Please Read Intro 101 First….
After my experience at the carnival as a youngster and my trip to the track in Omaha, I had the fever. I watched every TV thoroughbred race that Wide World of Sports broadcasted… the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.
I investigated sources concerning horse racing and found that at that time (the 1970’s) the guide book to racing was “Ainslie’s Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing” by Tom Ainslie. So after purchasing the book and reading it twice, I planned a solo trip to Omaha to test my studies.
As the day wore on I noticed just what he had preached in his book; that maiden races are hard to predict, betting to win is the best bang for your buck, leave the exotics alone and pace yourself throughout the day. His book was like the bible of horse handicapping with lessons about pace, form, speed, distance, class, jockeys, trainers, features of the horse, almost anything that there is to know about the race contestants and it’s available with the information provided by the Daily Racing Form. I also learned that I was hitting a lot of 2nd and 3rd place finishers, so I knew I was getting close to being a good student. Then it happened.
It was one of the feature races toward the end of the day and the biggest bet I’d made up to that point was about $6 to win. But this race had a horse that was so much better than his odds showed. I had put the numbers together and figured him to be the winner, but when I looked up at the tote board it showed that #3 Roman Zipper was 9-1! I had set aside this race to be my big money race so I proudly walked up to the window and placed my $20 – to Win – on #3 …… I was nervous of course since it was a time when $20 could buy 4 cases of beer or 4 cartons of smokes or fill any car’s gas tank easily.
The race was a mile 70yds. so I watched the horses go past twice. The first time they were in a pack and I could hardly find my #3. Oh, I forgot, he has a name, so I started shouting “Come on Zipper!” But somewhere on the backstretch one horse moved slowly to the front and kept increasing the lead as they all moved through the far turn. The announcer reassured me that indeed Roman Zipper was way out in front and that his number was 3 which was the same as on my ticket. My heart was racing and my adrenalin was flowing stronger than someone on a trifecta of Red Bulls, coffee and chocolate. As he crossed the finish line there was such a feeling of relief and joy and the only word that came to me was “YES”.
Here is a picture of that moment and I collected $196.00….. and have been hooked ever since. This was my graduation from the College of the Track.
