Home Sweet Home
Kentucky racing is my jam, to steal Amy Kearns’ favorite saying.
And there’s something about being back on our home turf that feels right.
We did well at Saratoga through the numbers we have published and, more importantly, personally in our own gambling. We look at our own ROI the simplest way possible: what did we deposit into the ADWs, and what did we get back?
From July 3 through September 7, 2026, we deposited $7,461.00.
Our winnings for that same period were $17,205.58.
That’s our reality. Our numbers. Our books.
And that’s something sorely lacking in this industry: transparency.
Almost nonexistent.
Very few players actually open their books and show what they are doing. We want to show that we walk the talk, because as we all know, bullshit does not pay the bills.
We showed a profit.
Now, inevitably, somebody will start screaming about ROI.
ROI is a tricky animal in this game.
Take a trainer with a first-time starter angle. Somebody publishes an ROI based on that particular situation. Fine. But for a player to actually achieve that ROI, they would have to wager on every single occurrence of that situation.
Who does that?
Nobody.
Yet people scream about ROI as though it is some universal measuring stick for a horseplayer's ability. That's typical of this industry: people who don't understand statistics, don't understand ROI, and don't understand what the numbers actually mean, yelling the loudest about them.
Every weekend you see these gigantic tickets posted—$1,500, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 Pick 5 tickets—and right underneath them are the asshats saying, “Great ticket structure!”
Great ticket structure?
On a $3,800 ticket that probably gets knocked out in the second or third race?
That's not handicapping.
That's like going to the shooting range with a double-barreled shotgun and firing at a target 15 feet away.
With that kind of bankroll, you better hit something.
It's like falling out of a boat and hitting water.
And everybody stands around:
“Wow.”
The truth is, a lot of these people aren't showing you their horseplaying ability.
They're showing you their bankroll.
There's a difference.
How many of you have ever been down to your last $20 and made it work at the track?
That's horseplaying.
I'll give you an example.
December of 1999.
I was playing in the press box at Santa Anita. The Hollywood card.
I had maxed out my ATM.
Remember when the daily limit was only $300?
I had $20 left.
I turned that $20 into $1,500.
That night I walked up to the box office at the Great Western Forum, took Chappy and five buddies, to the Bon Jovi concert.
That's when you know you've arrived as a player.
When you can make something out of nothing.
Not when you start with a $3,800 Pick 5 ticket and hit for $1,500.
That's not what makes this game great.
What makes this game great is figuring it out.
Finding an edge.
Grinding.
Getting knocked down and coming back.
Taking what you know and making it work.
July and August were tough.
Saratoga was tough.
Ellis was tough.
Colonial was tough.
We've covered what Saratoga was like, and it wasn't easy.
But we showed a profit in our own gambling, using our work, using our sheet, using the information we put together.
And you can do that too.
I've seen it all. I've heard it all.
I get guys who tell me, “I never win.”
Well, with that attitude, you never will.
You have to believe you can figure this game out. You have to put in the work. You have to find what works for you.
Because that's the beauty of horse racing.
There isn't one way.
There isn't one magic number.
There isn't one ROI.
There isn't one guru.
And there sure as hell isn't one $4,000 Pick 5 ticket that makes somebody a great horseplayer.
Find your game.
Find your strengths.
Find your home turf.
For us, it's Kentucky.
Home sweet home.
There is no place like it.
We're on our home turf now.
Find yours.
And go for it.
