Jim Price

Discipline. You can't make money without it. And, when you handicap 48 hours or more in advance, you're supposed to bet on the horses you like and not, as a rule, worry about the betting odds. Therefore, Get-A-Hunch got what it deserved after passing up the winner Prairie Walker, overpriced at 3-1 on Monday, in favor of Regal's Precious, underpriced as a narrow loser at 8-5. The decision took down half of a winning parlay and spoiled an otherwise good day. The win streak ended Sunday, but a second-place finish at 10-1 and a close third at 19-1 showed that a highly profitable day was close at hand.

Five consecutive winning days and seven out of eight may sow the seeds of overconfidence. Nonetheless, whether you're buying stocks, picking a movie or betting on horses, you have to trust your judgment and capitalize on it when you're going well. Risking more when you're in a slump is poor money management. Therefore, given the right opportunities, it's time to become a little bolder. Rich And Phoney in the first race and Skylark Lane in the ninth have been looking for a spot. And, don't be surprised if Prairie Walker's recent win makes him a different horse, even though he'll be underpriced today.

With a new and deeper racing surface, it's tough to know which way to lean, toward speed horses or closers. Chances are, at least for a few days, there will be a bias. At this writing, however, there's nothing to do except try to pick the best horse and to advise switching to the highest-rated closer if the speed won't stay. There are useful horses among the opponents lined up to face Inlovewiththesport in today's All West Derby. That said, if his form doesn't lie, he should win. He's fresh, he's trained well and he'll love the distance. Here are today's selections: THIRD: $10 to win on BLACK BUBBLES. Split winnings to win between SUPREMO CHOICE in the fifth and SQUITTER in the eighth. $5 quinellas pairing her with TONZ A LADY and MISTY'S LAST TRIP ($10).

For a Monday afternoon, Playfair has a very bettable card today. Why? Several horses that have been shopping for a spot appear to have found it. Plus, some standouts that had run out their conditions for the year have a chance to run back. Take the feature in which Bricks'N Sticks, which has chased the best 3-year-old fillies, short and long, is matched against non-winners of two. She has been fourth and third in a pair of stakes, so there could be no more perfect spot. The same almost could be said for Barzana Dana, which lines up against $8,000 claimers in the sixth race. This Montana stakes-winner was a good third in the Speed Handicap and a decent fifth in the Turbulator. He may have a tougher time, however, because his opposition includ es such hard-hitters as Hope's Rullah, Stubble and Playfair Mile nominee R. Lite Is Rite. Here are today's selections: FIRST: $10 to win on BUBBA'S BOOKIE. $2 daily doubles pairing him with CHARLEY BUCKET, PRAIRIE WALKER and AIRBOSS ($6).

On paper, the colts division of the All West Futurity looks like a two-horse race. Both trials winners won with their ears pricked. How to choose? Invest In Festin is more seasoned. Toughy's Gold may have more talent. In a tough call, this vote goes to Invest In Festin, who moseyed to the lead in his trial.

It's never fun handicapping for a dry track and having it come up wet or, for that matter, handicapping for wet going and finding the course dry. Wednesday it was one way and Friday the other. Usually, losses result. So be thankful that you have the opportunity to adjust. A group of fine 2-year-olds meets today in the filly division of the All West Futurity. Red Silver Hope came out of what looked like the tougher trial, but it also was much faster, so she becomes the pick. Don't leave Justanotherbigtime out of your gimmick bets. And, almost certainly, the track will be dry.

In today's feature, you'll see something seldom seen a Playfair Mile nominee running for a $4,000 claim tag. Frostgothepeach, with dead aim on claimer of the meet honors, tries for his fourth win of the season. He likes wet tracks, he has speed in a route race and an inside post. Speaking of wet-track lovers, if it comes up slop, don't forget that Challenging Knight is a superior mudder.

Every dog and every handicapper has his, or her, day. Last weekend was profitable and, with a little more luck, the bankroll would be back on the plus side. Roadwork, which set the pace in the Speed Handicap, looks almost unbeatable in the seventh. On Board, once a fine stakes mare, takes another leap upward in the ninth. If she wins with authority, we could see her back in top company before the season ends. Here are today's selections: FIRST: $5 doubles pairing JUSTA GRAY and DREAM ONE with MISTER ALIEN in the second. $2 doubles combining the other five with MISTER ALIEN ($20).

