I've had my share of very hot and very cold days at the fronton,
but I've never felt like I was "in the zone".....or
out of it, for that matter. Now, back in the 70s, I definitely
had the "in the zone" feeling on many occasions, particularly
at Roosevelt Raceway. It was like I could look at the program
and visualize how the race would unfold. I never picked nine winners
in nine races at Roosevelt (or anywhere else for that matter),
but I had eight out of nine there on about half a dozen occasions,
and seven out of nine many times.
I only went to Vernon Downs once, in the 80s, with a group of
about 50 people from a convention I attended nearby. I had that
feeling that night, too, and bagged eight winners in nine races.
The only race I lost was the ninth, and frankly, that was the
only race that didn't look as plain as day to me while I was handicapping
it. I thought about not betting that race, but I had to take a
shot at a perfect nine for nine night. Didn't happen.
On most of those successful nights at the track, I felt especially
sharp. Little things in the past performances would jump off the
page at me....it was as if I didn't even have to really concentrate.
I suppose it helped that I went to the track pretty often in those
days, so my mind was used to absorbing and sifting through all
the info....but I certainly did not feel totally sharp all the
time....sometimes it felt like work to go through the past performances....but
other times it seemed like I just needed to skim over them and
the choices were like child's play. (It would sure be nice to
have that feeling in about ten days.....LOL!!)
