Wednesday Night Fireworks

The date was July 9th, 2014 and for once during the busy months of Summer, I had the night off. No work, no golf, no nothing. I asked a couple friends if they wanted to hang out but no one was available.

I had about $100 from tips the past couple nights and decided to head down to Canterbury Park. Josh Hanson (@Barbaro1420 on Twitter) had informed me that Northlands Park in Edmonton had a carryover on the pick 4, beginning in race number 4. He sent along the PP as well and so I settled in at a table at Canterbury Park with my laptop, $100 and (at least for now) my dignity.

Races 1-3 drug on and I tried to win a little extra money for my Pick 4. That didn't happen. After race 2, Josh (who was at the racetrack that night) waved to me from behind the winner's circle. If you haven't met Josh (and if he hasn't blocked you on Twitter), you should, he is awesome. I texted him a few times before I started really digging into my ticket.

One thing I was nervous about was that Northlands Park Pick 4 tickets were $1 and not $.50 like I was used to at Canterbury Park. After 3 races I had already lost a decent amount of my bankroll and was down to $42 on my voucher. Feeling discouraged, I decided to make my ticket $42 to try to give me the best chance of winning, but with $1 tickets, $42 doesn't get you far. With the help of Josh and a couple more looks at the PP, I landed on this ticket ---->

For race 4 I was just looking for a price. I was already nervous for two singles in races 5 and 6, something I had never done before.

Race 4 was a $5000 Claiming Race at 6 1/2 Furlongs. Firefly Bay (4-1 ML) took off at 12-1 and beat the 4-5 favorite. Great start no doubt, but still a long way to go.

Both horses for race 5 and 6 had jockey Walcott aboard. In 2014 he won 33% of the time and was carrying a 32% win percentage into Wednesday's card. I decided to take my chances.

Race 5 the horse was My Paramour in a maiden race for $7000. Race 6 was Count the Change, a 7 year old 9/38 lifetime horse for trainer Greg Tracy.

My Paramour was as impressive a horse I had seen in race 5. Settling in 3rd around the final turn before drawing to the rail and winning my 4 lengths at even money. Halfway there, still work to do though.

I knew that if Count the Change could take me home that I would have a great chance at winning with 6/10 horses in the last race. Still, a 7 year old 9/38 lifetime horse scared me, but Walcott was so impressive with My Paramour that maybe we could get another winner with 9/5 ML Count the Change.


There was never a doubt. Count the Change got the lead 1/4 of the way through the race and won easily. On the 3rd floor at a horse track in MN, a 22 year old is pumping his fist and cheering as his heart races. Not many people around me as many other tracks were done for the night. The 7th race would start at 10:18 Central Standard Time but it felt like 24 hours separated the 6th and 7th race before they finally loaded the gate for the $14,800 6 Furlong Claiming Race.

Now like I said before, I had 6/10 horses, but anyone who has watched a horse race knows that there is no such thing as a sure thing. Still, I started looking at the will pays and dreamt about how good that money would be for a broke college student. The race took off, and so did my heart beat. I stood out of my seat, and watched as all 10 horses broke from the gate.

At the top of the stretch, this is what I saw. I had the 2, 7 and 10, but didn't have the 6 horse.

If you have watched the races with me, you know that I don't yell at the horses as they fly down the home stretch. I take the race in as a whole before any emotion comes out of me. I usually stop breathing for about 5 seconds as the horses past the finish line, and then depending on the outcome of the race I usually pump my fists, yell, or curse profanities at the TV.

Horse 7 never lost that lead at the top of the stretch and I checked my ticket about 10 times before I started cheering to a room full of empty tables and chairs and one employee who probably wanted me to leave so that he could go home as well.

After the race went official I went to hand him my ticket and he knew that I was a winner. I had won a couple Pick 4's before, but nothing as big as this one. That's when the employee made my heart sank and told me that he couldn't pay me..

My heart sank for a second, before he explained that any wins over $599 in MN had to be taxed and that I needed to have my Social Security Card with me to enter into their system. I would have to come back the next day with my card before I could get paid. I went home with an empty wallet and put my ticket in my backpack. I had to work the next morning in Minneapolis and wouldn't be able to cash the ticket until the next day. As I walked out to my car, I saw fireworks across the street as Valleyfair Amusement Park was doing their nightly firework show. I always hated fireworks growing up, but as I got to my car I sat and watched the whole show, somehow thinking that they were celebrating my victory.

I exchange a few words with some guys on Twitter the next morning who saw the conversation between Josh and I and congratulated me. I headed to work, knowing that I could make it Canterbury Park and cash my ticket and get back north to my home in Rogers before rush hour traffic. I bet I checked my backpack 10 times during work to make sure I still had the ticket and that I had actually won. It was an incredible feeling.

