It's an hour before post time, but Robert Cliff is already done with the Preakness. He's not interested in pageantry, but payoffs. He lost interest in the middle jewel of the Triple Crown when his Pick Four wagers became worthless in an earlier race Saturday afternoon.
Cliff is a professional horseplayer and about as sentimental as a stone.
Jerry Bailey and Pat Day would bust Donald Trump. Cliff is sitting in the Race Book at Turfway Park, surrounded by simulcasting, oblivious to temptation. He can see television feeds from 15 different tracks without craning his neck, but he's only interested in the proceedings at Pimlico, and only when the odds shift in his favor. What smart money exists at the race track is selective. He was fixated on Pimlico not because of its tradition but because its payoff pool offered him the best percentage on his exotic wagers.