BANKROLL BEATDOWN

Tim Wilkin and Anthony Affrunti each was given a mythical $2,000 to spend as he sees fit during the Saratoga season.

Tim Wilkin

It’s no secret that my meet has been horrible. I’ve been doing this for 30-plus years and I’ve never had a Saratoga summer quite this bad. Going into today, I have 45 wins in the pick box. The guests, who have never beaten me (at least I don’t think so), are 24 wins ahead of me (congrats to them). In the last 18 days, the guests have beaten me 11 times. The other seven days ended in ties. I have ZERO wins. How bad has it been? Well, in the last 103 races, I have picked just 13 of them right. Last week, there were 51 races run at the Spa. I picked four right. OTB is up 16 on me and my man Otis has me by 12. I am the ’62 New York Mets. Or the ’76-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the ’15 Philadelphia 76ers. And then there is Zippy Chippy. But, in taking a closer look, I have been tiptoeing around a fortune. In the past three days, horses I picked second ended up winning seven times, two of them on Sunday. And they were prizes: Saratoga Pal ($13.80) won the fourth and Gimmick ($26.80) the fifth. Another horse, Social Whirl ($18.40 in the third) I picked third. I know. We only care about winners here and, right now, I’m a loser. I have 16 days to try and right the ship and make things

respectable. I won’t give up. I mean, I can’t get any worse, can I? Don’t answer that. For today, $40 win Crowding Out (6th): $5 exacta box that one with Sand and Sea/let Them Eat Cake (all turf only); $20 win Air Cavalry (7th).

A Total bets: $90

A Sunday’s results: Did pick up some money when Street Vendor, who went off at just shy of 8-1, rallied but fell three quarters of a length short in the second. Had the $6.40 place price five times. Bet Orma at 8-1 in the sixth to win, she finished third. The horses we had behind her for our exacta and triple were fifth and sixth. A Losses: $72

A Bankroll: $949.50

Anthony Affrunti

We’re now past the ides of August, and it’s go time. Three more weeks of this continuous merrygo-round. Seems like this meet has gone by quicker than the past few years. Maybe it moves quicker from afar. Who knows? I’m guessing that it’s going way slower for my adversary to the left. Haven’t heard much from him lately. No calls during his long walks in the park where he conducts meet and greets with people walking their dogs. No calls from his trips to the Piggly Wiggly or wherever he goes to stock his kitchen. Maybe he’s a Price Chopper guy. Not sure. Not one ride on his golf cart this year. Maybe later this week. Maybe next. Maybe never. I’m sure he’s been out and about driving around like Joe Friday in a long-lost scene from “Dragnet.” Maybe he’s been driving around and looking for fights like Clint Eastwood’s character Philo Beddoe in “Every Which Way but Loose.” Not sure who would play his counterpart Clyde, the orangutan who rode shotgun in Beddoe’s pickup. Plenty of characters in the area to play that part.

For today, no idea what to expect weather-wise. Betting $50 to win and place on Cantrell Hill (2nd), and a $20 double with Cantrell Hill and Morning Matcha (3rd).

A Total bets: $120

A Sunday’s results: Made a nice closing charge with Sassy Melissa in the third, but missed by a neck in what would’ve been a nice score on a $20 win ticket. In the fifth, Tap N Glow pulled the old chase and flatten routine, which meant we were a lock to hit the rest of the dead pick three. Which we did. Lost $15, and the $10 exacta box in the ninth with Goin Good and Bye Bye exactly that. We waved goodbye to that chance as neither hit the first two spots.

A Losses: $55

A Bankroll: $1,881.10