Several years ago, I spent a day at Tampa Bay racetrack with a good friend I was visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday. Since Tampa was only running a simulcast card, we were somewhat disappointed.
She had never been to the track and wanted to know what to do. Rather than go through the confusion of explaining handicapping to a newcomer, I came up with the idea that we would simply exacta box two numbers all day long. Box 3 and 8, I told her. Why those numbers, I'll never know. I would follow suit. I showed her how and what to say to the clerk--then how to make sure she got the right ticket.
Naturally, if I saw something worth a bet, I would make an additional wager.
The first race in New York ran 38, paying $29 for a two-dollar ticket. She was ecstatic. "No matter what happens the rest of the day, I won at the track." Little did either of us know how true that would be.
Well, we didn't hit every race, at every track, but damn near! We even hit the 38 exacta at dog races, even at jai-alai, with the 8 winning an abnormal twice that day. Because of her exuberant celebrations, those nearby began to ask me about what system I was using, would I share it, etc.. I had no answer.
When it was over, we had cleared nearly $800, effortlessly. I still don't think she believes that it doesn't happen that way all the time.
My point is that anything can work for a period of time.
Since then, I have noticed that certain exacta numbers seem to run together. I regularly box 2 and 7 (see Breeders Cup posts) if I like either on the win end. The results of such stabbing are phenomenal.
I am not a trifecta player. But while waiting for a particular race, I will sometimes look at out of town tracks and key the third favorite and one or two long shots on top of two odds on favorites in the triple. Amazingly, it works often enough for me to show a profit with that bet.