Are there any good slumps? Would you rather handicap poorly and toss off a loss or lose by feet, or even inches, and have to choose between pride in your judgment and the despair of defeat. No way around it. Losing isn't fun. Not cashing a ticket in two days is worse. At today's interest races, quitting won't make up the deficit before the end of the season. That said, the racetrack at the moment seems biased toward closers. So let's hear it for L.C. Lady Be Good.

Candidates for stakes engagements are scattered throughout today's program with seven promising 2-year-olds matched in the third race, Playfair Mile and Spokane Derby hopefuls in the ninth and top fillies and mares in the 10th. Chirrup had some problems in the Kindergarten Stakes and deserves another chance among the 2-year-olds. Slewty, if he's a legitimate Playfair Mile threat, should be right there today. And the late-running duo of Night Rodeo and Lady In Sable bring stakes credentials to the nightcap. Here are today's selections: FIRST: $5 daily double combining AWINNERFORMARY with PASKY'S RANDY.

While the big boys frolic in New York the Jockey Club Gold Cup simulcast most of the top local 3-year-olds are matched in the Playfair Breeders' Cup. Chippewa Warrior, with the aid of Lasix, the medication that controls respiratory bleeding, should prove he's much better than his disappointing local debut. Don't, however, discount Lingerhof, who has won half of his eight starts, or Rolling Eyes, who might have been the best horse when Lingerhof surprised in the City of Spokane Handicap. Billy Club in fourth and Her Holiness in eighth look like they have found the right spot.

With the twin trifecta pool swelling toward the $50,000 mark, bettors around the state will be loosening their purse strings. On one hand, the extra mutuel handle legitimizes the win odds. On the other, a tough field for the seventh race makes winning a daunting task. On the basis of speed and class, this vote goes to Press Tour, who bucks a two-year winless streak in route races for No. 9. Grey Vista should be close in the first half. Wednesday almost was a very good night, but Sensational Knight lost the seventh race by inches.

Four trials for the All West Futurity dominate today's program with Murray Creek Stable, a frequent winner of past All West classics, starting five of the 32 entrants. The card also includes an attractive feature with a couple of impressive recent winners stepping up in class to meet long-distance standout SHAWN BOY, who's had a pair of tuneups after a nine-month layoff. The view from here is that, if he can run second over a muddy track in last fall's Inland Empire Marathon, then he's a winner tonight.

A fine field lines up today in the Turbulator Handicap, an event with implications that go beyond the purse. As the season's second major sprint, it will help decide that title. In addition, the lineup includes most of the leading Playfair Mile candidates. Secret Past, with highweight, merits a long look. So does stablemate Halo Passer, winner of the Speed Handicap, but No Small Buzz, the Speed Handicap favorite, was squeezed back early in that race and deserves one more chance, even though he hasn't yet beaten Halo Passer on this track. Friday's losses serve as reminder that it's dangerous to become preoccupied with gimmick wagers and forget to back them with straight bets on your good winners.

G J's Playgirl, fresh from a front-running victory over rival 3-year-old fillies in the Princess Breeders' Cup, will try to duplicate that triumph today, meeting older fillies and mares in the Dishman Handicap. She has the rail, but Maheras Turn, beaten favorite in the Sweetheart Handicap, and mud-loving Pretty Peggy Slew will keep her busy, possibly paving the way for the late charge of last year's distaff champion, Montani. Not Never, squeezed back at the start in his debut, looks like a good way to start your twin trifectas.

With major money on the line, it's hard to ignore tonight's twin trifecta, even though there's a bang-up mile feature that matches a fistful of Playfair favorites. Plunder Road and Fogbank are the horses to beat in the sixth and seventh races. If it's muddy, don't leave We Ain't Dancin and Mucho Mudrun out of your sixth-race picks. Tension Mounts may be a good saver in the seventh. Spokane jockey Robert Colton has a mount in the simulcast stakes race from the Meadowlands.

A $66,527 twin trifecta carryover may make it difficult to concentrate on other matters tonight, although there are several very competitive races, including the sixth, a wideopen mile. With fresh resolve to play beaten favorites with good form, this voter takes Casey Too. The twin tri looks ripe for the picking, even though the first half, the seventh race, is tough to pick with several proven runners. In the eighth, for maiden fillies, most handicappers like Mite Ms Courageous.

