NHC Results

Well, it's all over.
I didn't finish in the money.... but I have a fun story to tell.....over the next few days here in the blog, as I recover.

Officially I finished in 91st place, with $108.60.
The winner had $234.80, and 30th place $151.40.

I actually would have finished in 31st place had I not switched my last pick at the last minute, ignoring my strong intuitive feeling on the top ARV pick for contest strategy reasons - but they only pay prize money to 30th place, so it made no difference.
(I did bet cash on the ARV pick though - nice 14-1 win!)

Anyway, it was fun!
And it does validate with me more and more my use of intuition, both structured methods like ARV and just listening to guidance on my own.
I do sort of wish I had gotten the PRECOG10 group more involved, and been able to use my logical handicapping more as a result - I believe I would have done better had I done so.

 But this IS the right way to go!
YES!

(...off to the awards banquet to relax...)

Day 1 Results

Had no winners and 5 seconds. My total is $33.80, good for 145th place.

Many of the races were thrilling, being decided right at the wire.
Having so many seconds at nice odds justifies my approach.
It means tomorrow I could have 5 or more winners!!

Preparation last night and this morning was very intense - so much so that I really had to focus to let go of the tension.
I did though, and had fun.

My seat is next to Scott Carson of publichandicapper.com - a fun guy to be with.
His very first pick scored at 20-1! He is in 38th place.
Charley Davis of HANA is in 13th!

Add if they can do it, I can do it.
Why not?

I have decided for tomorrow to focus primarily on my ARV selections.
There just isn't time to ARV and logically handicap both before tomorrow.
Plus ARV often comes up with longshots I would never consider - like my last optional play today, a 116-1 shot who actually got within 2 lengths of the lead in the stretch before tiring.

And most of all, I can really listen to my guidance, which was really hard to do with all the pressure I put on myself to do it all before starting time this morning.
I do feel like the pressure is off now, I have nowhere to go but up ;-)

Off to do some judging!

Final Preparations

It's the day before....

Flight went fine, though 2 hours late.
Weather here in LV fantastic.

Got checked in, went to orientation, just came from cocktail party.
Only person I knew was Charley Davis of the Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA), whom I hung out with at their Keeneland Day At The Races last April - good guy.

I still got some work to do for tomorrow, handicapping and ARV judging both, so gotta go.

I believe I am there as far as my mental state goes.
I am having fun, this is a great place and great people, and I know I will be doing my best, and listening to guidance when the opportunity arises.

It appears there is little or no net access during the contest, so I probably won't be updating the blog until after Friday's raeces are done.
If I remember I will tweet as the day goes on, when there's time:
@tomath2o

Getting There

Today was an experience ;-)
Nearly 6 hour drive for the 16 miles from my house to the airport - snow gridlock.
Idea was to spend the night here at the Dulles airport hotel, so I wouldn't have to worry about driving here at 5 am - hah!

Well anyway, that's over with, and even though the flight is already delayed 2 hours (currently scheduled for 10:35 am EST), I am going to have fun anyway!

I did get all 30 races ARVed Tuesday, though only 4 are judged and logically handicapped so far, had to wait on PP data and field sizes to be published.

So, am just gonna take it as it comes, and intend to rely fully on listening to guidance.

Oh, and last night and this morning (Wed that is) I did have some intestinal pain and such that felt like anoter kidney stone coming on - but I cured myself of that ;-)
My "I am a strong and beautiful being" mantra, deep breathing, Abraham-Hicks meditation CD, and some painkillers ;-) combined all did the trick - I feel fine now!

.. though quite sleepy ;-)

Gnight to all.

ARVing and Handicapping in progress

To date I have done 17 ARV sessions, judged and handicapped 2.

I went through most of Friday's races, just using intuition to decide which races to make my optional ones. I have picked 4 of he 7 so far. If any of them turns out to be a mandatory race, I will pick another.

So there is a lot of work left to do.
I want this to come easily and naturally, and above all to stay focused on enjoying myself.

I did do some more work on my vibration since my last post.
I feel better about it all each time I do that.
I listen to the Abraham-Hicks meditation CD every day too, and that feels good.

