Did you make your first bet at the track underage?

[wiffleball whizz]

Everybody here got a story of there first bets here......unless the few here in there 20s who maybe put in through adw most of us here had to go to the track at a window or self service machine to do so....

I had my father and his friends put in plays from prob 15 on but my first ever actaul bet was placed when I was 16 I put in the play at the meadowlans....if anybody knows where the 2nd floor restaurant called franchises it was a bar/deli and by the stairs hidden there were the old school machines...old f**** school.com......I bet $3 win on a 8/5 at penn national

I bring this up cus I was at laurel sat night and if anybody knows it in the building at the top of the strech they had the old school self service machines...the ones where at the top they had BEL/AQU/SAR button if u bet those.....CD/KEE if you wanted to bet Kentucky etc etc.....brought me back to back down memory lane...I'm gonna try and find a picture of this ghetto machine

Where did u guys bet your first race yourself

[horses4courses]

At age 10, my grandmother had me running bets for her up the street to the nearest bookie's office.
Terrible spit and sawdust joint - I loved it!
Within a year, I was marking their results boards for them.

It was all downhill from there...... :lol:

[Grits]

Keeneland in lovely Bluegrass Country.

[BlueShoe]

Yep, and after more than half a century still recall the name of the horse and what happened. It was at Santa Anita, the horse's name was Eastgate, riden by Ralph Neves. He went off at 8 or 9 to one, had the lead deep in the stretch, and was run down in the last 50 yards by the classy Twentyoneguns, George Tanaguchi the rider. That first wager seemed to have set the stage forever, since the curse of seconditis has plagued and followed me ever since, at times almost driving me to the point of quitting and giving up the game.

[Ocala Mike]

Definitely. I go back to the days when a minor couldn't even get into the NYRA tracks, so I used to sneak in. I believe the first winner I ever cashed for myself was a Fred Hooper horse named GYRO with Eric Guerin up. Probably a 2-yo race at Jamaica or the old Belmont. This would have been late 50's.

[RunForTheRoses]

March 1980 I was 14, gave my father $2 to bet on a horse he thought would win that day, he was going to OTB. Name was Papa Pia, AQI, he went wire to wire and paid about $17. Was a windfall for me back then.

I then played basically through my father for a while and kinda was getting disillusioned with the horses-it was great when you won but sucked when you lost. In fact it still does. So, I was pretty much out of it when my friend came back from a vacation to Arzona. He hands me either the racing form or the program for the day he went to Turf Paradise. An Uncle had taken him. I'm deciphering the form for him, there really is a learning curve, all those symbols, he'd be like well why don't you like that one he one his last race, and I'd say something obvious like that was a mile and an eigth and this is 6F, that was against $5k now against $12500, etc.
Well it got me playing agian, and I've never looked back, wonder what would have happened if he didn't go to AZ? I started playing on my own at OTB, I was 17, only got proofed once or twice.

[RunForTheRoses]

[QUOTE=wiffleball whizz]

I had my father and his friends put in plays from prob 15 on but my first ever actaul bet was placed when I was 16 I put in the play at the meadowlans....if anybody knows where the 2nd floor restaurant called franchises it was a bar/deli and by the stairs hidden there were the old school machines...old f**** school.com......I bet $3 win on a 8/5 at penn national

Those machines, which I think are the same as I'm thinking because when I worked PIM for the Preakness in the early '00s, Monmouth got rid of them and went to Autotote in 99, they've since moved on to a better gen Autotote...they were/are the AMTOTE machine. Had a lot of peculiarites. Here's a newer version of it:
http://www.arlingtonpark.com/category/tags/amtote

[Stretch Out]

241st St White Plains Road OTB. Just got my license. It was just a squrare box, packed to the gills. Once Marshall Cassidy came on with the call there was total silence. Great feeling making bets- used OTB letters.

[ronsmac]

The first time I went to the windows by myself, I was a month shy of 15, tried to talk with a little deeper voice, and was stunned when he actually punched out my tickets.

[PoloUK6108]

I was lucky. My grandfather's bad health and success in racing led him to buying into a jockey club suite at Churchill (what a rip off! But boy was it fun). I was about 12 or 13 when I really started betting. I'd get off the elevator, grab a free program and make a beeline for our suite. I'd immediately start putting the TVs on different tracks and start playing exacta boxes on the betting machine in the room with money I'd made doing chores...did I say I was lucky? Maybe just ruined from the start :lol: Granddad can't make it to the track anymore so it's general admission for me now..and I lose alot more money these days :bang:

[Stretch Out]

Those machines date back to the Carter Administration- Pimlico still has them I believe. They just lump these tracks together geographically, and the machines are awful. Takes me about 45 seconds to make a bet and forget about modifying your original picks for weighting purposes,. At least they make a funny chirping sound so you remember to hit the "return balance" button.

