The Stronach 5, a multi-race wager offered each Friday combining events across multiple tracks, isn’t normally on Bill Starkey’s radar. But the south Florida resident turned a $50 ticket into a $33,000 payoff back on Dec. 20 when playing to his strengths.
“The only reason I liked the sequence was because Golden Gate was not a part of it -- which I don’t really follow at all -- and Gulfstream was three of the legs,” Starkey said, “and I follow that religiously.”
This latest “Big Hit” came via a Pick 5 that requires a $1 minimum bet and a low 12% takeout across The Stronach Group’s circuits, which also include tracks such as Santa Anita Park and Laurel Park.
After taxes, Starkey collected $25,117, combining a pair of wins at Laurel with his Gulfstream knowledge.
“I went five deep in both of those legs,” he said of the legs at Laurel, “and basically took the five logicals.”
But as the focus shifted back to Gulfstream in the second leg of the Stronach 5, Starkey faced a large turf race.
“My methodology on those big fields is you either have to play a ton of them or narrow it down to one, maybe two logicals,” he said.
The two choices ended up being No. 4 Alien Invasion (2.8-1) and No. 12 Tropicat (10.2-1).
“I really liked the No. 4 with Irad Ortiz. I knew he’d be on the lead and had a huge jockey change,” Starkey said. “And I liked the No. 12 because Ralph Nicks has been absolutely on fire at the Gulfstream meet. (Emisael) Jaramillo got back up and I really liked about six or seven horses in the race, but I narrowed it down to the No. 4 because he’d be on the lead and the No. 12 because I thought he’d be mid-flight.”
Starkey watched as Tropicat made a move near the top of the stretch at Gulfstream, caught, and then surpassed the leaders to score a half-length victory. He paid $22.40 in the win pool.
The sequence shifted back to Laurel, where Starkey was again five deep. Birdies Honor won the $8,000 claiming race, and Starkey had that runner covered on his ticket. It took singles in the fourth and fifth legs to get him home a winner.
It was the fourth leg where Starkey had his biggest lean of the day, and he was trying to beat a huge favorite. Chad Brown entered Juddmonte farm’s Toledo in the ninth at Gulfstream, but Starkey had a longshot in mind. He based his entire day on the horse, No. 1 Ete Indien.
“I knew that Toledo for Chad Brown was going to be 1-9 or 1-5. He just missed in his debut to Americanus, came back and jogged in an Aqueduct race, ships down for Chad. He goes off 2-5, but I really liked the rail horse,” said Starkey.
“I had been at the racetrack to see the rail horse (Ete Indien) run, and saw him come from out of the clouds and just jogged in a five furlong turf race. He shipped over to Keeneland and went immediately into a Grade 3 in the Bourbon. He drew the No. 13 post and had absolutely no opportunity to get into the race. He still only got beat by five lengths and actually ran a fantastic race.”
Ete Indian left the gate as a 14-1 shot.
“My rationale was (trainer Patrick) Biancone thinks he has a nice horse. He’s a 2-year old with only two starts under his belt,” Starkey said. “He says, ‘You know what, if I’m going to take a shot with this horse on the dirt, I’m gonna do it here on my home track here in Florida.’
“Panici won with him in the debut so he puts Panici back up. I love that he blew him out three furlongs in 34 and change on the dirt at Palm Meadows. I figured, I’m gonna take a shot with this horse.”
Ete Indian went gate to wire, and Starkey made sure that his opinion paid him handsomely. The horse paid $30.00 in the win pool.
“I played $50 win and place. I played a $50 double which paid $300. So I got back about $7,000 there,” he said. “I didn’t have to play a ton of money there, but if you’re right, you’ll make some serious money.”
He shared a bit of advice that appears to be a trend in this series of speaking to big winners.
“I’m a staunch supporter of betting a price horse against an absolutely overwhelming favorite,” Starkey said. “If you really have an opinion there and you really like that, it’s where you’re going to get paid. You’re going to blow up the horizontals. Everyone was on the Chad horse and I blew up the horizontals.”
Although Starkey had already profited from his longshot winner, he was still one leg away from cashing his Pick 5, and he relied next on a horse ridden by Rajiv Maragh.
“I was fortunate here in the sense that the race got washed off the turf and there were a couple of scratches,” he said. “I went to Rajiv for a couple of reasons. Angel Quiroz is a capable trainer down here in Florida. He’s usually a 20-25% trainer. But quite frankly, I really thought the horse was a dirt horse. He’s a Colonel John out of a Distorted Humor mare, and I don’t really see turf in there at all. The fact that it got washed off to the dirt was something that I really liked. So I played Rajiv getting back up on this horse.”
Garota won seemingly effortlessly, just as Ete Indien had in the previous race.
“She wired the field by six lengths, so I didn’t have to sweat out the last two legs at all, which is really amazing when you think about it,” Starkey said.
He looks back on the day and knows it just happened to be his turn for the big hit.
“You have streaks, and the key here is to not give $25,000 back through the window,” Starkey said. “That whole day was huge for me. That wasn’t the only ticket I cashed. I loved that No. 1 horse (Ete Indien). I hit the 1-8 double, which paid $350. I hit that for a nice ticket. I hit the late pick-3 at Gulfstream. I didn’t even play the late pick 4 or late pick 5. It was just a hell of a day.”