I did begin to feel anxiety last night, after reading Noel Michaels' book about the NHC experience again - all these experts in the contest! So I woke up this morning feeling not so great, and in fact through midafternoon at work this continued.
But I talked myself out of it, shifted my vibration, and now I feel much better.
Went to swing dance class and had fun learning more Bandstand Boogie routine ;-)

Google spreadsheets:

Friday

Saturday

Decisions and Preparation

Over the past few weeks, I have increased my vibration about the contest gradually.

I went from feeling like I probably wasn't going to win, to where I am now, which is that anyone can win, I know as much as anybody about logical handicapping, and recognize intuition and guidance more than most, so really am very qualified to win it.

I am growing excited!
Most of all, I am gonna have fun in Vegas - really, I am not just saying this, winning is secondary.

To be there with all these guys who are such good horseplayers, feeling their excitement and mine, watching the contest unfold..... it is FUN!!!!

Yes, I CAN win - why not!
I am GOOD at this! I DESERVE to win as much as anyone!

I spent some time just now rereading all my posts from the contest where I qualified for this final contest, whose links are here if you want to read them yourself:
NHCQ April 10 Blog URLs

Rereading this was funny - it was like Me talking to me, inspiring me to that winning vibration!
Nice!

So as a result of rereading it, I am inspired to take the same path that I did then: ARVing all 30 contest races, handicapping them logically, and allowing myself to feel an intuitive feeling about each horse - then combining all of these components to arrive at winning picks.

This will take some work to do, but I know I can do it.
I will start doing ARV sessions shortly.

My strong intent is to remain loose and happy about the whole process, and not get bogged down in worrying about getting it all done on time. I will do what it takes to get it done, and expect cooperation from the universe in this and the whole contest experience.

I am ready!

Initial Preparation - Shifting Vibration

In my belief system, in order to manifest what you want, you have to first shift  your vibration about it, releasing any resistance you have to the subject.
I do this by stating how I want to feel, then writing as thoughts occur to me about feeling better about it. Creating the feeling in the here and now leads to its manifestation in the future - associated with the desired outcome.

Issue: I want to Win the NHC XIII contest, because I want the money, the recognition, and the publicity for what I feel is the way the universe really works.


How I Currently Feel: A little doubt. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve it. Sometimes it feels hard, to beat all these experts. Sometimes I am a little scared what people (horseplayers) will think.

How I Want To Feel: Confident in my ability to win. Unconcerned about what others think. Having fun with it all, no matter what the outcome. Enjoying the unfolding and the process, the people, the experience.

Deliberate Attempt to Shift My Vibration:

• I am good at this. I have unique knowledge no one else does - both tons of handicapping expertise, plus I know that intuition is the way to infinite knowledge. This is an extremely potent combination - and make winning a contest like this easy!
• I have done very well in prior contests, both on my own and with the group. I have learned many things doing this, and am getting better and better all the time.
• It is so much fun to think of the excitement of the contest - and winning it! I am so deserving of it, just because it feels good to feel that. 
• There are plenty of contests, and plenty of years to come for the NHC - everyone who really feels they can win it, will. I am not preventing anyone from feeling that.
• I enjoy the idea of others learning from me more about how the universe really works, as a result of hearing of my experiences in winning the contest. That is me as a teacher at my best. Plus I win money!
• I have put plenty of money into horse race betting, and many of the horseplayers participating in this contest have won some of it. It's just money going around and coming around, when I win - I am not taking it away from them.
• My intent is to stay focused on feeling good and having fun, up to and during the contest. That is my #1 priority. Winning is icing on the cake!
• I know I can finish near the top. And that means I can finish first too - there is not much difference between near and at the top.
• I am a good person. I deserve this as much as anyone.
• I am a unique individual, and my winning this contest is a boon for all concerned, truly. Think of the horseplayers who begin to apply my techniques - they will win tons of money!
• I know that I have as much knowledge about logical handicapping as anyone. My selection record is also excellent - my A horses win more than their share, and at a profit.
• I know that keying on the maximum ROI horse is the way to won - the horse that is the best value, meaning the maximal product of win probability and odds
• The other contestants are no different than me - we each have our own ways of prediction. May the best one win!
• I intend to make my picks deliberately, utilizing logic and listening to guidance. I love the feeling of satisfaction of winning after I listened to guidance.
• It's all coming together for me - logic, intuition, confidence, fun!

Result: I feel more confident. I feel good about winning. I feel this is the start, and with more preparation, I can definitely contend for the championship.