach: $0.50 trifecta box on 2, 4, 9
Margaret: Scarlett Go' Hara
Race 2
Z: $0.10 superfecta box on 2, 4, 6, 7
M: Son of a General
Race 3
Z: $1 exacta box on 3, 4
M: Garnet Crystals and Buckleupbuttercup
Race 4
Z: $1 exacta box on 1, 2
M: Vigilante Law
Race 5
Z: Betting on a race for maiden fillies makes me feel dirty, so I'm sitting this one out.
M: Grandma's Rules
Race 6
Z: $0.50 trifecta box on 2, 6, 7
M: Pray for Grace
Race 7
Z: $0.50 trifecta box on on 1, 7, 9
M: Jenna's Lemon (scratched)
Race 8
Z: $0.10 superfecta box on 1, 3, 4, 6
M: Wine Police
Race 9
Z: $1 exacta box on 1, 5
M: Fecktablous
Race 10
Z: $0.10 superfecta box on 4, 5, 6, 8
M: A Diehl
Race 11
Z: $0.50 trifecta box on 5, 7, 8
M: Buddha Can Dance
Updated June 26, 2011 10:41 p.m.
About the only bet I got right was that my wife's picks would do better than mine. I hit the superfecta in race 10 for a whopping $7.67—$5.27 after deducting the cost of the bet. I got three out of four right on an emergency pick 4 I placed late in the evening, with my pick in the other race coming in second. That bet, of course, paid $0.
My wife started off hot—and not just because some guy at the track whistled at her. Her pick in the first race won, bringing in $9.20. While that's all it took for her picks to outperform mine, she also won in some other race, but neither of us can recall the details.
Photo: Courtesy Churchill Downs
