JC / Railbird

Readings Archive

Readings: Bailey

“Horses and racing, by their very nature, evoke strong emotions.
“When you are a fan, you shake, you shout, you do everything you can to urge your horse home first. When you are part of the sport, you shake and shout for a very different reason. Much of the time, you want to scream in frustration.
“Racing, it pains me to say, is far from reaching its potential. It is, in many respects, an ailing industry plagued by infighting, backward thinking and overall lack of vision.
“This was clear to me as I served three-plus terms as president of the Jockeys’ Guild, from December 1989 through 1996. Regrettably, nothing has changed since then. I fear for the future if the sport doesn’t alter its course soon.” — From “Against the Odds,” by Jerry Bailey with Tom Pedulla

Posted in Readings on October 15, 2005

Readings: Simpson

“How many times during your gambling years have you been told ‘you’ll never beat the bookies’ or ‘win today, give them it all back tomorrow’? Thousands of times I’d wager. But who are these people who tell you this? I’ll tell you. They are exactly like some of those horses I’ve been on about — the one paced plodders of life. They have no success, courage, or sense of adventure themselves and get their kicks by telling you how wrong you have been and how the whole world is really a massive conspiracy against the ordinary little working man. Dump these people immediately or they will drag you down into mediocrity with them. You will end up chained beside them in some moronic factory all your life while the boss is living it up at Ascot with all the champagne and birds he can handle.” — From “Always Back Winners,” by Stewart Simpson

Posted in Readings on September 22, 2005

Readings: Ainslie

“Successful horse playing is a solitary existence. The less solitary it gets, the less successful it gets. If you make the error of getting into social relations with the dreamers, grifters, angle shooters, alleged ‘insiders,’ and crack-brained theorists who clutter up the track, you can’t concentrate on your work because of the din. So you keep to yourself. It gets lonesome. I like money, but not enough to stay lonesome all year around.

(more…)

Posted in Readings on July 19, 2005