Where did you first develop an interest in TB racing?

[chickenhead]

.

[Bruddah]

I went to the track for the first time with some older friends. I bet a horse that was 52-1 and it won. Went to the pay window to collect and found out it was 5-2 not 52-1. I thought the flashing light between the 5-2 was just letting you know it was a longshot. That's about the only sure piece of handicapping information I have come across in 40+ years of trying to understand Thorughbred racing. :ThmbUp: :confused: ;)

[jballscalls]

the only way to fall in love with horseracing is at the track. Nobody is going to develop a deep passion for the game watching at home and betting on some adw. For me it was Longacres!

[kenwoodallpromos]

Exposure can be any, takes being there live to get hooked!

[jonnielu]

I grew up a couple of miles from Hialeah race track, and watched Calder being built from Miramar High.

jdl

[whyhorseofcourse]

I loved going to the track when I was younger because of the arcade. One day I decided to go back and relive old times when I was 18+ and the arcade was gone, but I fell in love with the game.

[46zilzal]

Between the Old Gillette Cavalcade of Sports (big races like Tim Tam's Derby) and Gil Stratton's Saturday afternoons from Anita. My mother tried to get me to watch something else, but wouldn't budge.

[john del riccio]

My POP was a HUMUNGOUS thoroughbred fan & brought me to MTH at th eripe age of 4, it was an instantaineous appeal for me.


John

[ManeMediaMogul]

I watched Gil Stratton broadcast the Saturday feature race from Santa Anita when I was very young. I had been going to the track since I was three, but I really got into it by the time I was five, listening to the interviews and Gil's commentary. Quicken Tree was my favorite horse back then.

[cj]

I was 15. Got introduced by a high school classmate (and current track announcer) and never looked back.

[46zilzal]

I watched Gil Stratton broadcast the Saturday feature race from Santa Anita when I was very young. I had been going to the track since I was three, but I really got into it by the time I was five, listening to the interviews and Gil's commentary. Quicken Tree was my favorite horse back then.
Remember the DEAD HEAT with Fiddle Isle??

[ralph_the_cat]

I visted the track alot, I remember learning to read the DRF when I was around 7 yo, hands filled with black ink... it was the same night I was introduced to hot salsa... glad I can still remember that night... It was the first time in my life I could ask my father 100 questions, and he answered every one of them!... Im surprised he just didnt give me a cigar and a playboy too... few months later I remember hitting my first perfecta, might have been 8 yo... the weird part is, I really didnt develope much of a passion until I was 15... It was just like going to the park when I was 9 or 10... fun, but nothing special... When I was 15 I had a nice payoff on a 70-1 shot that I had 5 bucks across the board on, had me hooked to say the least... started placing wager myself after that, the clerks never asked me for an ID @ MNR... had a couple ask me my age... but they took my word for it.... :lol: ... $2 win bets... $6 tri bets... Id be mad if I lost $12... :rolleyes: ... good times...:ThmbUp:

[DeanT]

I couldnt pick one of those. I always played harness, then got the bug by gambling. I bought Quirin's book and read it a few times. Then I picked up the form. Since I had always played harness with fractional times - the equivalent of turn time, pace pressure and last quarter speed, that kinda stuff - I was not able to feel comfortable playing t-breds with the info in the form at the time.

It was not until years later, and a ton of reading that I got into it again.

It's a real intellectual challenge and I have grown to love it now with the new information available to handicappers.

[RaceBookJoe]

I remember as a 4-5 yr-old , when I walked through(actually under) the turnstyles at Saratoga...i just knew this was the place i was supposed to be.

[chickenhead]

so its about what I expected, you could look at it two ways....either as justification for the idea that on-track attendance is vitaly important for getting people involved in the game, or as justification that racing needs to do much more to get fans involved in other ways.

I think its more the former, but they also do a terrible job at the latter. I can't imagine being interested had it not been for being at the track at a young age and having a good time.

[Cratos]

I didn’t know much about horseracing on 1967, but in September of that year, my wife to be at the time and I went to Aqueduct to see the races because I had a friend who was into horseracing and would always talk about “Big D” who was at that time the champion, Damascus.

