How I started to love the Races

[alm]

Quit now or just bet the Derby...it\'s the only race I\'m up on after 50 years.

[Topcat]

richiebee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My father a compulsive gambler, big on sports
> betting and card games.
>
> My mom\'s father, Grandpa Spike, an old fashioned
> bookie, half the year in
> Brooklyn, half the year in Miami Beach.
>
> Bred top and bottom, I didn\'t stand much chance of
> avoiding the inevitable.
>
> Tough game. For every glorious day at the Spa,
> there\'s five miserable days in the
> dead of winter in Ozone Park, pitch black in the
> parking lot at 4:40 in the
> afternoon, the speckled sea birds fighting over
> the last part of your half
> cooked/half frozen pretzel.
>
> In days of old, closing day at Saratoga was always
> Sunday; Belmont would reopen
> the next Wednesday. The advance edition of the DRF
> would hit the sidewalk on
> Kings Highway at E 16th Street in Brooklyn on
> Tuesday morning at about 1:30 AM. I
> would stand with a look which was probably
> borderline homicidal waiting for the
> plastic around the bundle to be cut.
>
> Its a Sunday at Belmont Park, and there\'s been a
> heavy rain shower in the middle
> of the card; the sandy oval has been turned to
> oatmeal. After a particularly
> close photo, a photo which took the stewards and
> placing judges a lifetime to
> decipher,ends up in a tough beat, you watch the
> super slow motion replay of the
> finish, time and time again, the mud flying up in
> parabolic arcs, the jocks\'
> helmets buried in the horses\' manes, the horses\'
> ears flattened to near
> invisibility, a poorly tied tail partially undone.
> You lose each time you watch,
> transfixed, but as John Hawkes wrote in \"The Lime
> Twig\" \"Love is a long close
> scrutiny like that\".
>
> You are able to tear yourself away from the
> screen, and you notice that a large
> rainbow has appeared, spanning from North Shore
> Towers to Creedmoor. Considering
> my bloodline, I am happy to have ended up
> somewhere in between.


I\'ve lurked on this board for YEARS . . . not signing up until recently . . .
and that\'s one of the five best non-handicapping pieces of writing I\'ve ever seen here.

Kudos.

[richiebee]

Topcat:

Thank you for the kind words...

[richiebee]

HP:

Tremendous pizza at Armandos. I could have just as easily gotten my DRF at Avenue
J, Avenue M or Avenue X, Armandos probably the main reason for going to Kings
Highway.

I spent a good deal of time during my deformative years, between 1974 - 1986, in
an area bordered by Cortelyou Road (remember George\'s Diner?), Bedford Avenue,
Avenue U and Ocean Parkway.

Racing in New York was particularly glorious late 1970s - early 1980s, but as I
have repeated many times, while the Racing was great, the wagering options and
venues were not what they are today-- no P3s, P4s, P5s, no $.50 cent wagering, no
Living Room Downs. OTBs in Brooklyn and Manhattan were audio only, not a good
match for the minimalist calls of Marshall Cassidy.

Fall racing was especially good because the Meadowlands was presenting decent
quality thoroughbred racing and those of us afflicted with extreme strains of
equihippocitis could wager live on 2 quality thoroughbred cards 5 times per week.

[HP]

The Sicilian was the best.  We probably know some of the same people.  I lived a few blocks from George\'s on Ditmas and Ocean Pkwy.  Before that Foster and Coney.  My mom is still there.  My home court OTB was on 18th Ave. by McDonald, but lots of my friends from Midwood lived over by Kings Hway.  Now I\'m out in Jersey like a schnook.  Good luck to you !  -HP

[dcbred1]

My father moved to Washington Dc in 1950 and was introduced to the sport by a friend.  He was not a gambler but when you start life in utero at the 1959 Belmont, were named for Christopher Chenery, grew up reading Joe Palmer, the race results in the Post and the Blood Horse, plus studying how Alfred Vanderbilt came up with the names he did.....it was downhill from there.  I got really lucky

[jumpnthefire]

the first time i went to belmont i remember it was 92 i was 18 thought i was a genius...  for wheeling statuette in the pebbles stakes and winning lol

[paniolo]

In 1984, by chance I went to the track (Timonium} with my son and we both came home winners.  I had not been to the track since my college days and Navy days in the early 50s. Then I got to thinking of what I would do after my pending retirement in l989 , and the idea of following the horses came to me.  So for the next five years I studied, followed the races on paper and developed my own approach to handicapping based on Beyer\'s method, trip handicapping and a good memory. Upon retirement, and with my wife\'s blessing (a top producing stock broker who understands risk much better than most of us), I embarked on a ten year journey of playing the horses daily all over the USA. Mostly I played close to home, The Maryland circuit, Delaware, Penn National, Charlestown, Atlantic City, Garden State and Philly.  But there were trips as well with my wife to Santa Anita, Hollywood, Keeneland, Oakland and the annual house rental for Saratoga.  All good things must come to an end.  In 1997 my wife retired and two years later I made the supreme sacrifice and we moved back to her home state of Hawaii (one of two states with no legal gambling}. Since then I\'ve followed the races on my computer, played the on line contests  and made an occasional wager when I visit the mainland.  It was a great ten year ride, never made enough to put a kid thru college but then never got hurt either (some years up some down).  I wouldn\'t change a thing in my life, made great friends at the track,and felt alive ever day. Life is still good, the woman I eloped to Vegas with in l961 is still at my side and come September we will celebrate our 50th anniversary.  Going to the mainland so both of us can make a bet or two. One of the many things I learned in my travels is never hang around with someone who doesn\'t want to see you win. LIfe is good so enjoy its greatest game.

