Tip of the Week: Rainy Days and Saturdays

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
In horse racing, the show must go on.
Even in a driving rain storm, with a track reduced to a sea of goo, races will take place and handicappers must persevere. They have to put up their umbrella and study past performances in hopes of uncovering some nuggets of information indicating that a horse can handle wet footing.
It can be a daunting task, but sometimes it’s rather simple.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, Gulfstream Park lifted the curtain on its Championship Meet with a series of restricted stakes known as the Claiming Crown.
Geared for horses that have raced in a claimer at some point in their career, the Claiming Crown offered nine stakes for horses in different dirt and turf categories with purses ranging from $110,000 to $200,000.
As a result, some quality horses usually pop up in the races, which was surely the case with the $110,000 Claiming Crown Rapid Transit, a six-furlong stakes. Two of the starters included Trouble Kid, who was claimed for $15,000 out of a maiden race by trainer Ramon Preciado in July and had finished first in the $350,000 DeFrancis Dash but had been disqualified to second, and Stallwalkin’ Dude, who had raced for a $50,000 claiming tag for trainer David Jacobson in April and had finished a head and a neck behind in the Grade 1 Vosburgh Stakes.
Stallwalkin’ Dude had also raced in the DeFrancis, finishing fourth after a troubled trip.
Yet in addition to those two, Mother Nature also popped up at Gulfstream. Rain pelted the track, making it a sealed “good” surface and creating a new variable for the rematch between Trouble Kid, the 9-5 morning-line favorite, and Stallwalkin’ Dude, the 7-2 second choice.
Which one of them would relish the wet track?
The answer was pretty obvious. Trouble Kid started on a sloppy track in his career debut and finished fifth. Stallwalkin’ Dude had six starts on a wet track and had won four of them with a third-place finish as well. While mud can differ from track to track, with a record like that in wet going, Stallwalkin’ Dude surely seemed capable of avenging his loss to Trouble Kid.
The wagering public also picked up on the wet conditions and at post time Trouble Kid was just a slim $2.10-to-1 favorite over Stallwalkin’ Dude, who was $2.20-to-1.
The race lived up to expectations as it boiled down to a two-horse race to the wire between Trouble Kid and Stallwalkin’ Dude. At the eighth pole, Trouble Kid led by a head, but in the final yards Stallwalkin’ Dude surged to the lead and won by a neck, paying $6.40.
As it turned out, raining on his parade wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to Stallwalkin’ Dude and his backers.
THE LESSON: When skies open up and rain pours down, never ignore superior wet-track form.