CHAMPAGNE’S BEST BET

BANKROLL: $819 At its best, horse racing Twitter is a community of passionate people dedicated to supporting the sport both on social media and at the betting windows. At its worst, it’s a cesspool with drama reminiscent of a high school cafeteria, minus the lousy food and overdue chemistry homework. It ticks me off when substandard behavior is considered acceptable solely because we’ve lowered the bar as a society. That’s where we’re at right now, and while racing itself is built on the backs of skeptics, critics, and those trying to find every possible bit of knowledge, it’s gotten to where racing’s most prominent social media platform just isn’t as much fun as it used to be.

Horse racing Twitter: Be better. This goes for everyone. Cultivate an atmosphere you want to be part of, and one you’d have no problem inviting friends to. The worse we act to people who have no idea about the sport, the less of a chance we have to create new fans, ones we desperately need.

SUNDAY’S RESULTS: River Tiber may have some potential yet, but he raced very wide from his outside post and finished a distant third. Win and doubles tickets turned into confetti, and I dropped another $25.

WEDNESDAY’S PLAY: The more I look at the eighth race, the more I love #8 DANNY CALIFORNIA. He’s the only runner in here with a win over winners going two turns, and he sports several of those. I’ll play him on his own with a $20 win bet, and I’ll also single him in a $5 cold double starting in the seventh with heavy favorite #4 SAYYAAF.

TOTAL WAGERED: $25.