Dean C. Arnold is both an avid handicapper and writer. Dean is a regular contributor to Horseplayer Magazine and TVG's eNewsletter. His first horse racing book is full of handicapping insight, entertainment and humor. Dean has been published in The Blood-Horse Magazine, Horseplayer Magazine, and his "Spur of the Moment" column has appeared in every issue of the TVG Network online newsletter since its inception. Dean has written on topics ranging from handicapping to technology's impact on the financial services industry. is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former Captain in the United States Air Force that currently works in the information systems division of a Fortune 100 company.
Be sure to check out Dean Arnold's new handicapping book, A Bettor Way, on sale now through Xlibris Publishing and most major online book sellers.
So on the one hand, Thanksgiving weekend has proven year after year to be one of my favorite and most lucrative weekends for playing the races. On the other hand, is it possible to have a normal family holiday and still play the wagering opportunities all weekend long?
Well, not exactly.
Typical American Thanksgiving weekend:
Wednesday night, travel to see family
Thursday eat a big dinner at 2:30 in the afternoon and watch prof football
Friday, go shopping
Saturday, watch college football
Sunday, travel home, or say goodbye to guests
My Thanksgiving weekend that is all too typical of my last 20 years:
Wednesday night, travel to MGM Grand at Foxwoods, walk through what had to be a mile and a half of slot machines and blackjack and craps tables to watch sloppy track racing from Churchill Downs and Aqueduct while daughters and wife swim in the indoor pool before celebrating my 40th birthday with a nice dinner out.
Thursday, my actual birthday, or “Thanksgiving” to the rest of society. Began with a swim at the hotel at 6 am, eating a big breakfast at 8:30, traveling home, watching races until it’s time to have dinner.
Friday, shop online, including at the DRF Press bookstore, and then watch races. Mid-afternoon, go to my parents’ house for a belated family turkey dinner. Sneak off to watch the Clark Handicap on my iPad since Wise Man was the one “must bet” horse of my weekend. I get strange looks when the family wants know why I was cheering from the family room.
Saturday, get up at 5 am, handicap until 8 am, rake leaves until noon, then bet races from North America from noon till 8 pm. Go to bed for 2 ½ hours, get up at 10:45 pm to watch 6 races from the Japan Cup simulcast -- wake my wife up at 2 am to tell her I hit the pick 4 and turned a losing week into a winning one. Wife says “mmm, that’s good” and goes back to sleep -- but seems less impressed than I hoped.
Sunday, “sleep in” until 7 am, make waffles for family, rake more leaves until 11 am, then check scratches and changes and realize that all 4 horses I planned to bet at Churchill Downs on their closing card had scratched due to another sloppy track. Left with only 3 races on my game plan (races 5 and 7 at the Fair Grounds, and the Hollywood Derby that night). I decide to try and make a score, aka, I get stupid.
At Fair Grounds I bet both key horses to win, then got stupid and tried to tie races 5 and 7 together by using “all” in race 6 to make a pick 3 out of things. I didn’t take the time to notice that race 6 would have a deserving odds-on favorite, so I covered 6 horses and thus spent 6 times more money than I needed to in order to hit a pick 3 for $185.40. I was sloppy but got away with it. But my luck didn’t last.
Between Fair Grounds and Hollywood, I just had time to watch the New England Patriots win. Then, yawning as I bet, in the Hollywood Derby I liked 20-1 longshot Imagining shipping in from New York. As merely a maiden winner, I thought he could spice up exotics so I bet $10 to win on him and then used him all over exotic pools for another $50. This was classic “last dance, gotta make a score” greed at work. I used him with all the contenders, which I honestly had no strong opinions about, and watched him run 2nd to another longshot. For the same $60 wasted, I could have made $219 dollars if I made a $30 win/place bet. Or I could have bet $20 win, and a $2 exacta wheel/box for a total of $40 and snagged $556.
Or I could have admitted that after my Japan Cup all-nighter I was no longer sharp minded and should have settled for cold turkey leftover sandwiches and watching the New England Patriots game….
Looking back at Thanksgivings of past years, I have always been balancing the turkey menu with one of the best racing menus for the whole year. I’ve braved snowstorms to watch simulcasting at Arapahoe Park in Denver, went 5 Thanksgivings in a row to the casinos in Reno, and spent a weekend in Philadelphia visiting my sister-in-law with trips out to Philadelphia Park. I’m always up for a visit to somewhere other than home for a change in scenery, but somewhere I can still bet the races. And with mobile devices and global simulcasting, the opportunities are only limited by the need to sleep.
So for me, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time. There are usually leaves to rake, and family events to attend, and turkey to eat. But for me, knowing how many minutes to post is all part of the fun for me.
Be sure to check out Dean Arnold's first handicapping book, A Bettor Way, on sale now through your local and online bookstores and Xlibris Publishing.
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