Off Track Wagering – The Throw Back

[Shame About Ray]

The Mitchell and Ness company excels in nostalgia, like in the throwback jerseys that are all the rage, but horse betting fanatics that like to take in off track betting action in Northern California have a little ‘throw back’ thing going on starting next week with the Fair Circuit.

Taking a small page from the action in the bushes of France where 3 and 4-day meetings are the norm, the Fair Circuit is made up of eight stops from the end of June to the middle of October and present discovering horse bettors venues where they can put past knowledge to the test.



Pleasanton, yes it is as nice as the name suggests, kicks off the mini-circuit on June 25. From there it’s Vallejo, Santa Rosa, San Mateo, Ferndale, Sacramento, Stockton and finally Fresno.

I’ve been to every stop except Ferndale and each track offers unique betting opportunities for horse bettors that know what has transpired during the prior meetings.

This year, there are certain barns to look to at Pleasanton that may pay big dividends. Jerry Hollendorfer will be prominent once again but there are some training names that horse bettors had better circle.

Numbers are numbers but horse bettors that zig when others zag can get paid.

Last year Steve Specht won with half of his 12 starters and only one of those 12 was out of the money. Nice.

Gil Matos was 5 for 12 at this stop in 2007 but a small barn that should be followed again is the stable of Candice Coffee. Three horses were saddled for last year’s meet; one ran second and the other two one.

These small but potent barns surface at some of the other stands also.

At Vallejo last year Tony Diaz and Steve Miyadi sent out 10 horses combined and 4 came back with happy endings.

Coffee again was tough at Vallejo with again, 2 winners from 3 starters and long-time horsemen Jedd Josephson put up those exact stats.

Wine country and Santa Rosa did not put the stop on the Coffee machine last year as she saddled 11 horses and 4 won. Mickey Martin led the league last year north of the City when 12 of his 35 runners cashed but SoCal interloper Brian Koriner made the locals whine when he saddled 4 at the meet last year and 3 won with a third.

Back at Mateo was next and it was more of the usual suspects with Art Sherman, Miyadi and Hollendorfer leading the league but horse players that used Greg Gilchrist and Andy Mathis’s runners were rewarded when that pair went 6 for 10 for the meet combined.

The Ferndale action is usually a locally based colony with the cheaper horses but things started to heat up for 2 smallish barns when they got back to the state capital at Sacramento. Trainers Gordon Wells and Kent Molinaro sent out 9 horses during the stand last season, 6 came back to get their picture taken.

Mickey Martin won the last 2 stops as top trainer but by the time they got to Fresno Coffee again had a solid meet with a 4 for 17 slate and three little barns had dream meetings.

Bob Hess, James Barnes and Duane Offield sent out 8 horses at Fresno as the former lost with only 2 starters and the latter pair won with both of their runners.

The key angle horse bettors should be aware of on the NoCal Fair Circuit is the race over the track factor. Use that angle and some of these lesser-known trainers, and try to get a life changer.

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