Get A Hunch, Bet A Bunch

What do people who handicap in advance get when they pick for the wrong kind of mud? Anguish, consternation and holes in their wallets.

When you pick’em on the spot, read the track. If speed stays in every race, don’t stubbornly back horses that come from far off the pace, unless they are superior in the going. If top frontrunners collapse, don’t fight the inevitable. Although the bolder, late-season Get A Hunch can’t reverse its bets, you can. Prompted by the forecast, the following wagers assume slop.

Here are today’s selections:

FIRST: $10 daily double pairing CHIVALRY ISNOTDEAD with TENSED JOHNNY. $2 doubles teaming PROUD JUSTY and MISTER ALIEN with him.

SECOND: $30 to win on TENSED JOHNNY.

FOURTH: $20 to win on BON BON BABE with a $5 quinella wheel.

SEVENTH: $20 to win on SOLAR COUNTRY. $10 quinellas pairing her with BOLD BILLY BUD and WILLARDS SPOOK.

EIGHTH: $20 to win on JENNY JEVON.

NINTH: $10 to win on GUMMIT. $5 exacta box of GUMMIT, EMMETTS LEATHERS and LASTING DIVIDEND. $1 trifecta wheel boxing those three to run first or second ($42).

Original bankroll: $2,000.

Saturday’s result: Lost $113.

Present bankroll: $1,840.50.