The Many Loves of my Life

[joemama]

That\'s one part of the country I have not been to.

[joemama]

Nice list.  Western USA flavored. Make Toga a priority.

[FrankD.]

Only a couple mentions of the Mass fair circuit but no Marshfield!!!!

Great Barrington, Marshfield, Northampton, Suffolk, Rockingham, Finger Lakes,
Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga, Meadowlands, Monmouth, Atlantic City, Garden State,
Keystone,Erie Downs, Delaware, Pimlico, Bowie, Laurel, Gulfstream, Hialeah (favorite next to the Spa, Santa Anita is close) Calder, Tampa, Fairgrounds, Evangaline, Jefferson Downs, Churchill. River Downs, Thistledown, Sportsman, Hawthorne, Arlington, Balmoral (Rick B.) Detroit Race Course, Arksarben, Prescott Downs, Turf Paradise, Hollywood, Santa Anita, Longacres, Portland Meadows.
Yes Miff the dump El Commandante in the late 70\'s as well with my girl.

Jug Heads:
Saratoga, Monticello, Vernon Downs, Tioga, Batavia, Buffalo, Roosevelt, Yonkers, Meadowlands, Foxboro, Hinsdale, Green Mountain (trotters and dogs) Rutland Fair,
Freehold, Pompano, Race Way Park,Northfield, Maywood, Sportsman, Hawthorne, Balmoral, The Meadows.

Missing Keeneland, DelMar and Oaklawn from my bucket list.

[joemama]

That\'s a impressive list .  Almost second to none.

[moosepalm]

magicnight Wrote:
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>
> You list Finger Lakes but somehow dog tracks are
> beneath you?
>

And yet another NYTimes staff member slanders a NY track.

Well, okay, I suppose it isn\'t exactly slander.

[joemama]

No Liberty Bell Park votes yet.  Philly guys are absent.

[Fairmount1]

As a kid, my grandfather always said something about a horse named the Grey Ghost.  He died when I was 9 but I still have a large (for the time) framed photo of him at age 4 in 1914 on a standardbred that his father (my great-grandfather) owned.  My great-grandfather is holding the horse for the father-son pose.  People think it is just a vintage photo I have on the wall never realizing it is an actual family photo.

Anyway, when I grew older I always thought that was a reference to Native Dancer and it may have been.  But recently I discovered a website selling photos from Fairmount and Cahokia that I found pretty neat.  

http://www.fp-photos.com/personalities-page-2.html (Scroll down to see Steve Cauthen in 1977 at FP on \"A Gray Ghost\" which makes wonder about which Gray Ghost he meant....ironically enough the trainer John Wainwright still a fixture at FP was the trainer of first horse I owned with 5 friends just a few years ago).

http://www.fp-photos.com/1950-to-1969-page-4.html (Some Cahokia Downs photos)


In order of attendance:

Tampa Bay Downs (age 3)
Fairmount Park
Hawthorne Race Course
Canterbury Park
Churchill Downs
Keeneland
Gulfstream Park
Oaklawn Park
Arlington Park
Santa Anita

[moosepalm]

joemama Wrote:
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> Roosevelt was a 1 time affair for me doing it with
> some New York natives that were service buddies of
> mine.  Made a killing betting the 8 post and Ted
> wing.


My father raced horses at Roosevelt.  It\'s where I learned the invaluable lesson that you should never really pay attention to what a trainer has to say about his horse.

[joemama]

Wow , They screwed us when they shut down the OTW out at the mall. Were you here back then 2002 or so.

[toppled]

When I worked in Long Island in 1982-1987 our office was across from Roosevelt Raceway & you could look out the window & see the grandstand.

[moosepalm]

Tracks I\'ve attended:

Saratoga, Belmont, Finger Lakes, Rockingham, Penn, Delaware, Philadelphia Park, Laurel, Pimlico, Garden State, Woodbine, Gulfstream, Monmouth, Meadowlands, Del Mar, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise, Emerald Downs, Some place outside of Paris.

Harness:  Roosevelt, Yonkers, Saratoga, Vernon, Batavia, Buffalo, Mohawk

Tracks where I\'ve made money:

[sekrah]

joemama Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow , They screwed us when they shut down the OTW
> out at the mall. Were you here back then 2002 or
> so.


Oh yeah, I was just a pup then but I spent a lot of time there. In fact, it was Preakness Day 2002 when I hit one of my first big scores that got me hooked for life. I\'m sure we\'ve seen each other. I would bet dollars to donuts that we know some of the same people.

[FrankD.]

Sekrah,

All of us who were on track regulars \"all know the same people\" but every track had its cast of characters to say the least. We all knew or had a nickname for the stoops, the bums that begged dollars, the tellers or bar tenders that touted every horse in the race to a different bettor etc...

My all time favorite was at Arlington Park in the mid 80\'s he was known as the Painter, he came to the track after some semblance of a work day nearly every day in his white paint speckled cover halls and used to yell and scream for Earlie Fires. If Earlie won a race and he did win many he would run around clapping his hands trying to get the crowd to chant Earlie, Earlie.

It\'s non fiction but no one would believe ya!

Frank D.

[Strike]

The race track in Kenya was really something. Jockeys were all 6 foot, ~110 pounds and of course black. The entire visual scene was very different. What I remember the most was a wine event with pretty high end German wines. I found out later that not only did locals visit the once a week race event but so did a huge local German community. They pretty much made up the Turf Club. Didn\'t bet much (how could I) -- not a fan of German wines high end or not (but had too much riesling) -- had a blast.

[RICH]

and the only place where there showed the odds followed by the win-place and show price ranges, that place was great