Nelson best long-shot handicapper in the business

Our very own Ray Nelson, whose picks appear daily on our horse-racing page, tabbed the late pick four cold Sunday, correctly selecting Wild Diplomat ($19.40), Unusual Spirit ($15.20), Proudinsky ($4.60) and Dolly Daggers ($8.60) on top in the final four races for a payoff of $860.10. He also had the next-to-last pick three and the final pick three of the afternoon with $1 tickets, returning $142.70 and $88.80, respectively. So, for a $3 investment, you'd have made a $1,091.57 proft by following Nelson's picks.

Ray, in my opinion, is the best long-shot handicapper in the business. Last year during the Santa Anita winter-spring meet, he captured the money-won portion of the Allan Malamud public handicappers' contest and showed a flat-bet profit of about $100, which is extremely difficult to do when you're forced to pick winners in every race, even if you don't like the race that much. He won a similar contest at the 2007 Oak Tree meet.

Through the first three days of this 84-day Santa Anita meet, Nelson's eight wins have totaled $62.20 -- an average of $7.76. He's showing a flat-bet profit of $8.20 so far. The way he selects long-shot winners, I'm guessing the average will be closer to $10 by season's end. If you're at the track and see one of Nelson's top selections at 10-1 or higher, put some money on it. He goes out on a limb, and often times the bettors are rewarded.