[wiffleball whizz]

Those machines date back to the Carter Administration- Pimlico still has them I believe. They just lump these tracks together geographically, and the machines are awful. Takes me about 45 seconds to make a bet and forget about modifying your original picks for weighting purposes,. At least they make a funny chirping sound so you remember to hit the "return balance" button.

I go to the far reaches of laurel and they had the "geographical machines" I wanted to bet Pocono downs and on top it has all the tracks in geographic areas....I had to hit 4 for "more tracks" then 13 for Pocono downs...Definitly the carter administrator material

In the room I bet called the typhoon room they have the "newer" version of the old machines when u keep walking down the other end it's about 300 of the oldest machines you will ever see.....and yes pimlico has them too....I'll take pictures of these next time im there I can't find and pics online of these things

[Stretch Out]

Right - you have to hit a tiny separate button for "More Tracks". Time warp stuff. Impossible to send in last second bets.

[deathandgravity]

Turf Paradise 1979.... no one seemed to care that a 14yr old was ditching school & spending the day @ the track :D

[outofthebox]

I was 14-15 sending out bets with the neighbors father who was a mutuel clerk. But my first trip to the track solo was when i was 16. I would take the track bus that left from a book store in the San Fernando Valley and trek the 30 mile trip to Santa Anita. I became friendly with other passengers to obtain the free entry of a minor. I was lucky to never have been approached by security, though there were a few clerks that would look at me suspiciously...

[NJ Stinks]

I guess I was in Franchises around a dozen times, WW. I liked playing the simulcasts from there. I remember those machines too but I can't remember my first bet or how old I was. Probably 15 or 16. One thing is for sure. I was definitely at the old Garden State.

[horses4courses]

Turf Paradise 1979.... no one seemed to care that a 14yr old was ditching school & spending the day @ the track :D

Myself and a buddy would do that, too. Early 1970s.
Our school in Dublin had "half days" on Wednesdays, and we were out at 12.
Sometimes the track at Leopardstown ran on Wednesday afternoons.
It was a mile away. We'd make first post at 1pm with plenty to spare :)

[Zydeco]

Late 70's a buddy took me to Scioto Downs in Columbus , Ohio. We lived there. Had 20 dollars when I walked in. Bet every race, had 2 hot dogs and 4 Heinekens. Left with 22 dollars. Thought...hmmmm....I could do this! lol.....Was probably 18 though. Then started dating a girl who's Dad played the sulky's and would take his wagers when we went. Gave me some good tips. Saw Art Schlister and Pete Rose there many times.

[JustRalph]

Late 70's a buddy took me to Scioto Downs in Columbus , Ohio. We lived there. Had 20 dollars when I walked in. Bet every race, had 2 hot dogs and 4 Heinekens. Left with 22 dollars. Thought...hmmmm....I could do this! lol.....Was probably 18 though. Then started dating a girl who's Dad played the sulky's and would take his wagers when we went. Gave me some good tips. Saw Art Schlister and Pete Rose there many times.

We probably passed each other often...........

[proximity]

Yep, and after more than half a century still recall the name of the horse and what happened. .

my own experience is only pushing a quarter century, but i imagine i'll never forget it either.

i never went to the track until i was almost ready to graduate high school. my friends dragged me out to a midweek pen card and i remember studying (john) bogar's graded selections in the harrisburg patriot news. first race, best bet of the day, #7 stacey's bubbles (red saddlecloth back then?), 7-5 ml, "looks like the one."

unfortunately didn't run like "the one."

a few weeks later i also remember my first "handicapped" pick. i'd picked a drf up off the ground and noticed a lot of horses losing to a horse named vandy's friend and then noticed the name vandy's friend in the entries for pen. my best friend couldn't make it to the track, but was interested in this horse too so he gave me his money to bet and combined i was able to make my first trip to the domain of the serious bettor: the $50 window. :D i remember vandy's friend hanging on for like a neck win and paying something like $3. :jump: :blush:

later that summer or the next i came across a similar situation with a horse named heading north on the philadelphia park simulcast. (this was the only simulcast there was back then, lol) well, heading north won again and i guess from that point on i was never gonna completely give this up, lol. :)

sorry for the long post. great thread again though whizz!!

