There are many songs with the horse as the main theme or character in the lyrics. “Wildfire” by Michael Murphy and “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones are a couple. But I set out to find the top 10 songs specifically about horse racing.
Whether from the racing aspect or the wagering side of the sport, the list was dreadfully small, but probably more than most major sports. With the exception of baseball, horse racing probably has more songs than the rest.
I can’t name more than one or two songs about golf or tennis or soccer or basketball and car racing. Even our country’s most popular sport, football, only has a couple that I know of “Are You Ready for Some Football” and “The Lonesome Kicker”.
If you would like to see my Top 10 Horse Race Songs just click on the picture and “I’ll Take You There”.
10) The main dress code rule was, “Cover your privates! It’s all we expect.”
9) If you threw a betting ticket on the ground outside it was a $500 fine BUT in our OTB parlor it’s OK, our $19 an hour union “floor sweeper guy” who’s building his pension will get it.
8) The only designated smoking area was within 2 to 4 feet of the front door (see picture above).
7) Coughing and hacking was required by all bettors prior to and after each race.
6) If you were a bad employee, that was OK…. your union and the government guaranteed your job, your wages and your pension.
5) The government was in charge of running the company…. and they can’t even run the government!
4) The smell was bad, the windows greasy, the fixtures trashed, the food was yuk and bathrooms were filthy, other than that they were OK.
3) Women were allowed but very few braved the cold-hearted, germ-infested confines (see above picture again). Would you want your wife or your mother-in-law to go in there?? (Don’t answer that.)
2) Foul language was not only permitted but was #$%^&@ng required.
And the number one reason the NYC OTB parlors went under……
1) Profit? Whazza profit? Hey, I get paid, no matta…. whateva!
Have you ever been to Keeneland? If your answer is no, then simply click on the picture of the Keeneland Rolex Clock and we will take you there. It’s just a taste of what you might expect in a brief stay in the Lexington, KY area.
They have meets in the Spring and the Fall, pick one, but plan early. Keeneland’s short sessions are one of the reasons they are always sold out.
You can find more Keeneland information on my website after your short tour. Let’s go!
I’ve often wondered why most old black and white photos of sports spectators depicted a throng of humanity dressed to the nines in the 1920’s and up to the 1950’s. Men would don a suit and tie and top it off with a fedora or a straw hat also known as a boater. Some went with a vest or even a bow tie to mix things up a bit. The typical woman’s wear usually consisted of a summer dress and possibly a sun hat or a bell shaped cap also known as a Cloche hat.
Whatever the particular style, the one thing for sure was people looked nice. Some of the reasons that the trend of the time was so formal, especially the 20’s and 30’s, was Hollywood and professional sports. Movies other than westerns and war movies depicted well dressed characters. From Charlie Chaplain and Mary Pickford to the Marx Brothers to Bogart and Ingrid Bergman …. most scenes were filmed in a dapper garb. Women were also dressed for the ball, unless they were on a boat or a horse or camping. Another influence in style was the sports figures. For example, on the local theater newsreel, Babe Ruth was always dressed in a coat and tie when not in pin stripes, as well as the great boxers of that time, Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey.
After WWII the trend continued until around the late 50’s when casual became the fashion. The dressed up look in men went from dark suit, tie and hat to the loud colored leisure suit to the bold colored coveralls to jeans and t-shirts to today’s typical male spectator in a sweat suit or an untucked t-shirt, multi-pocketed shorts partially covering leg that shouldn’t be seen in public, flip-flops or crocks and a baseball cap turned backwards. And woman’s fashion has “de-evolved” too but not nearly as drastic as the typical male neanderthal sports fan.
There are many who still respect the sport and others enough to look and act respectable. To the many men and women who do so, thank you for making the sport more enjoyable.
What’s my point? Well, the point is more of a question, and that is, why do some of our race goers have to look like such slobs at the track? Could we dress just a little nicer? I know we have nice threads somewhere in our closet… but why don’t we wear them out in public? If horse racing is the “Sport of Kings” then why are there so many kings dressed like peasants?
Thank goodness some tracks have dress codes in certain areas of the grandstand. Some, like Keeneland, even have different degrees of such codes like sport coat in one and collared shirt and dress pants in another. I’m in favor of the “casual look” as much as anyone else but there is a big difference in casual and pig-sty sloppy.
Someone once told me that you should always dress for success…. well, that must explain why so many of the slobs at the track are tearing up so many of their tickets.
What centuries ago began with the horse and later chariots and recently to stock cars, racing has definitely evolved. The one constant is the measure of “horse power”. Horse power is defined as a basic unit of power in the FPS system, equal to the power needed to raise a weight of 550 pounds a distance of 1 foot in 1 second.
