They're Alive!!!

The Handicapping Life made a brief haj last week down to the mecca of horse racing. A nice ride on the Lake Champlain Ferry and an uncrowded journey down I-87 brought me down to Saratoga, where I met my parents for a wonderful day explaining and sharing the races. Yet, despite the beautiful surroundings, I usually have mixed feelings about going to the track. I never bet as clearly as I do at home and a strange need for action comes over me -- I find myself with a bet in almost every race...something that never happens when playing from home. And, yet, despite these temporary losses and annoyances and the obvious benefits of spending time and sharing the sport with others, I still go to the track for one primary reason: Like many horseplayers, I simply love seeing horses in person.

Upon arrival, a full parking lot forced me far away from the race course, but, much to my excitement, extremely close to the stable area. I'd wandered around the backside of tracks before -- most notably at an empty Keeneland during a visit last summer -- but I'd never been to one that was fully stocked with the best horses in the world. I walked past Corinthian, the spastic horse who caused the Fountain of Youth drama, and Artie Schiller, the defending Breeders' Cup Mile champion, who keeps finding ways to burn the public's money. And I saw tons of beautiful, active horses that I couldn't recognize. It was, hands down, one of the highlights of the summer.

I've always found these feelings quite surprising -- independent of my love of racing, I'd never be described by friends as a horse lover, and the suburban Cleveland home of my youth did not present much opportunity for horse keeping. And, because of Denver's lack of big time racing (where I first became deeply enamored with the sport), most of my early experience with playing the horses came through watching TV monitors and engaging in data analysis in the racing form. Yet despite my lack of tangible experience with horses, I always feel a special affinity towards these animals when I see them in person. I think, at the core, see in these animals reminds me of something that I occasionally forget -- that the entities that we're betting on are living creatures, with all the nuances, quirks, and intangible wonder that life brings.

And, in addition to this fuzzy feeling, I also find that seeing horses close up in person, at the backside or even just the paddock, really helps my bottom line. Sitting in my office and reviewing race after race, I unfortunately occasionally forget that horses exist independent of racing and are way more than just a collection of numbers. And, when I get into this mechanistic thinking, I find that my handicapping suffers -- I'm engaging in static, as opposed to dynamic analysis, and routinely find myself supporting the animals that look the best on the surface of the form. It's only when I'm truly aware that horses are living creatures with a tremendous amount of volatility in performance that my handicapping reaches the level for profit. And, so, even with short-term losses, I'm always willing to take a occasional day to go visit any track. Besides, I still haven't figured out how to get Saratoga chips, a BBQ pork sandwich, or tasty draft beer in my office.