Handicapping with Gordon

I--Gordon Waterstone of The Horseman And Fair World--didn't expect to be at the Meadowlands for the Final Four in April, and I'm not talking about the Final Four stakes. I'm headed off to the Big M this weekend to participate in the inaugural National Harness Handicapping Championship on Saturday night. It's a tough trade-off though as the contest is going straight up against Final Four night in the NCAA basketball tourney, forcing me to miss the action that includes my Michigan State Spartans taking on North Carolina.



I've already been lamenting over the fact of not being able to watch the game, although I've been promised by contest officials that there will TVs tuned to CBS in the contest room. But with a $50,000 first prize on the line, I think it might be best to leave the game to MSU coach Tom Izzo and concentrate on my handicapping.



The contest consists of making $20 bets - any dollar combination on win and/or place only - on 10 races. I can play any five I choose on the Meadowlands card and there will be one mandatory race picked from each program at Northfield Park, Woodbine, The Meadows, Balmoral Park and Cal Expo.



Although some contests use mythical money, this one requires $200 in seed cash, but you get to keep your winnings. With the mandatory races you simply have to pick the winner of the race but in the optional contests you have to find horses at a price. That said, I've been kind of keeping a watchful eye on the weekend cards at the Meadowlands. Last Saturday I traveled over to The Red Mile to watch the card, making notes on my program. The track's race secretary Nick Salvi joined me and he popped a tape in the VCR in his office and taped the races so I will also have a chance to go over them again in the search of finding a hidden gem or two that is worth a play in the contest.



I've been going to Keeneland every other Friday night for the past two months to play in their contest that involves eight races simulcast from Turfway Park. The best I've done is about 30th, although I've consistently placed in the top 50 and saw my name posted on the TVs. I'm pretty pleased since about 250 play each time and it's given me some insight into making contest wagers. Plus, that's Thoroughbreds we're talking about, not harness, which, hopefully, I'm a lot better at.

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