Tough day at the races for handicappers

The Times has been charting seven handicappers for the last month in the hopes of finding the person who could give you the best edge in picking winners in the Breeders’ Cup.

Is there an eighth out there?

Looking just at the Breeders’ Cup races Friday, four of them had no winners and three had only one. That’s three for 42. That’s .071.

The biggest winner was Art Wilson of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He had Life is Sweet in the Ladies Classic, good for $18.20. It does mean if you bet $2 on all his first picks over six races you won money.

Bob Ike of LANG and Brad Free of the Daily Racing Forum had Midday in the Filly and Mare Turf race. Ike made it his best bet. It was worth $6.60.

The less fortunate were really unfortunate. Liam Durbin of The Times had two seconds, one seventh- and three eighth-place finishes. Toby Turrell, who sells his predictions at the track and online, had two seconds, one third and three eighths. Jerry Antonucci of LANG had one second, two thirds and one fifth, seventh and ninth. And Terry Turrell, also of LANG, had three seconds, two sixths and an eighth.

Perhaps one of the better days belonged to a non-professional handicapper, Times page 2 columnist T.J. Simers, who had two winners. He had Man of Iron in the Marathon for $14.80 and Informed Decision in the Filly and Mare Sprint for $8.80. Wonder if his picks today will affect the odds board?

-- John Cherwa