(This is the time of year when the horse racing season for the Ivory Pine Syndicate is winding down, but the soccer season for the Rosevelt Soccer Club is gearing up. Here's a 90-day glimpse of the day in the life of a horse racing managing partner and soccer club administrator.)
Awoke, 5:20a
Watched race replays, 5:30a-5:45a
American horseplayers are some of the most cynical and critical folks in sports, and their cynicism and many of their critiques aren't entirely unjustifiable. One small trend is for horseplayers who'd previously only focused on American tracks to redirect some of their attention (and handle) to tracks overseas--especially in Hong Kong or Japan.
The perception seems to be that racing in those jurisdictions is more competently managed, and that bettors benefit from more transparency and greater access to information. I handicapped a couple races in Japan yesterday afternoon, but the races themselves were raced at 2:25a and 3a respectively.
Thanks to Google Translate, I was able to access a lot of free information via the Orawa Race Course website, and I was able to use that free information to pick one of two races correctly. Overseas tracks probably won't become a big focus of my handicapping and wagering, but it'll continue to be something I fool around with here and there.
Rosevelt SC admin, 6:45a-7a
Updated our club's social media channels with our club's players' highlights in a recent high school soccer game.
Worked at Westbrook High School, 7:30a-2:30p
Visited Crimson Pine and Sixby Hanover (above) at historic Norton Farm, 2:45p-4:15p
My weekly visit to Norton Farm to visit our partnership's two pacers and chat with our trainer Mike Graffam and his crew at Team Graffam. These visits with the horses are therapeutic, and I usually learn at least one new thing (or two) about the sport, its history, its characters, and its idiosyncrasies.
Today's chat included an update on Crimson Pine's stifles (which are the equivalent to the human knees on the horse's back legs), which recently attracted the attention of our veterinarian. And it also included chatter about Joe Ricci, the colorful and controversial former owner of Scarborough Downs, who I recently fell down into an Internet wormhole reading about.
Watched Join or Die, 7p-8p
One of the most formative books while I was in college was Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone, and a lot of my political interests and even the soccer club and horse racing partnership can probably be traced back to this book. Putnam argues that American democracy is contingent on a healthy civic culture fueled by social capital and social networks, and I'm really glad to see Putnam and his life's work is the focus of a new documentary streaming on Netflix.
Asleep, 9:48p
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