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Miscellany Archive

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.

Posted in Miscellany on March 26, 2005

Headlines: March 26

– Shug McGaughey regains his form. Wintering in Florida, the trainer “couldn’t buy a winner.” Since returning to New York on March 18, he’s won four races with five starters. (NYP)
– Funny Cide put in an unexpected workout Friday at Gulfstream. He breezed four furlongs in :49 for the second time this week. (GP)
– The Jockeys’ Guild filed a countersuit against Churchill Downs on Thursday. The Guild claims Churchill Downs violated the rights of riders when it banned jockeys for boycotting races in a dispute over catastrophic insurance coverage last fall. Churchill Downs filed its suit against the Guild in March, claiming the organization broke anti-trust law by helping to arrange the riders’ boycott. (TT)
– Send links, comments to railbird at jessicachapel dot com

Posted in Miscellany on March 26, 2005

Two Unrelated Things

An article by Paul Daley in today’s Lowell Sun on Mom’s Command, one of this year’s Hall of Fame nominees in the contemporary female category, has sparked remembrances of the mare over on the Derby List, including this funny story from Sal Carcia:

Mom’s Command was coming off a race where we thought Abby had given the horse a mediocre ride. We were waiting for the horse to come back. It was a Saturday and we were kind of having a lazy day in betting. We were upstairs in the grandstands casually sitting around waiting for the next betting opportunity. My buddy was reading the DRF and suddenly to his dismay he noticed that Mom’s Command was entered in a Stakes race in Maryland. For some reason, we couldn’t get a bet in. It was either too late or Suffolk was not simulcasting the race. I asked him about the rider. He said “Oh, no! Abby’s off and Greg McCarron’s on.” This caused us even more aggravation. Our only hope was that Mom’s Command would be bet heavily and end up at a low price. Well, next day we learned in the Sunday morning papers that she paid around $30.

—
Terry Teachout, on his excellent arts blog About Last Night, posted a great quote from Walter Matthau on the subject of gambling:

“I think the reason gamblers habitually gamble is to lose. Because they know they have to lose, it’s the law of averages. I’m not talking about bookies or gentlemen gamblers. I’m talking about the compulsive, neurotic gambler. Pain is what he’s searching for. The emotion of pain. It’s much greater than the emotion of pleasure. Bigger, larger, stronger. Therefore more interesting.”

Walter Matthau (quoted in Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg, Matthau: A Life)

I’m going to be thinking of this the next time I’m at Suffolk Downs.

Posted in Miscellany on March 25, 2005

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