BlueShoe
07-29-2006, 02:12 AM
Thursday at Santa Rosa Fair,10th and final race.The race was for bottom level maiden claimers,unplayable for the most part,one that very few us would play.However,betting action is often significant in such races,and the eventual $8.60 winner was bet early and late.Heard Vic say that the horses were at the gate;still plenty of time to bet.Dropped the voucher into the SAM,but lo and behold,no Santa Rosa showed on the menu.Tried another Sam,same thing,Santa Rosa had vanished.Raced to a mutuel window and was told that they could not enter my bet,locked out.Watched the animal I was trying to bet win.Went home fuming,not being able to bet on a winner will do that to you.Friday,emailed Santa Rosa and asked Wha hoppen?Got a prompt reply.--It seems that Bay Meadows is the hub for all simulcast wagering in Northern California,all signals go through them.Bay Meadows had a power outage just before the 10th race,thus no bets from around the state could go in.May have been caused by excessive power demands caused by the heat wave.Do feel a little better about it now that the reason was natural causes and not some screwup.Not a person at my facility had the slightest idea as to what had happened,they just shrugged and stared.Were a few very irate bettors;one guy said he could not bet what turned out to be an $83 tri.Oh well,shutouts do happen,for whatever reason,am sure that all of you could tell some real awful shutout stories.