Giacomo is the horse I remember when Kentucky Derby time rolls around each year, before I think of Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Secretariat.  One of the reasons is it was my selection in that years edition of the KD.  Who wouldn’t want to boast about picking a horse like Giacomo at odds a little longer than Rip Van Winkles beard.  But it’s really for another reason, it’s an opportunity to remember my recently passed friend Larry Bloch.  Larry was one of my earliest customers back in New York when I started my business of making Speed Figures and theorizing about form cycles.  Larry was a good sized horse player who didn’t waste his time on obvious chalk.  He took plenty of  lumps but made great wagers when the odds were right and over the long run was a huge winner.  I know this because Larry took down nearly $1 Million in that years edition of the Kentucky Derby.  He used my two best horses who finished 1st and 4th.   The night before, I sent him an e-mail telling him that these were my two horses and to consider using them in a significant way.     Larry later went on to say to me, ” that he was really pleased to see that I agreed with his thinking!”  We often agreed.  But even if I did give him the two horse (he did do his own handicapping), he did appreciate the confirmation from me…

But that is still not why he won the jackpot at the KD, he won the jackpot t because he put together a terrific Trifecta and Exacta in the last race at Belmont –which went off about an hour before the KD that year — and took down a 20 dime score.  This game him the extra juice to make his wager in the KD which if I recall correctly was about $5,000.00.   Larry bet big to win big and he bet big priced horses whenever possible and he knew what he was doing!  There is great wisdom in this combination.

I know Larry is up there, he was a very good man with a big heart and beloved by his friends.