[wiffleball whizz]

my own experience is only pushing a quarter century, but i imagine i'll never forget it either.

i never went to the track until i was almost ready to graduate high school. my friends dragged me out to a midweek pen card and i remember studying (john) bogar's graded selections in the harrisburg patriot news. first race, best bet of the day, #7 stacey's bubbles (red saddlecloth back then?), 7-5 ml, "looks like the one."

unfortunately didn't run like "the one."

a few weeks later i also remember my first "handicapped" pick. i'd picked a drf up off the ground and noticed a lot of horses losing to a horse named vandy's friend and then noticed the name vandy's friend in the entries for pen. my best friend couldn't make it to the track, but was interested in this horse too so he gave me his money to bet and combined i was able to make my first trip to the domain of the serious bettor: the $50 window. :D i remember vandy's friend hanging on for like a neck win and paying something like $3. :jump: :blush:

later that summer or the next i came across a similar situation with a horse named heading north on the philadelphia park simulcast. (this was the only simulcast there was back then, lol) well, heading north won again and i guess from that point on i was never gonna completely give this up, lol. :)

sorry for the long post. great thread again though whizz!!

Your posts are epic.....hoping to squeeze 1 more timonium trip with you TC And ronsmac.......the board screams at the big T.....don't even need a program!!

[craigbraddick]

1983 Grand National and I was six years old.

Midday Gun at 12/1 fell at the first.

Hot Tomato at 25/1 fell at the 30th and final fence when out of contention.

Hallo Dandy at 25/1 finished 4th at 25/1.

10p WIN on each of them!

My two best days as a juvenile wagerer...

There was a parlay bet called the ITV7 based around seven consecutive races from two tracks shown on the ITV network every saturday. I had a 10p bet and won the first five legs. No-one got six or seven that week and the consolation pay off was three figures of which I was allowed to keep 30 GBP! I was eight.

Sixteen years old...I am down to my last 10.50 in the world. Go to the store and somehow lose the tenner....Go into the bookies with the 50p, three dog races left for the day. Do a three race dual-forecast parlay and walk out with over 100 GBP!

Craig.

[proximity]

Your posts are epic.....hoping to squeeze 1 more timonium trip with you TC And ronsmac.......the board screams at the big T.....don't even need a program!!

my posts might be epic, but you are an epic poster!! :D

it's a longshot, but i was thinking of going down sunday (sep 1) if i get up at a reasonable hour. :sleeping:

[ronsmac]

my posts might be epic, but you are an epic poster!! :D

it's a longshot, but i was thinking of going down sunday (sep 1) if i get up at a reasonable hour. :sleeping:
Come on down Proximity.

[proximity]

Come on down Proximity.

the key is getting my whole body out of bed by (don't laugh) 10:00am, lol.

how's it going for you so far?? your handicapping seemed pretty organized to me when i was there friday....

[ronsmac]

the key is getting my whole body out of bed by (don't laugh) 10:00am, lol.

how's it going for you so far?? your handicapping seemed pretty organized to me when i was there friday....
Lost a little friday, broke even saturday, up pretty big sunday. Unfortunately can't get back out until Saturday, and will be doing Sat and Mon. for sure. If TC comes down Sunday , I'll go that day also.

[proximity]

Lost a little friday, broke even saturday, up pretty big sunday. .

nice.

those were some great stories you had there on friday btw. and your dad had to be about the greatest dad in handicapping history. ronsmac's dad musta had him at half the tracks in the country.... including fairs that even track collector may have missed.... by the time he was like 12 or so!!

one great (or not so great) story was when you went to visit your dad at rillito (?).

friends,ronsmac tries to bet a $20 exacta at rillito, but this old lady teller can't get the bet in properly!! finally, he gives up and just bets a horse to win. of course the exacta comes in and pays like $2000+. her ineptitude costs ron the lions share of the exacta pool, but makes probably an extra $1800 or so for one other lucky rillito player. :rolleyes:

was great to be back at the timonium fair though. :)

[GaryG]

The hard part was getting in as they had detectives watching for undesirables. Making a bet was never a problem as I was tall for my age and my head was above most of the windows. They just saw my money. The only time I got caught was cashing in a previous day's ticket before the first race. That was unpleasant to say the least.

[jahura2]

Can't really remember the year but it was at Keeneland around 1973 or 1974, I was 16. I do remember the horses name was PIG PARTY and I got back around 15.00 dollars. I thought I was a millionaire!

[rufus999]

I was 10 years old.

rufus999

[peeptoad]

Yep. At the now defunct Garden State Park back I the late 80s...

[Phantombridgejumpe]

I tought people how to use the automatic machines at the meadowlands when I was 15-16. This included the people that were supposed to be tutoring the customers. I was a very honest teen, would chase people down who left money or a ticket behind.

