An Evening at the Track
Alan Mann at Left at the Gate has a lovely story up about an evening at the defunct Brandywine harness track with his brother, in which he scores big on a favorite horse:
The thing about Saratoga Stan was that, unlike most other harness horses, he absolutely loved the very outside 8 post, from which he could hang back last and make his late run. When he drew inside, he’d be too close to the pace, inside of horses, and inevitably run up the track. Prior to that night at Brandywine, he had had a long string of races from inside posts, so his form looked awful. 99% of the time, if you see a pacer racing poorly from the inside and then move far outside, he’s an automatic throwout. Much to my delight, Saratoga Stan had his beloved 8 hole that night, anathema to most but a blessing for him. So while he was dismissed by most in the crowd, I excitedly informed my brother that the horse would be dead last all the way around until they approached the turn the final time, circle the field, and storm through the stretch to win. I watched as the odds drifted up to 15-1 or more as I recall, and we both got our bets down.
Sure enough, the race unfolded exactly as I knew it would, except that the gritty pacer seemed to wait even later than usual to start his move. But sure enough, he swept around the field 3 or 4 wide on the last turn, rallied down the lane and just got to the leader at the wire. After a long photo — no replays until after the races were official at tracks back then folks; imagine actually having to sweat those tight photos out for minutes that seemed like hours — they posted his number and I collected a big win bet as well as the exacta. More importantly, I looked like a total genius to my brother.
Go here to read the whole thing.