There is talk that Chippewa Warrior, the highweight and favorite in today's City of Spokane Handicap, is becoming a serious racehorse. In some minds, he's already the horse to beat in Spokane Derby. He's a very capable sprinter; his sire, Taj Alriyadh, has thrown a disproportionate number of good horses, and he sure looks best today. The right horses in the wrong order, in the twin trifecta and the trifecta, kept Friday from being a banner night. Here are today's selections: FIRST: $10 to win on PRETTY PESISTENT. Parlay any winnings to MONSIER FRIJOLES in the fifth. $10 quinellas pairing PRETTY PESISTENT with RUNAWAY MACK and EMMETTS LEATHERS ($20).

As mentioned before, in a shorter season, handlers of the best horses waste little time sending their charges into tuneup races for the upcoming major stakes. Tomorrow is just around the corner Today's card brings out several candidates for future events. In The Act, who may want more distance, looks like the best horse in the Princess Breeders' Cup, but she may look even better against males in next month's one-mile Playfair Breeders' Cup, In today's sprint, the unclassified Montana invader Flora's Halo may be the one to beat.

It looks like a good year for horses for the course, those which, over the years, pile up a wildly disproportionate number of victories over a particular track. El Cabrio, in tonight's feature, is one of them. The hardcharging gelding is 11 for 41 at Playfair with 10 seconds and he finished well in his seasonal debut. Plutechief, which runs infrequently but well, looks like the key to the twin trifecta, which has a $24,977 carryover.

Woe is me. Seven wins on Sunday with a near miss for a $1,362.90 trifecta and the net result is a $10.50 loss. Where's the money management doctor? Stubble, after bearing out in the opening-night feature, comes back as a beaten favorite in tonight's main event. On paper, he looks like the best horse. So does the fine mare On Board in the fifth, unless the track turns up slop. Here are tonight's selections: $2 daily doubles combining J P RUHL in the first race with RUMBAL DOLL, MISSJETLILL and SANDEES PRINCESS in the second ($6). THIRD:$5 quinella baseball combining MY BEST HABIT, TARAB and CARLOU JACK ($15).

Montani, last year's filly and mare champion, makes her seasonal debut today in the eighth race, a sprint that has attracted another 1994 standout, Return Key. Montani has prepped well in Yakima. Return Key ratified last season's form with good efforts in Boise. Return Key will lay closer to the pace, and she might be the better sprinter of the two. In another interesting event, marathon champ Shawn Boy makes his 1995 debut in the ninth race. The Molson Million from Woodbine, runs after the second race. Here are today's selections: $2 daily doubles combining MIDNIGHT BUOY, ANOTHER OMEN, BRASS PRINCE and PURSUIT CYCLE in the first race with SALSIS in the second. ($8). FOURTH: $10 to win on SASSY WAKE. FIFTH: $5 quinellas pairing CAPTAIN O'MORN with CHALLENGING KNIGHT, CAMPBELLS HOPE and A BROKER BROKER ($15). SIXTH: $5 to win on LITTLE BOY JOY. EIGHTH: $5 quinellas pairing RETURN KEY with MONTANI and FLYING GUMDROP ($10). NINTH: $1 trifectas wheeling BABYE to every combination of SENIOR HOUSE, FOUR SPEED FLOORED and FASTEDDY'S A ROMEO ($6). Original bankroll: $2,000. Friday's results: Won $18.50. Present bankroll: $1,919.30.

Now, let's get this straight. Wildwood Mac ran second as the favorite in the $117,000 Gottstein Futurity at Yakima Meadows, and hardly anyone thinks he's going to win the $5,000 added Kindergarten Stakes today at Playfair? Well, yeah. The reasoning goes that Wildwood Mac has an unfavorable post position, that he's not much of a sprinter and, most of all, he may be pretty far behind early in a field full of horses which want to lay fourth.

When a beaten favorite you like, explicably or inexplicable, fails to run his race, don't give up on your judgment too easily. In the Inaugural Purse, Extreme Edge was badly bothered when a rival bore out, leaving the way clear for Hope's Rullah to extend his amazing string of opening-night successes. Tonight, those two head a very contentious field in the featured sixth race. Extreme Edge, still unclassified, deserves another chance. So does 11-year-old Explosive Gold, who switches to up-and-comer Jason Eads in the second race.