When I finally arrived at Canterbury on Thursday afternoon, the empty tables and chairs were filled with guys who were playing tracks all over the country. I quietly handed my ticket to the woman behind the counter and gave her my social security card as she processed the information. Finally she counted out my money and congratulated me on my victory. I left her a little tip and walked right back out, not wanting to spend any money or give any of it back at the blackjack table.

It's been about a year since this night took place. I've won a couple other Pick 4's, including one at Canterbury Park that almost beat this one (at $.50). To this date, it is still my biggest hit and another example on how losing for a few races, a few days, a few weeks or even a few months shouldn't discourage you from shying away from the basics. If you take the time to read the forms, and do your research, you can be successful at Horse Racing, and can have a blast in the process.

Thanks for taking the time to read, I hope you enjoyed! Good luck to all of you in cashing huge tickets in the near future!

The Test

The Test

I sit down with my PP that I just printed, still warm in my hand and grab my favorite pen and a highlighter. The big test is tomorrow. 10 questions, all multiple choice. The teacher isn’t my favorite though. Some of the questions have up to 16 different choices! Who does that? Mrs. Saratoga does on a daily basis. Not only does she give tests that are hard as hell, she gives them almost every day! Some would call her the worst teacher ever, but me, I am in love. Mrs. Saratoga isn’t the only one to give out the difficult tests. Many teachers around the country give out these tests as well, though sometimes only 3-4 days a week. At least they all give you a study guide a couple days before and tell you EXACTLY what’s on the test. Alright back to studying.

I love numbers. You almost have to be in this game. Mrs. Saratoga, Mrs. Belmont, and Mr. Canterbury all teach Math. They expect a lot out of you but if you can get their test questions right; you are as good as gold. Alright let’s look at question 1.

A word problem of course, they almost always are. 1 Mile. 3 year olds. ALW 65000, Turf. I read the problem over and over to get a good understanding of what the questions is asking. Now I look at the choices.

·      Choice 1 & 2 don’t look like they could be the right answer. They seem kind of crazy to even consider. Why would Mrs. Saratoga even ask a question like that on the test tomorrow? I guess we will see if she does.

·      Choice 3 looks like it could be the right answer. Seems to fit the criteria of what the question is asking. I put a star next to choice 3 and move on. 7 choices on this particular question, let’s move along.

·      Choice 4 is enticing. I still think I like 3 better but 4 is my favorite number… That has to count for something, right? 4 always was a favorite last time and did not do very well for me. I got a question wrong last time when four was involved. I think I will pass.

·      Choice 5 should almost be written in different ink. Why is this choice even near this question Mrs. Saratoga, come on, you can do better than that. I take a big X and write it across this choice.

·      Choice 6 looks mighty nice. There are some nice connections that would make it perfect for the right answer to this question, maybe even better than number 3. Another star next to 6. Onto the last choice.

·      Choice 7 looks like it was in a question not too long ago. I remember seeing this choice but now it is in different company. I think it was mentioned in the last chapter and now it is back in another class. A higher class. I don’t think this choice is part of this question. I’ll pass.

So we are down to 3 & 6. Which one is it going to be? I could pick 3, but damn am I going to be mad if 6 is the right answer. I could pick 6 as my top choice and 3 as my 2^nd choice? We are allowed to do that in Mrs. Saratoga’s class. I would feel really good if they were both the right choices and the two best answers. I decide to look over the question one more time and take number 6. When question 1 comes up tomorrow I am picking 6 and moving onto question 2 before I doubt myself.

            I walk into class the next day and Mrs. Saratoga greets me with a smile as she always does. She is a little older, but I still love her. I take out my pen and get ready for the test to begin. 2 Minutes until the test begins, she yells out. I am getting nervous, am I sure that number 3 isn’t the best choice? Should I change my mind, should I stick with my gut? Should I just guess? No No No, you have done your homework and studied for this test, you got this! The test is about to be released; I take one last breath and exhale.

And…They’re off!

As you have just read, I take each horse race as a test. The PP that we receive from DRF or other sites are the study guides, and the horses are the choices to the multiple-choice test. You can look at hundreds of different things before you analyze a race and some might lead you to the right answer, while others will leave you out in the cold. Maybe I am the only one who thinks of a day at the races this way because I am about to go into my first year of teaching but I think there are tons of similarities between a test you take in school and a horse race. Let me know what you think about this post. I am new to the sport of horse racing and would love to hear what all of you think.

Have a good day,

Jared

If you like my writing and would like to see a couple other things I have written, visit my other blog HERE and follow me on Twitter @Jared_Hines27