[Flighted Iron]

First love
Summer \'84 Bowie racetrack with cuz,jimmy and the occasional william
 Cut the teeth on the end of that shank
 the clean misty air
 the manure not so stank

 my first day on
 he\'s first under tack
 came breathin fire
 foggy\'s back from the track

 whoa back whoa back
 shedrow chat to be heard
 he\'s got a stake horse
 says his crazed word

 the big horses\' shins hot
 the essence sees no flame
 one eighty days world rounds
 nycs\' i\'m the game
 
 

 monday\'s chow was \"all you could get\"
 no big boys\' menu the feed bag was set
 eggs and cakes and youthful fables
 the horse with the figs
 gonna turn the tables

 
 backside on the track
 brought it out of me
 from that point on
 a racing fan i\'ll be

[arosenzweig]

I\'ve been going to Calder Race Course with my pops since I have been able to walk. I\'ve watched my hero Precious Passion run multiple times. My loving mother wished the habit would die hard and I was sent to college in Central Florida resigned to the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club. I graduated in May and yesterday I took down my first pick 3 pool for 5,238 in the 4th at Calder. Its the best game in the world and I\'m never going away.

[gowand]

In August of 1977 I had just turned ten years old and had probably been dragged to The Saratoga Race Course what seemed to be a million times by my father.  that summer things had changed with the Seattle Slew triple crown.  When I heard that Forego would be running I made my father promise to take me to see this horse who I was told looked like a giant.  When I woke up that morning it was pouring rain and my father tried to talk me out of going by saying he didn\'t think Forego would run if the track was sloppy but after what I am sure was an epic temper tantrum my father agreed to go.  

We got to the track and reserved our seats by folding a newspaper through the cracks of the seat and settled in for the long wait.  My recollection is that by the time Forego came on the track it was pitch black with the exception of the flashbulbs lighting up the sky.  As everybody knows the great one ran last that day but it really didn\'t matter.

I have spent hundreds of days at the Spa since 1977 but I will always remember sitting in the grandstand with my father on a horribly rainy day waiting to see Forego parade by my seat.  This moment and standing by the rail when Rachel passed the finish line in the Woodward provide great bookends to my love of horse racing.

[jumpnthefire]

does any remember when they came out with pick 3 at belmont in the 90s at otb i remember i used to have to pay 5 bucks to get in  at some otbs in manhattan to get track odds in the mid to late 90\'s anyways first time i play irs time 48 street steak dinner

[Rick]

Back in 93 I worked at a printing company near Arlington Park. A gentleman by the name of Roger walked in and we negotiated a price for me to print the Thorograph for him. At first I tried to get some tips out of him each day but he wouldn\'t bite on that. So after a while I just read the instructions and being conservative just played what I thought would be my plays on paper. His sidekick Todd was a little more open so I learned just a little more through him. I also started reading a few books on the horses and started learning about bounce, track bias, how to bet etc. Once Roger saw I was actually putting in the work he actually said a few words each morning. I got it to the point where each day I would just ask him his opinion about just 1 horse. He would bitch me out possibly and say \"why the #$&^ do you like that horse it\'s 6 more pounds than the 3 and outside\" Once I got to a point of confidence I was ready to make my first play. I loved a horse called Thoro (30-1 morning line) in a race where I thought the favorite was vulnerable. I asked Roger and he smiled and said \"the horse looked interesing.\" I couldn\'t get out of work so I had to find a friend who could make the bet for me. I called a good friend who loved the horses but he laughed at my play. Eventually I found someone to place my bet of 25 across. An hour or so later I got a call from my friend who reported screaming in the phone that Thora paid $66 to win. Pretty much cashed around $1700+ from what I remember. That started our play money. The next day I saw Roger again and was pretty high off my win. He responded quietly he had just a little bit on Thoro. The next day I found out from Todd that not only did they crush the race but they owned the horse. I said how many horses you guys own? He said just the 1. Eventually there were days I had to do the boys favors and deliver them the Thorograph. Occasionally I stayed the day and was introduced to a few of their friends. Roger always asked me who I liked to see if I was learning. One day I saw him predict a horse would win by 6 lengths and in fact as they crossed the finish line the track announcer said \"Sunset Slew by 6 lengths.\" Of course he stated this as the race just started. I love the game because no matter how much you learn, there is always more to learn. I always appreciate everyone\'s comments on this board. You\'ve all kind of taken the place of a friend whom I really respected and admired....

[Boscar Obarra]

Bring back memories?

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OTB 1970\'s