I went to Montecello, Yonkers and Roosevelt with my dad as a kid. I'd bring my savings (usually between $3-5) and make a bet or two with him. First horse I remember betting by name was Green Speed.

When the Meadowlands opened you needed to be 12 to get in at night. My dad tried unsuccessfully to smuggle me in at 10 and then successfully at 11.

He took me to liberty bell once because you only had to be 10 to get in.

I think I did a report in school at age 11 about betting. Jeez, I had issues.

[Track Collector]

My first bet at the track was when I was a freshman in high school. It was made by a chaperone because I was underage.

Of all places, it was at Churchill Downs in 1973 on Kentucky Derby day! The small school I attended from the 4th grade up had less than 500 students, but we had an excellent HS band. In 1971 (while I was still in middle school) the HS band had competed in a competition in Kentucky and was a winner in their size category. One of the awards was to be invited back two years later to play as one of the infield bands at the Kentucky Derby.

I knew almost nothing about racing then. I had about 60 seconds in which to decide whether or not I wanted to place a bet on the feature race, so I think I went off the morning line odds in the program, and had the chaperon place a $2 WPS bet on Sham, who finished second to the great Secretariat. (Over the years folks have made the comment to my wife that they understand her husband "follows the horses". Tongue-in-Cheek, she tells them that I "follow horses who follow OTHER horses". See, was true from the very beginning.). :D

My overall experience from that special day was that a mobbed infield does little to attract new racing fans. There was no point at which I could directly see any of the live races, and don't recall seeing any television monitors either. This would probably explain why this event was not the launching point for my interest and entry into the world of horseracing.


...

[affirmedny]

16, Monmouth Park. Jockey colony included Craig Perret, Walter Blum, Don Brumfield, Don Macbeth, Rick Wilson, Eddie Delahoussaye, Mickey Solomone, Buck Thornburg. Those were the days.

[Jeff P]

One of my launching point events happened when I was in high school. I had a part time job in grocery store. One Saturday, the assistant store manager, Bob, armed with a DRF, decided to take a bunch of us out to "lunch" at nearby Turf Paradise.

I don't recall anyone in our group doing much in the way of eating. I do recall lunch was supposed to last an hour. I also recall Bob had timed things so he could bet the early double (which he actually cashed.)

I can still picture all of us walking back into the store afterwards - with Bob showing off a fistful of 20's to everybody that didn't go to "lunch" with us.

The image of the boss showing off that fistful of 20's?...

I have to tell you it left quite an impression on this 16 yr old.



-jp


.

[thaskalos]

I was 18.

Took four buses to get to the now defunct Sportsman's Park in Cicero, IL...to bet on a horse named King Gone. He paid $11 to win...and was my only winner in over a month.

Oddly enough...the next ticket I cashed was also on King Gone.

[Zydeco]

We probably passed each other often...........

yes, probably did. You were the guy in the Columbus West Letter jacket, right? :D

[Aner]

First bet and first visit to a racetrack was in May 1958. I was 23 at the time. Hey, I didn't have my first drink until 21. My wife and I were newly married and neither of us were familiar with Bay Area weather. We went to Golden Gate Fields in short sleeves and about froze. Anyway a horse named Dumpty Humpty had ribbons woven into his tail and we bet on him. Saw a lot of people with their noses in newspapers but was too dumb to realize there was information about the races there. Dumpty Humpty set a record of 1:08 flat for the 6 furlongs that held up for awhile.

[Fingal]

Back in High School, Baseball practice sometimes ended early enough so a few of us could make the 9th at Santa Anita.

Even after all these years don't know if they ever fixed the hole in the fence............

[BlueShoe]

Back in High School, Baseball practice sometimes ended early enough so a few of us could make the 9th at Santa Anita.

Even after all these years don't know if they ever fixed the hole in the fence............
There was no need to crawl through a fence. Ever since I can remember, SA and HOL would open the gates right after the next to last race, usually that was the 8th, and let anyone that wished to, in for no charge, free, for the last race. Almost always there was a group outside the gates waiting for 8th to go off so that they could catch the 9th for no charge. Darned if I know if this policy is still observed, many years since payed any attention to it.

[wiffleball whizz]

There was no need to crawl through a fence. Ever since I can remember, SA and HOL would open the gates right after the next to last race, usually that was the 8th, and let anyone that wished to, in for no charge, free, for the last race. Almost always there was a group outside the gates waiting for 8th to go off so that they could catch the 9th for no charge. Darned if I know if this policy is still observed, many years since payed any attention to it.

As far as I know the last few tracks to not charge admission usually open the gates for the last 3 races.....

