All About the Marathon

I've been away from posting for about two weeks -- this week for lack of electricity (still) in the wake of Hurricane Sandy's devastation -- but am in full marathon mode this weekend.

Thursday, I picked up my NYC Marathon bib and race packet and am ready to tackle 26.2 miles through the Five Boroughs on Sunday.  It's not too late to make a contribution to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund or my two other designated charities at www.crowdrise.com/billholobowski. 

Do'rag ready!

Colleague Red Rock or Bust (be sure to enter his Breeders Cup contest) can attest to my contention that the BC Marathon is perhaps the most useless $500,000 Grade 2 event ever.  The 1.75 mile-race is generally filled with a bunch of also-ran horses ill-equipped to slide into any other event on the two-day card.  Hell, past champ Eldaafer followed his BC win with a race at, yes, Atlantic City Race Course.

Nonetheless, since I've been without power and have not had much of a chance to look at Friday's card, I am making the marathon the centerpiece of today's wagers.

Grassy looks very intriguing to me at 30-1.

Clearly, Grassy is a turf horse, but I think third off a layoff has as good a shot as any with one of California's top jocks -- clearly worth the risk to me, and as I continue to scratch my head over Attigun as the favorite at 9-2 and with no wins outside of optional claiming, I'm all in on bomber Grassy, who has two good races with Gomez under his belt.

For those playing along at home, here's how I'm burning $50 this afternoon:

• Race 4, $2 WP 4 ($4)
• Race 4, $1 Pick 3: ALL with 4 with 4,6,12 ($21)
• Race 4, $2 Double: ALL with 4 ($14)
• Race 5, $1 Pick 3: 4 with 4,6,12 with 2 ($3)
• Race 5, $2 Double: 4 with 12 ($2)
• Race 6, $4 WP 12 ($4) -- The Gold Cheongsam looks sneaky good to me at 20-to-1
• Race 6, $2 Double: 12 with 2 ($2)

I'm not too optimistic about getting power back tomorrow (or cashing winning tickets with a 30-to-1 single), so I'll mention that I like Ron the Greek in the Breeders Cup Classic and will play with Flat Out in exotics, though I am not all that intrigued by that race in particular, and will likely play $50 of Pick 3's on Saturday.