Ace Puts His Faith, Money on Show, Place, Win

As the eight horses raced around the far turn at Hollywood Park in the first race on June 7, “Ace” watched his horse, Charm Step, move up from third as the field entered the stretch. Slowly Charm Step gained on the second-place horse, which finally fell back to third, and closed in on the leader, Hidden Bounty, with every passing furlong. A few yards from the finish, Charm Step caught Hidden Bounty and jumped in front by a head at the wire.

Sitting in the Pavilion near the first turn, Ace was the only one among his cronies who had the nag, which paid $10.20, $5.40 and $3.20 across the board. He took a small pad and pencil from his shirt pocket, added up the figures and discovered he was ahead $18.60.

Ace was betting the system he used most often--$2 to win, $4 to place and $6 to show on either “the chalk” (favorite) in every race or on the selections of a newspaper handicapper.

On June 7, Ace chose Bob Mieszerski of the Los Angeles Times, who had the most wins of any handicapper in the Hollywood Park Consensus box published in the newspaper’s Sports Section.

After the second race, when Mieszerski’s pick, Yankee Legend, ran 11th in a 12-horse field, Ace thought he may have made a mistake in choosing Mieszerski. He again pulled out his pad and pencil, subtracted the $12 he had lost from his winnings and found he was ahead only $6.60.

Ace bet Indian Wind in the third race, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up, and watched his nag start out fourth in a six-horse field. Indian Wind moved up to third in the stretch and finished second behind On Easy Street.

As Ace again began to doubt Mieszerski, the inquiry sign went up on the totalizator board.

Afterward, On Easy Street was disqualified by the stewards and placed third for interference in the stretch. Ace, of course, then knew that he was making the right move with Mieszerski.

Indian Wind turned out to be the winner and paid $5.40, $3.80 and $3.40 across the board. For his $12, Ace collected $23.20, profiting by $11.20, which, added to the $6.60, put him ahead $17.80 after three races.

In the fourth, another six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up, Ace bet on Vince’s Dancer, which broke from the No. 3 post position.

The nag started in third, moved up to second at the quarter-mile pole, and took the lead at the half-mile position. In the stretch, Vince’s Dancer increased its winning margin by 1 1/2 lengths and pulled away at the finish to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Ace collected $23.40, subtracted his $12 bet, and added $11.40 to his winnings. After the fourth race, Ace had a $29.20 profit.

In the mornings, Ace is a used-car buyer who turns over the vehicles to his partner. His partner sells them quickly for a small profit to dealers, and, the cars that the dealers don’t buy, are fixed up, if needed, and sold to the public from a small lot in West Los Angeles.

But Ace didn’t get his nickname because he is a good buyer of used cars. What his friends say is that Ace one day found himself in a $100-$200 five-card draw game in one of the Gardena poker palaces.

In a once-in-a-lifetime hand, Ace drew the only royal flush of his life and won a huge pot from another player who had a straight flush to the king. And because his “ace” beat the other player, he has been known as Ace ever since.

After Vince’s Dancer won the fourth race, Ace bet Reassured in the fifth. A small field of five horses went to the post for the six-furlongs that featured only 3-year-old fillies. Reassured won by 2 3/4 lengths. Ace picked up $20.20 and increased his winning total $8.20 to $37.40.

In the sixth race, although Force and Spirit ran second, Ace still managed to come up with a $2.80 profit, putting him $40.20 ahead.

The seventh race was seven furlongs for 4-year-olds and up. Ace’s horse, Burn Annie, went to the front by a head in the stretch and ended up winning by a length, paying backers $6.20, $3.20 and $2.80 across the board.

Ace was ahead $49.20 when he bet on Cee’s Song, which finished second in the 1 1/16-mile eighth race for 4-year-olds and up. That bet put Ace ahead $54.80.

In the ninth race, Crystal Pirate ran fifth. Since Ace lost $12, he ended up with a $42.80 profit for the day.

Another good session for Ace was on May 12 when he decided to bet the top picks as listed in the Racing Form column of the Hollywood Park Consensus box.

He started off the day when Dr. Brent raced to a two-length victory in a six-furlong sprint and paid $4.80, $3.60 and $2.80 across the board.

Ace also won the fourth race with Lucky Lucky You, which resulted in mutuels of $4.80, $2.60 and $2.20. He then followed it up with a $5, $3.60 and $2.20 payoff when Hollywood Hays won the fifth race.

His fourth win of the day was in the ninth race, when Taffta Shawl, an odds-on favorite, won and rewarded backers with $3.80, $3, $3.

The Racing Form column also had four seconds, all of which produced profits: Emigrant Gap, $5.20 and $4.20, second race; Cascading Gold, $2.60 and $2.40, third; Oh Sweet Thing, $3.80 and $2.40, sixth, and Swing Shift, $3 and $2.40, seventh.

Nijinsky’s Lover, the public’s lukewarm favorite in the eighth race, ran fifth for Ace’s only loss of the day.

After the ninth race, Ace pocketed his $30 in winnings and left the track. What he likes about his system is its insurance clause.

Although favorites generally win 33% of their races and the top picks of newspaper handicappers hit 28%, Ace believes that these top choices run in the money about 70%. So if his smallest bet is on the win end, and he bets more to place, and even more to show, then his chances of coming out with a profit increase substantially.