Palace on a Lake finished a respectable 4th place yesterday in the 6th race at Delaware Park. And yes, there were more than 4 horses.

She of course managed to lose all our wagers in ironic fashion by finishing one spot out of the money, but it was an overall net gain for the good guys since she did win some prize money, enough to keep her in oats for a while, especially since she’s anorexic.

The race itself was an overall good experience. She broke well. Unfortunately, all the early speed was surrounding her right out of the gate. By the time Palace made it to the first turn she was getting squeezed from both sides (don’t think thoughts like that about our horse). She abruptly slowed her pace for a split second and fell back in the pack, which cost her valuable ground. The jockey quickly repositioned and she found her form again. Once she saw a little daylight she turned on the afterburners and closed impressively. She ran down the leaders rather easily but just ran out of time.

I’m still a little shaken by how much her first race mimicked me in the bedroom.

Our representative at Westpoint Thoroughbreds called me not long after the race. His rager might as well have shot through the receiver and smacked me in the forehead. They are convinced if we hadn’t gotten a little unlucky on the first turn or if the race was 6 or 7 furlongs — instead of just 5 — Palace would have won.

The trainer cannot wait to get Palace back on the track. He plans to put her in a race at Philadelphia Park in about 3 weeks. They’re aiming for something longer so her closing speed has time to work to our advantage. We’ll keep everyone updated on the exact date and time. There’s a good chance Team C&T will be in for a long weekend of cheesesteaks, Phillies games, Rocky jogs, and racetrack action in the near future.

By the way, thanks to all you degenerates out there who love Palace or NextRound or both. You successfully bet her down from 10 to 1 to 2 to 1. She started the race as the favorite. Not too shabby for a filly who doesn’t eat on her first trip to the track. I’m just excited to find out I’m not the only dude in America comfortable betting horses while sitting at work on a Tuesday.

To close, here’s the video of Palace prior to the race. She settled down quite nicely after this…

• Palace on a Lake Begins Her Illustrious Career
• Booth Gets a Job
• When Acting Cool & Tough Goes Bad
• Booth Wakes Up Early, Shock to System
• Booth Goes on an Interview

“Happily Hungover” is Booth’s column chronicling the life and times of NextRound’s Marketing Director/Resident Couch Dweller.

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