Inner Dirt
01-21-2015, 01:38 PM
I was a pretty good harness handicapper in my youth in Southern California from 1979-1986. Usually would either make a couple $100 or at least come out even. Any attempts after that to rekindle the skill have been futile so I quit betting harness. I somehow went from someone who could pick 35-40% winners down to 10-15%. I would like to take a few trips down memory lane, by Googling where is a good place to look up drivers and the history of harness racing, any good books? I was amazed to find that it appears Gerald Longo and Gene Vallandingham are still driving, they have to be late 60's +.
Longo provided me with a laugh one day at Los Alamitos probably around 1986. He seemed to be an expert at sitting behind the leader on a 3-5 shot and waiting too long to pull out and getting trapped all the way down the stretch till it was too late. He had pulled this stunt again and an angry fan started yelling at him "Longo you are a piece of garbage" as he was walking back to the barns. Instead of ignoring the irritate fan like most drivers do he walked over to the fence and told the guy to climb onto the track and he would kick his butt. The guy walked away and Longo kept yelling at him, it was pretty funny.
Longo provided me with a laugh one day at Los Alamitos probably around 1986. He seemed to be an expert at sitting behind the leader on a 3-5 shot and waiting too long to pull out and getting trapped all the way down the stretch till it was too late. He had pulled this stunt again and an angry fan started yelling at him "Longo you are a piece of garbage" as he was walking back to the barns. Instead of ignoring the irritate fan like most drivers do he walked over to the fence and told the guy to climb onto the track and he would kick his butt. The guy walked away and Longo kept yelling at him, it was pretty funny.