There are some similarities and some huge differences in these types of racing. Here are some interesting comparisons (many are approximations):
TOPIC: Horse Racing vs NASCAR
COLOR: Jockey Silks vs Lavish Paint Jobs
HORSE POWER: 1 vs 800
TOTAL HP FOR ENTIRE EVENT: 90 vs 34,400
MILES TRAVELED: 1 vs 500
DECIBEL LEVEL (115 DANGEROUS): <50dbs vs >130Dbs Per Car (x43)
EVENT FUEL USED: 700 lbs. Oats vs 6,000 Gal. Gas
PIT STOPS: 0 Per Horse vs 8-12 Per Car
DRIVER STABILIZATION: Stirrups vs Head & Neck Harness and Belts
SHOES: 4 Re-usable Horse Shoes Per Horse vs 20-32 Tires Per Car
SPONSOR NAMES: 1-2 on Jockey & Horse vs 30-60 on Driver & Car
RAIN: Race vs Cancel
BREAK IN ACTION: 30 Min. Breaks vs 20 Min. Between Wrecks
POLLUTION: Minimal vs Extreme
FAN PARTICIPATION: Cheer, Bet & Win vs Silent Cheer and Deafness
ATTENDANCE: Down 1% to 14% vs Down 20% to 40%
ADMISSION: $3.00 vs Was $99 Now $55
The comparisons are approximations and have only some semblance of truth.
Horse racing has an element that most other sports do not. To the active fan of thoroughbred racing there is an added feature, risk, that sets this sport aside from most all the rest. Risk is part and parcel of racing from the fan’s perspective just as it is from those that are the active participants of the sport.
As in most other major sports, risk only concerns the players. The lay of the golf ball, the runner on third base, the dribble down the lane, the pass down field…. are all risk situations in sport that are dealt with directly by the players in the game only and can be of their consequence alone. During these “spectator sports” the few risks that involve the fans are things concerning having that extra beer (risk of DUI) or hot dog (risk of indigestion) or when to leave (risk of sitting in a traffic jam). It’s pretty much a risk less event.
Horse racing, on the other hand, is blessed with this adrenaline pumping feature for not only the players but for the fans as well. The fan can share in the financial victory of the contestant but must risk some personal capital to do it. As horseplayers decide and decipher the choice for their wager they are measuring the risk they are willing to take. The quality of horses, the type of bets or the amount of wager all have different degrees of risk.
In horse betting we measure that risk to some degree with the corresponding reward. In other words the sure favorite that looks unbeatable on paper is a low risk and will pay a low reward. But is it low risk? How many favorites have you seen that look unbeatable go down defeated. So is it just luck? Or is it a calculated guess? Is it gambling or simply risk taking?
It is my view that serious horse handicapping is more a calculated risk than those above mentioned terms. We calculate in a logical manor to decipher the statistically fastest potential horse based on the previous public record of that particular animal or animals and decide the best method to wager to be rewarded… hence “calculated risk”. Now, if you like the horses name or the color of the jockey silks or you are betting a lucky number then that is pure gambling. Both are fun and both are a major part of thoroughbred racing.
Here are some thoughts about risk:
To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. (Soren Kierkegaard)
Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. (T. S. Eliot)
If you risk nothing, then you risk everything. (Geena Davis)
And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. (Erica Jong)
There is the risk you cannot afford to take, there is the risk you cannot afford not to take. (Peter Drucker)
Take a chance! All life is a chance. The person who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. (Dale Carnegie)
Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. (William Faulkner)
No noble thing can be done without risks. (Michel de Montaigne)
Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age. (Ernest Hemingway)
You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen. (Paulo Coelho)
A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail out to sea and do new things. (Grace Hopper)
If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary. (Jim Rohn)
It takes risks to achieve. It’s often scary. It requires something you didn’t know before or a skill you didn’t have before. But in the end, it’s worth it. (Jack Canfield)
Our lives improve only when we take chances – and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves. (Walter Anderson)
The only way to be absolutely safe is never to try anything for the first time. (Magnus Pyke)
It is only by taking risks from one hour to the other that we live at all. (William James)
Life is inherently risky. There is only one big risk you should avoid at all costs, and that is the risk of doing nothing. (Denis Waitley)
Everything is sweetened by risk. (Alexander Smith)
The men who have done big things are those who were not afraid to attempt big things, who were not afraid to risk failure in order to gain success. (B. C. Forbes)
One must work and dare if one really wants to live. (Vincent van Gogh)