‘The Cop’ Walks a Beat With Newspaper Handicappers

As long as the “The Cop” keeps working nights as a security guard at huge housing developments in the north end of the San Fernando Valley, he will continue to sleep through the mornings and drive to the Southland tracks in the afternoons. And since he is not a good handicapper, he takes his betting selections from the local newspapers, the Los Angeles Times’ “Consensus” box in particular.

The Cop believes that because the newspaper handicappers get paid to pick the horses, they should end up with more winners than does the betting public. He has found, however, that handicappers mostly run hot and cold, averaging only 28.2% in wins over the years, and the trick is to latch onto one when he is going good and coming up with lots of winners.

The Cop, therefore, generally takes a running average of the handicapper’s wins for his last five days and then uses the selections of the one with the best average. But instead of betting $2 a race, The Cop begins with $2 and wagers double the sum of all previous bets, win or lose, for four straight races: $2-4-12-36.

For the day’s nine races, The Cop needs a total of $74. And he tells his cronies in the Grandstand at Hollywood Park that if he loses, he’ll generally make up more than his losses on days when he wins.

On June 22 at Hollywood Park, The Cop started to bet Bob Mieszerski’s selections from the “Hollywood Park Consensus” box. He bet $2 in the first race of the day on Superbe King, who finished sixth, and followed it up with a $4 wager on Dr. Hart in the second. Dr. Hart ended up third.

Behind $6, The Cop bet $12 on Sonata Slew in the third race, 1 1/8 miles on the turf for fillies and mares 4 years old and up. Sonata Slew started off sixth in a seven-horse field, moved up to fifth at the quarter pole and started to move going around the far turn.

She just managed to take over first by a nose at the finish. On a $5.40 mutuel, The Cop received $32.40, showing a profit of $20.40 on the race and a gain of $14.40 for the first three races.

In the fourth race, The Cop wagered $36 on Mieszerski’s choice of Quick Step Slewpy, who was running seven furlongs against five other fillies and mares 3 years old and up. Breaking from the outside post position, Quick Step Slewpy settled into second behind the leader, who faded entering the stretch. In the stretch, Quick Step Slewpy took a half-length lead and then drew away from the other nags to win by 3 1/2 lengths.

The Cop won $93.60 on the race, as Quick Step Slewpy paid $7.20 and returned $129.60. After the fourth race, The Cop was ahead $108 for the day, which was cut to $106 when Mieszerski’s choice of Ask the Man ran fourth in the next race. But then Midnight Interlude won by 2 3/4 lengths in the sixth and paid $7.80. The Cop won $11.60 on the race and found himself ahead $117.60.

Continuing with the system, The Cop bet $12 on the seventh race, putting his money down on Tight Spot, which was going off a $2.60-$1 favorite. Tight Spot immediately went for the lead in the 1 1/16-mile race on the turf for 3-year-olds and drew out by 1 1/2 lengths entering the stretch. As the other horses tired, Tight Spot continued to run strongly, winning by two lengths.

With Tight Spot paying $7.20, The Cop received $43.20, adding $31.20 to his gains and showing a profit of $148.80 for the day. But since the second favorite, Black Jack Road, in the eighth couldn’t manage better than fourth, The Cop blew $36 and cut his winnings to $112.80.

In the ninth race, Mieszerski had chosen Manzanita, which won easily by 2 3/4 lengths over 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares 4 years old and up. As the favorite, the nag paid $6.20 and gave The Cop a $4.20 gain for his $2 wagered. For the nine races, The Cop had won $117.

Another winning session for The Cop turned out to be June 28, when Pat Ray of The Times came up with five winners. Wildly Irish, a favorite, lost the first race, but Speaking Part romped home a winner in the second race by three-quarters of a length. Speaking Part, a long shot, paid $32.40, and The Cop received $64.80, giving him a two-race profit of $58.80.

Ray had picked Intrepidness in the third, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds. The horse took the lead entering the stretch and continued on to a two-length victory, paying a $10.40 mutuel. For his $12 wager, The Cop received $62.40, adding $50.40 to his winnings.

Quite Regal gave The Cop his third consecutive win in the fourth, when the horse took the lead at the three-quarter mark of a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares 3 years old and up. Quite Regal opened up four lengths in the stretch and extended her margin to 6 1/2 lengths at the finish. The win was worth a profit of $46.80, and The Cop was up $156 for the day.

After a loss in the fifth race, Ray’s choice of Free Love easily won the sixth. Orrefor lost the seventh race, leaving The Cop ahead $148.80. In the eighth, Ray’s pick, Flirty, running as an entry with Past Remembered, was backed down as the $1.30-$1 favorite. She went wire to wire in an eight-horse field, won by a neck over Past Remembered and paid $4.60 to win.

The Cop received $82.80 for his $36 wagered and pocketed $46.80 on the race. After losing $2 on a long shot, Excellentperformer, in the ninth, The Cop left the track with total winnings of $193.60.

The Cop compares his system to his nighttime work as a security guard.

“There’s the darkness as one strolls the grounds among the unfinished houses, and there’s the darkness when one decides on which handicapper to use,” he said. “However, when work is over, the dawn brings the light. And after one ends up with a profit at the track, it seems that the light has always been there. It’s just a matter of finding it.”