[Ted Craven]

Congratulations Bud! That is a very consistent hit rate for the 20 race cycle (.750), of which you should be proud. I know you protested that the Place bets elevated your score by a fair percentage, but I think that's the whole point we wanted to emphacize for this Contest: that taking a bit here, a bit there keeps you at least close to breakeven or modestly positive and sets you up for a good cycle when the inevitable couple of good longshots come in each 20 races (and the long prices can occur in both the Win and Place pools).

And speaking of longshots - congratulations to Gfnut for that pair of double digit longshots at Hollywood on the final day Saturday. He stayed close enough to the breakeven point so that when those money horses fell into the normal orbit of his handicapping procedure - they propelled him to the top of the bankroll column - only the lower hit rate (.400) prevented him from taking top prize.

I believe that that is a completely normal expectation - if we can dispassionately include horses whose outer appearance is dodgy yet whose energy disbursement patterns - on our numbers - reveal hidden truths.

For myself, I am happy (enough) with my performance in June, though I will continue to seek the happier balance between a higher hit rate (> .500) and picking up a few more longer priced horses in my 20 race cycle - I should have had at least a couple more of those, at any number of tracks!

When the June Contest prize winners finally respond with their prize choices, we'll finalize the July prize list and post it.

Good luck and skill to everyone in July!

Ted