[proximity]

As far as I know the last few tracks to not charge admission usually open the gates for the last 3 races.....

i thought you were going to post that crawling through the fence only enhances the overall track experience!! :)

[alhattab]

Everybody here got a story of there first bets here......unless the few here in there 20s who maybe put in through adw most of us here had to go to the track at a window or self service machine to do so....

I had my father and his friends put in plays from prob 15 on but my first ever actaul bet was placed when I was 16 I put in the play at the meadowlans....if anybody knows where the 2nd floor restaurant called franchises it was a bar/deli and by the stairs hidden there were the old school machines...old f**** school.com......I bet $3 win on a 8/5 at penn national

I bring this up cus I was at laurel sat night and if anybody knows it in the building at the top of the strech they had the old school self service machines...the ones where at the top they had BEL/AQU/SAR button if u bet those.....CD/KEE if you wanted to bet Kentucky etc etc.....brought me back to back down memory lane...I'm gonna try and find a picture of this ghetto machine

Where did u guys bet your first race yourself

Good starter Wiff.

My first bets were @ The Meadowlands when I was 15 or so. There was a guy on Grandstand Level past the finish line where we knew we could bet. I can't believe I can't remember his name, but I remember what he looked like. I think the first time I bet with him regularly was the big Election Day doubleheader in 1984 at which the giveaway was a coffee mug featuring a Peb jockey caricature of your choice (I think Cordero, Velazquez, Day and maybe Maple?). A few years later I started hanging out downstairs and betting with a guy Rich, who we all called Raghead because he had a mop of hair. Nice guy. I'll never forget betting a straight (6 singles) $2 Pick Six with him and he said "rags to riches, huh kid?"

I do recall those machines Wiff. Can't believe they are still in use. And here we are thinking that technology is dated after 18 months. Not in the racing biz!18 years maybe!

[sam4022]

Monmouth Park late 50's when you had to go to the window displaying your intended bet size...$5, $10, $20...etc. manned by folks who were experts in the 'Slow Draw'. If you don't know what the 'slow draw' is stop computer betting and go bet and cash in person. I was 16 and my dad had an assistant Trainer friend who had told him to stay for the 9th and play a horse named Oil Master that was in top form.

Well I had my drugstore delivery route money, all $10 of it, so I bet some early races and lost $6. Actually my dad had to place my bets. I was able to hold off until the 9th when all of my $4 went on old Oil Master. It was more than a mile and he was dead last at the top of the stretch. I swear the jock, Garth Patterson I think, set off a rocket blast and he passed 8 or 9 others to win going away and paying $20+. Remember this was when gas was less than 50 cents a gallon.......I was rich for weeks.

To this day I've been looking for another Oil Master but the closest I've come was a horse called Secretariat but some other people also knew about him.

Like a first kiss you never forget your first winner.

[Ocala Mike]

...you had to go to the window displaying your intended bet size...$5, $10, $20...etc. manned by folks who were experts in the 'Slow Draw'.




Great stuff, sam4022. You also had to go to the "other side" of the bay, as they sold tickets on one side, and cashed them on the other. All I had to know about the game on my first visit was the realization that there were far fewer cashier's windows than seller's windows.

Yes, in NY for sure, there were experts at the slow draw. There was also competition among the cashiers for the plum assignments. The one that was most in demand was the $5 W/P/S (Comb.) cashier, because nobody ever knew without a little grammar school arithmetic what those damn tickets paid. Cashiers had a field day bilking the public at those windows.

[affirmedny]

Great stuff, sam4022. You also had to go to the "other side" of the bay, as they sold tickets on one side, and cashed them on the other. All I had to know about the game on my first visit was the realization that there were far fewer cashier's windows than seller's windows.

Yes, in NY for sure, there were experts at the slow draw. There was also competition among the cashiers for the plum assignments. The one that was most in demand was the $5 W/P/S (Comb.) cashier, because nobody ever knew without a little grammar school arithmetic what those damn tickets paid. Cashiers had a field day bilking the public at those windows.

Do you remember how the clerks got the payouts? A crude electric pen-type device that wrote the payoffs in longhand. They came out before the race was official and the clerk tore it off. If there was a dq they had to do it over and you knew exactly how much you got dqed out of if you got taken down.

[Ocala Mike]

Yes, the payoff sheet was supposed to be stamped and hung in a little glass window right in front of the cashier's window, so you knew how much to be paid. The really ballsy clerks with enough union standing and seniority would "forget" to hang the payoff sheet when they thought they could make a little extra cash. There were "Willards" (NYRA rats) who went around looking for these kind of "oversights," but there wasn't much discipline handed out.