This is an unofficial tally done by Equidaily.com using stats and plays as provided in Monday's newspapers.
It was a tough meet overall for the public handicappers. For the sake of comparison take a look back at the 2005 recap. The majority of handicappers topped the century mark two years ago -- this season only six managed to do that -- while many didn't even reach 90 in 2007.
[Note: REVISED... Dave Litfin of Daily Racing Form moves to the top of the heap after stats were updated. Litfin tops the 2007 meet with 109 winners.]
Congrats go out to Tom Cunningham of the Albany Times-Union for topping the standings this year with a solid 106 winners-on-top. Dave Litfin of Daily Racing Form and Bill Taylor of The Saratogian were hot on his heels with 105 each.
Our quick, unofficial comparison between 2006 and 2007 might indicate why the public handicappers struggled a little this year. In 2007, favorites came in at a touch under 31% -- while horses going off at 10-1 or higher won 57 times.
. | 2007 | 2006 |
Races | 347 | 336 |
Favorites | 106 [31%] | 110 [33%] |
Under 10-1 | 288 | 297 |
10-1 to 20-1 | 44 | 30 |
Over 20-1 | 15 | 9 |
We take some solace in having our $2 win-return break $600 which looks like the benchmark this season. Our total was less than $30 away from Cunningham even though he had 21 more winners-on-top.
No one "beat the meet" by moving their return into positive territory. The best return of those that tally the stat was Matt Graves of the Albany Times-Union with $666.30. Bev Swimm, also of the Albany Times-Union was just a couple of dollars and some change behind that.
You can view compare scorecards from past seasons at 2006, 2005, 2004 and 2003.
Note: Discrepancies in total number of races played is due to some handicappers losing races due to scratches.
REVISED: The "King" for 2007 -- Dave Litfin of Daily Racing Form. Fire up that phone-a-bet account, Dave! Originally we had Litfin and Cunningham flip-flopped in the top two spots -- but Litfin's stats in Monday's DRF only reflected part of Saturday's card due to publishing deadlines. Updated stats are below -- and it's Litfin on top!
2007 SCORECARD
Dave Litfin Daily Racing Form |
109-345 |
Tom Cunningham Albany Times Union |
106-343 [$635.00] |
Bill Taylor Saratogian |
105-345 |
Tom Cavanagh NY Daily News |
104-347 [$632.30] |
Bev Swimm Albany Times Union |
102-347 [$664.00] |
Matt Graves Albany Times Union |
101-347 [$666.30] |
Bill Heller Daily [Schenectady] Gazette |
99-347 |
Mark Cusano Daily [Schenectady] Gazette |
97-346 |
Russ Harris NY Daily News |
95-347 [$543.30] |
Debbie L NY Post |
94-345 [$595.50] |
Nick Kling Troy Record/Saratogian |
92-346 [$617.55] |
Kyle Brownell Post-Star [Glens Fall, NY] |
89-346 [$609.20] |
Sherry Ross NY Daily News |
89-347 [$578.30] |
Jerry Bossert NY Daily News |
86-347 [$503.50] |
Seth Merrow Best Bets - equidaily.com |
85-347 [$605.60] |
Mike Jarboe Albany Times Union |
84-347 [$615.50] |
Laim Durbin Saratogian |
82-341 |
Tom Law Saratogian |
82-342 |
Dave Little NY Daily News |
80-347 [$510.40] |
Tim Wilkin Albany Times Union |
79-347 [$505.90] |
Mark Hoffman The [Amsterdam, NY] Recorder |
76-347 [$477.80] |
John DaSilva NY Post |
74-345 [$497.00] |
Vic C NY Post |
74-346 [$598.10] |
Ed Fountaine NY Post |
73-345 [$582.80] |
Mike Lipack NY Daily News |
68-345 [$520.20] |
Affrunti NY Post |
64-345 [$480.50] |
1-10. Day 36 was a struggle. Like everyone else, we like to go out on a high-note, but it just wasn't meant to ne on Monday. One winner on top and frankly, not a whole lot otherwise.
20,314 attended to wrap-up the season. Good racing. Good weather. Warm and sunny. Heck, that could describe virtually the entire season as well as closing day.
No racing. See you next year.
FIRST RACE
SECOND RACE
THIRD RACE
FOURTH RACE
FIFTH RACE
SIXTH RACE
SEVENTH RACE
EIGHTH RACE
NINTH RACE
TENTH RACE