Horseplayers: Del Mar Destiny

By Alan Carasso
   After taking some time off for the Sochi Olympics, Esquire TV’s ‘Horseplayers’ was back with a new episode Tuesday evening entitled ‘Del Mar Destiny.’ While Team Rotondo was not in attendance ‘where the surf meets the turf,’ the rest of the cast were on hand for a handicapping challenge during the second weekend of the meet. Of those, Christian Hellmers, Michael Beychok, John Conte and Kevin ‘Cowboy’ Cox were active participants in the tournament, which cost $6,000 to enter. Matt Bernier, the youngest of the cast, elected not to participate, citing his inability to come up with the entry fee. 
    The cast is apparently on track for the opening day of the meet–though the tournament was a week and a half later–and we are introduced to Molly McGill, a ‘racing insider’ who educates Bernier in how to select a horse off its looks. She lands on the Steve Miyadi-trained Hey Cowboy, who she almost unnecessarily cheers for at every stage of the race, but does cash a $10 ticket on the 11-1 chance, prompting her to poke fun at Bernier asking, ‘Where did your horse finish?’ (Bernier’s horse was second in a photo). Bernier attempted to credit her for making a successful selection before McGill hints that part of the reason she bet the filly was because she ‘was cute.’ 
    Cox, who we met in Episode 3 and who won the Belmont handicapping tournament, lands the first, and only truly significant blow of any of the cast, in the fourth race on opening day of the contest. In a five-horse field lined up for the Fleet Treat S., Cox made three $100 show bets and took a stand against an odds-on favorite, who was the subject of bridge jumpers. It was an excellent bit of strategizing. In a worst-case scenario, the chalk hits the board and he breaks even or incurs a minor loss. But the best-case scenario came through, as each of his horses ran in the money, with the 7-10 favorite losing third on the wire, triggering a wild celebration. It was actually nice to see a demonstrative gambler. 
    Hellmers went ‘all-in’ in the seventh race on day one, investing $4,500 to win–a ‘year’s rent for me,’ said Bernier–on a horse who was 3-1 in the paddock. Hellmers admitted that the horse was overbet and was hoping it would drift up and ultimately he made the wager (at 33-10, not the 7-2 as displayed). Hellmers’ strategy, at least in this particular setting, was to pinpoint a play and swing for the fences, even though he admitted to not liking much in the two-day contest. Hellmers (and Conte) bemoaned front-running tactics and his selection finished well down the field, ending his tournament. Bernier had a small bet on the 19-1 winner of the same race, a score which would have catapulted him past many tournament players. 
    Cox brought the same cockiness to this episode as he did last time, calling Hellmers’ approach into question, though in the next breath he admitted that there are ‘different strokes for different folks.’ So, it seemed a bit like he was talking out of both sides of his mouth, and it appears there is a fair amount of dislike between the two. 
Beychok and Conte had a thorny exchange at one point, with the hard-nosed New Yorker calling Beychok, a NHC winner, a ‘mush.’ Now, I didn’t know what this meant, and I have since learned that a ‘mush’ is defined as a ‘bettor who is a sure loser.’ Beychok retorted with his ‘million reasons’ he should not be labeled as such. That round went to the N’awlins native. 
    The final betting ‘score’ of the contest came in the eighth race on day two of the contest, the GI Bing Crosby S., in which Comma to the Top, no better than the third choice in the win pools, was taking a disproportionate amount of money in the show pools. This was pointed out to Cox, who promptly sprinted to the windows and bet each of the other five runners to show. Sure enough, Comma to the Top faded into fifth to the glee of the competitors, though the resulting show payoffs were modest in comparison to the prior day. Cox finished the tournament in seventh place, having already booked his NHC spot last time at Belmont. 
    Near the end of the episode, Bernier’s fellow gamblers sort of poked fun at him for not converting his big opinion into a huge payday. C’mon, guys, the kid can’t even afford $350 a month for rent. 
Team Rotondo remained mostly in the shadows for this episode, as Rotondo Sr. and Jr. and cohort Lee Davis made their annual trip to Saratoga. Peter Sr. showed off an abysmal golf swing (hope the back was OK) and they did manage to cash one ticket while playing the races from the comfort of their living room. By the way, do the three of them really drive around in a VW Beetle? 
    Horseplayers returns on a new night next Wednesday, March 5, at 10 p.m. ET.