To my surprise in the feature race, the Woodward, there was Damascus, Buckpasser, and this horse named Dr. Fager. For whatever reason after viewing Dr. Fager in the paddock I became enamored with him and after watching him run (although he didn’t win) I followed him in every race he ran on the NYRA circuit and at the same time fell in love with this sport.

[Spectacular Sid]

There was a TV show on Saturday nights in the 1960s called "Let's Go to the Races" or something like that, showing replays with new race calls (and fictitious names) from Tropical Park. Grocery store shoppers got coupons or play sheets with the names of horses on each race, and if you got so many winners you won a gift certificate to the store. It was fun to follow along and got me interested in racing.

[Dave Schwartz]

I couldn't play blackjack any more and looked for something else to beat. (1978)

LOL - I recall saying that it will probably take me 6 months to figure out how to beat the game. It actually took me 9 years.


Regards,
Dave Schwartz

[riskman]

Although my father had been taking me to Saratoga on summer vacations since I was six years old, I did not get seriously get involved in horse racing until 1988. It took me 10 years of blood, sweat and tears to finally get to the day that I could make a withdrawal out of my betting account rather than a deposit. :jump:

[PaceAdvantage]

A high school friend and myself thought it would be cool to take a drive out to Roosevelt Raceway one Friday night.....who knew?

[DrunkenHorseplayer]

Went to Playfair (now defunct) a few times in '89, liked it and started going to Longacres (now defunct) on a regular basis in '90. The last three years of Longacres' existence were great times.

[cnollfan]

There was a TV show on Saturday nights in the 1960s called "Let's Go to the Races" or something like that, showing replays with new race calls (and fictitious names) from Tropical Park. Grocery store shoppers got coupons or play sheets with the names of horses on each race, and if you got so many winners you won a gift certificate to the store. It was fun to follow along and got me interested in racing.

I loved that show, but it seemed like the horses on the grocery sheets came in second a whole lot more than chance :>) I thought the races were from a previous incarnation of Tampa Bay Downs like Sunshine Park or Florida Downs.

I can't imagine anyone who is not already a fan becoming one through simulcasting. I'm a firm believer that you have to go to the track to get the bug.

[dav4463]

There was a TV show on Saturday nights in the 1960s called "Let's Go to the Races" or something like that, showing replays with new race calls (and fictitious names) from Tropical Park. Grocery store shoppers got coupons or play sheets with the names of horses on each race, and if you got so many winners you won a gift certificate to the store. It was fun to follow along and got me interested in racing.


They used to show that in the 70's during the afternoon. I remember picking races with my Mom and seeing who could pick the most winners. It was fun. I also played a horseracing board game. I think it was called Win/Place/Show.

[cnollfan]

They used to show that in the 70's during the afternoon. I remember picking races with my Mom and seeing who could pick the most winners. It was fun. I also played a horseracing board game. I think it was called Win/Place/Show.

I loved Win Place and Show -- haven't thought of it for years. Lucky Old Sun and Nothing Special were tough chalks in the double. Egg Roll would try to steal the first 1 1/4 mile race, but I often had good luck with the longshots Numerator and Little Miss Muffet. Crime Wave was always a big overlay in the 2 year old race, breaking from pp 1 with the apprentice allowance. French Twist was an automatic crossout at low odds on the outside. I used to like Leyte Gulf in the finale but over time I began to prefer the closer Mona Lisa.

[thespaah]

.August of 1977. Went to Saratoga for the first time..Was there on Travers Day before I even knew what a Travers was. I have been hooked ever since.

[thespaah]

Went to Playfair (now defunct) a few times in '89, liked it and started going to Longacres (now defunct) on a regular basis in '90. The last three years of Longacres' existence were great times.
Play fair(defunct) Longacres (defunct) please stay away from Saratoga...LOL!!!
All kidding aside, I have been to tracks that have closed as well. Roosevelt in NY And Brandywine in DE....

[Wickel]

I had just turned 19 and my freshman year at New Mexico State under my belt and I needed a summer job. Went to work as a money runner for The Downs at Santa Fe in its inaugural season in 1971. A few weeks into the meet I was told about a red-hot trainer to wager on. I made five consecutive bets on him and won all five. To make a long story short, I was hooked.

[firstofftheclaim]

Greenwood in east Toronto with my father when I was a kid.