Oh No! Derek Simon Beat Me

I tend to concentrate on the sport of thoroughbred horse racing, dealing with what’s going on, what’s coming up, and in general celebrating the stars of our sport. My esteemed colleague, Derek Simon, on the other hand, looks at the sport from a different point of view. An innovative and expert handicapper, Derek concentrates on the gambling aspect of the sport. Vive la difference! Because of this, we rarely write about handicapping the same races, but it happened this past Saturday when we both decided to concentrate on the Pennsylvania and Super Derbies for our Youbet.com columns. Derek is a heckuva nice guy, and I certainly never wish him anything but the best. On Saturday, however, my competitive juices began to flow. I wanted to win this impromptu handicapping challenge. Here is how the races unfolded … ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here

Derby Double Dipping

As Seinfeld’s George Costanza would attest, sometimes it can be fun to double dip. To dip once, enjoy, and then dip again. Taking a page from Costanza, that is exactly what I will be doing this afternoon. I’ll be looking for bigger game than chips though, as I dip twice into the Derby pool. Today’s Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park) and Louisiana Downs’ Super Derby offer two competitive fields mixing it up in hopes of climbing the division ladder. It will be for many running today, the last chance to get a graded stake win against their own age, as the older horses loom. Also on the line will be one final opportunity to prove that they are good enough and belong to run five weeks from now at the Breeders’ Cup. In handicapping the duo of Derbies, I found that I have strong feelings for horses that will be somewhat ignored by the bettors, which of course is always a good thing. ***The remainder of today's column can be found on Youbet.com*** Click Here