Tournament time

A few days ago I anted up $125 to the NTRA to join the NHC Tour, which consists of 90 handicapping tournaments, including 20 online, that offer prize money and the chance to qualify for the 2009 NTRA/Daily Racing Form National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas, all expenses paid. The chances of doing that are similar to a home-game player making it to the World Series of Poker from a $40 satellite online, but I figured the entry fee was cheap and I could write it off on my taxes as a work-related expense. Then I factored in the aggravation I could blog about, and no writer can turn down such good material. There's nothing more entertaining than detailing your excruciating bad beats. And if you like action, cheap thrills and eyestrain, there's still time to sign up on the NTRA Web site.

I spent most of Friday afternoon poring over the Saturday competition's 10 races -- five from Gulfstream Park and five from Santa Anita -- and, as expected, I found most of them confusing. Here are my picks, on which I will bet a mythical $2 to win and $2 to place with faint hopes of earning one of three qualifying spots for the Vegas event next January.

4th race (Sacred Icon); 5th race (Sway); 7th race (Bearish); 8th race (Bordeaux Bandit) and 10th race (Le Grand Chief) at Gulfstream;
7th race (Colonel John); 8th race (War Monger); 9th race (Monterey Jazz); 10th race (Loh Collado) and 11th race (Option) at Santa Anita.
I'll be putting real money on my best bet of the day, War Monger, unless he's 6-5 or lower, in the Grade I Kilroe Mile Handicap. He has the potential to be a Breeders' Cup Mile contender, and trainer Bill Mott uncharacteristically has been talking him up.