So the 46-1 winner in race 5 at Woodbine yesterday had one fan in the grandstand screaming so loudly, his voice was picked up in the online broadcast of Woodbine races. Well, good for him (was it you?) but what about the rest of us? If you’re among the great multitude who DIDN’T have that horse, Jimmies Big Day, was there a way you could have played him so you were cashing a huge pick-5 (that paid $14,994 for 20-cents) or the superfecta that paid $802 for 20 cents?
Yes and yes. Some races are what I like to call x-factor races. X-factor races are races which are more likely than others to be won by a difficult-to-handicap horse. Race 5 was a maiden race and what do these races contain? Horses that are new to the game – either first-time starters or horses that have had only a start or two and are still figuring out what is expected of them.
The longshot winner of the race was one of those horses with only a couple of starts. In his first start he made a middle move and in his second start he hit the gate. It obviously was hard to tell whether his third start would be the charm. So what opportunities were available to capitalize on the longshot without knowing he would win?