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#1
06-09-2009, 04:59 PM
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A trip to Fair Grounds with my Dad when I was five is what got it all started for me. Soon after we made regular trips to the now defunct Trinity Meadows and by the time I saw my first Belmont Stakes (1993) I was hooked. I still get odd looks when reading the DRF on an airplane and I have friends that thing I'm completely obsessed. It's long past time to explain that horse racing draws you in like no other game. It is the greatest game in the world, bar none.
NT 
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#2
06-09-2009, 05:22 PM
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As a kid I used to visit my grandparents in the summer and they would take me to Monmouth Park. It was just a fun time at a great old race track. We would watch the triple crown races and it just grew my interest in the sport. When I went to college we used to Waterford Park and have enjoyed and followed the sport ever since.
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#3
06-09-2009, 05:35 PM
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Pops started taking me to the track at 3. We would go to Pimlico, Laurel, and even cruddy Timonium. When I was a senior in high school, I was able to convince the junior class chemistry teacher to make me his teachers aide. I would "supposedly" grade papers, keep the lab clean, etc. The guy never cared where I was or what I did. So I had 50 minutes to kill every afternoon. School was 4 miles from Pimlico....get the picture.
Eventually moved out west and have not lost one ounce of passion for the game. Have been very fortunate to be a part of some ownership groups. Making a score at the window is always a blast, but it doesn't come close, in my opinion, to taking a picture every so often.
__________________
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy livin' or get busy dyin'."
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#4
06-09-2009, 07:30 PM
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Where has tis game been, piece of cake!!!!
September 1974,
I just got out of the army(drafted) and was attending Eastern Ky U. on g.i.bill. a few friends i shared a house with ask if i wanted to go one night during the week to Latonia (Turfway park now.) i said sure we pile into the car went to the trk,drank some beers, i could not read a form but had the program, and could not lose!!! i think the story goes,where has this been all my life? well after i won about every race, a couple of weeks later keeneland opened up on first sat in Oct, i was hooked, and came back to earth when my majic touch worn off there, so new i had to read some books. I bought every issue of turf guide, ATM, and the next year Beyers Picking winners(he had some long hair them) lol...
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#5
06-09-2009, 08:01 PM
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Back in the Late 80's Pat Day was King at Oaklawn Park. My granddad would listen to the races out back in the garage because my grandmother was against him going. Well let's just say we caught a few fish at Oaklawn during those years.
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#6
06-09-2009, 08:06 PM
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great stuff.. byk. ateam , dell , infield, all keep it going..cannon!!
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#7
06-09-2009, 08:30 PM
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Family members (parents, brothers, and an aunt) are who got me interested in racing. They would take me to Fair Grounds about once a year during the Christmas holidays starting when I was about 7; I remember winning with my first bet-a daily double, with a horse named Call Me Henry winning the first leg. I liked the track, but football and baseball were the sports that caught my attention. I started following racing with greater enthusiasm during the 1983-1984 Fair Grounds meet, which was an excellent time as Taylor's Special for Mott and Silent King for Delp battled for 3yo supremacy at FG. After that meet, I began my formal racing education (reading Beyer and Davidowitz's books) that summer, and made my first of many trips to Jefferson Downs. I was in my early teens at the time, and I remember not seeing many people my age out at the track, which actually proved beneficial as people were more likely to talk to me and I picked up pointers from some very sharp handicappers. I'd read everything about racing that I could get my hands on.
My early human racing heroes were Frankie Brothers and Randy Romero. The early equine heroes were Taylor's Special, Tiffany Lass, and Turkoman, among others. My outlook on the sport has changed over time as I have become more interested in the gambling aspect than rooting for individual horses. It is now rare that I get excited about seeing a particular horse run just for the sake of it. I seldom go to Louisiana Downs, which has been my local track for 13 years. I'd prefer to bet at home at my computer than go to what that track has sadly become. That said, whether it is going to Oaklawn or on my frequent trips to Fair Grounds, there are few things that beat live racing. I have two young daughters who like to go to Fair Grounds when we are in New Orleans. They enjoy looking at the horses, eating ice cream, and maybe getting a pair of goggles from a jockey. It remains to be seen whether they will develop any true enthusiasm for racing when they become teenagers, but I'm hopeful.
__________________
Still trying to outsmart me, aren't you, mule-skinner? You want me to think that you don't want me to go down there, but the subtle truth is you really don't want me to go down there!
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#8
06-09-2009, 09:04 PM
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My grandfather was an MP in WWII, which made him a crazy history buff as well. In studying early civilization wars, so many of them involved horses, from the turn of time through the Civil War and beyond. As he told me, over time he fell in love with the horse, whether it be a wild west stallion, pony, or a thoroughbred. I remember growing up looking at picture books of all kinds of horses. One memory I remember quite clear was Preakness weekend in 1988. My folks had left me and my sister with my grandparents, as they traveled to Maine for a weekend wedding. On that Saturday was the Preakness where Risen Star slipped by Winning Colors. I watched my first race with my grandfather, the penultimate horse lover, who never once placed a wager in his life. Gramps was "pulling" for the filly. The next day, as any Celtics or NBA classics fan will attest to, was the epic battle between Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird in the Hawks-Celtics series.
It was a great weekend. My grandfather was then, and always will be my hero. A decorated veteran who risked his life in the war the defines the world we live in, and a life long fire fighter who made a living risking his life to aide total strangers. Oh, and he's the reason I love horses and horse racing. As for why I choose racing as my gambling choice, I look at it this way. Anyone can pull the lever of a slot machine, or get lucky on a scratch ticket. It doesn't take any skill or understanding of value. I'm lost in any casino until I find a race book. I don't know any cards games, save for go fish! and all those drinking games I perfected in college. What I like about racing is it takes skill. It takes having a value system and sticking to it. It's about me trying to outsmart you and take your money, but not as enemies. It's me trying to find the angle that you missed and turning it into a winning one. But, at the end of the day, we are just doing what we enjoy, win or lose. Nice thread idea, hooves. I'm glad some people who might not be too heavy into the gambling aspect can have a chance to share their stories. Fact of the matter is, there is absolutely nothing wrong with starting off small, enjoying horses from books, or enjoying a race horse based on that animal's backstory (ie Evening Attire, Funny Cide or Nicanor, for example). For every person who enjoys racing for the animals and wagers sporadically, if it all, there is a person like me who enjoyed the game from a far growing up, and grew into enjoying the wagering aspect on a regular basis. All too often those people who are not necessarily on the wagering aspect are some what drowned out on here, and that's not right. Looking forward to reading what everyone else has to say.
__________________
"Boston fans hate the Yankees, we hate the Canadiens and we hate the Lakers. It's in our DNA. It just is." - Bill Simmons
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