Seven Racetrack Characters to Avoid!
 

http://www.thatsamorestable.net/blog/?p=341

Excerpt:

On good days, the racetrack is full of interesting, Runyonesque characters.
But you know it, and I know it - there are some characters you’re best served avoiding, if not because of any particular danger they pose then because being near them will probably ruin your otherwise good day. Herewith, the comprehensive guide to characters to avoid at the races:

1. Snapping Guy — you know, that guy who stands near the rail and snaps when the horses round the turn for home. Snapping? Really? What does that accomplish? Just… just stop it, dude.

For the 6 other characters to avoid go to:

http://www.thatsamorestable.net/blog/?p=341

years ago at sulfolk downs , i used to see the guy called "tony the tout". he walked around with his binoculars every day and touted people on horses to bet. if they won, he came back to them and was looking for a handout. if they lost he went looking for new guys to fetch. he was good at what he did, he never worked a day in his life and had a tan. when sulfolk became a dead entity he moved his tack to the souther florida circuit, hialeah, calder and gulfstream. he died about 5 years ago.

the old days at gulfstream were filled with groups of people, downstairs in the clubhouse there was a boston contingency, a chicago mob, and new york cheesecake guys. i hung out at the top of the escalator next to the $50 window with jimmy the greek. i always wore shorts, and i got knicknamed "shortpants", but there were lots of knicknames at the track like "jerry the roach" or "jimmy the weasel" or "harvey one eyes"

Some characters are very annoying but I agree with you that most of them make the experience at the track a little more interesting. Especially when you're on of them. ;)

They are a disappearing breed as are most people at the live track.

He forgot the "every race is fixed" guy. He screams after every a race " Boat Race" He actually tries to out guess the "fixers" when he bets. If you hang around him very long, he will make you a believer.;)

What about the guy whos yelling.."Come on 4 come 4 come 4...and all of a sudden the 3 wins...and the guys yells out yeeeeeeeeessss...i have the the 3 collldddd!!"

you used to get all kinds back then, i sound like my grandpa now, boy have times changed. i went to the racetrack every day of my life, or was in some casino sitting in a horseroom. today, i sit at home behind a computer and bet at 10 different tracks all at the same time, and have never tipped a teller once in the last decade. i only make it to the track once or twice a year, i live 20 minutes from sulfolk and haven't stepped for in the place since the masscap that offlee wild beat funnycide in. that was the first time i saw funnycide in person since he was a baby before he ever ran, and the only reason i went was because my wife wanted to go backside to see him

My favorite is the program whipper. He whips his leg with his program like he is riding the horse down the stretch.

Another version of the "finger snapper" is the "smoocher" who makes the kissing sound when his horse gets in contention.

Both of those things drive me insane and I have to walk away.

They are known as paper jocks, each one has a different style. The best is when they lose the "paper whip" in mid stretch and resort to the hand slapping on the hip, priceless.

What about the jamaican....classic...sooooooouuuuuuuup jooooocccckkkkeeyyyy!

I dislike the guy who begins rooting for his horse (or jockey) as soon as the gates open....good Lord.

And they're off...

"C'mon with this 2 boy! C'mon with this horse boy"...and on and on. The rooting gets louder and more fervent with every passing furlong. I got so annoyed one day that I began to shout for another horse, even though I had no bet. Dude would not stop about his 2 horse, so when he got beat I let this out:

"Ha! It was the 8 so you straight donate!!"


PS-I would be a liar if i said I didn't root my horse home, but I have some rules for this. It had better be a good score for me to get vocal. If I stand to get back 15 or 20-1 on my investment for the race I may get vocally involved. Gets really comical when I root from home with no one around.

GGF
 

If I think I am getting too noisy I just go to the outside seating where I can be alone!

I resemble that remark. In addition to the "kisser", I also have the "clicker" going on too (clicking the tongue off the roof of your mouth). My dog doesn't care for it either. :blush:

What is your winning catch phrase? Ya know, when your horse has it wrapped up and it's clear that you will win...whaddaya say? I've heard many:

"I'll ride him from here"
"Now look for the wire"
"That's me!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeasy race"


Shamefully, I have been heard saying, "They don't want you!"

One of the comments after the blog is pretty good:

"I’ll never forget the guy who was telling people that Lasix is when the horse gets laser corrective eye surgery so they can see better when they are running (and he wasn’t joking)."

so true. when i went yesterday i was the youngest guy there, and I'm 48. Saw Jim Hannon and got a "Settoncourse is right on course" from him.:) It's so wierd seeing the place sooo empty. Growing up it was always hopping, especially on the weekends. I went to the track every day. Now, i barely get there. I go as many days to Saratoga as I do to suffolk.

It's not too bad if you're on the same horse and it's going to win. But when the "finger snapper"/"smoocher" has the winner and he beats your horse for the win then it's cruel and unusual punishment. :)

Or hey trainerrrr how you lookin today.

If you could put any of us, which have replied to this thread (including me) on the rail at any track, you would see every characterization mentioned, plus a few which haven't.

who are you?

I think i'm pretty good. But i'm the closest to the obsecure pedigree guy. I've been known to ramble about pedigrees.

There are many characters in the Pub/OTB that I visit usually on a Friday. Most are in their 70/80's and are retired city workers.
There is one that bets cat horses, if the third letter in the name is an "R" and of course the "ninth in the ninth". Another player when his horse runs out which is eight out of nine times says "Go take a shit for yourself." Most need reading glasses and refuse to wear them. They bring a magnifying glass with them to see the paper or program. Then there is "first time latex" one of my favorites.

I am just an old handicapper with 45 years of playing the ponies. If you have a passion for the game, it would be hard not to admit to imitating any of those characters, just once in a lifetime.

It has nothing to do about being good or bad. It has to do with having a heart beat (being live or alive) when they come running in the stretch. That's what kept me a fan all these years. Well, plus making a little money.

He forgot the Mush.

Jim Hannon is still alive??!! He must be 90!!

Where are the railbirds nowadays? Well at least at Tampa they are among the missing. I can remember the grizzled old vets leaning over the rail to give a jock a hard time after a bad ride back in the day at New England tracks. My first visit to Tampa was the 2001-02 meet. I can remember watching a race where the heavy fave got an absolutely horrid ride. I purposely went down to the rail to catch the show. Nothing happened. Nobody said anything. I couldn't believe it. Please tell me that "jock abusing railbirds" are still around somewhere.

How about the guy who has his horse in front and as others are charging closer in the final 1/8 or 1/16 he starts yelling "Come on wire, come on wire" about 10 or more times.....hmmm was there a horse named wire in the race? :lol:

There used to be this guy everyday at Woodbine who called himself Sandy Hawley. The elevator didn't go all the way to the top as he actually believed he was Hawley. The first time I saw him after I saw his antics I gave hime the name jockey fall off. When the horses turned into the stretch in the left hand he would hit his left leg with the form and then hit his right leg with the program while hollering all the way down the stretch.

I had taken my grandfather to the National Orange Show once so he can make his bets, it was before I was into horse racing or really knew much of it, and while he was in line doing his bets I was sitting at a table and had a person come up asking me if I could read some things from her program for her, but after that I started to get serveral people asking me to do that.

Its like someone put a sign on me as the designated reader for those who probably needed reading glasses lol.

man i wanted to spit my coke out when i read this. man

we need to make a let it ride part 2

these "characters" or what they really are
SCUM , are one of the reasons the attendance is
down to almost nothing.

You thing a family of 4 wants to go to belmont , arlington or monmouth
and see these scumbags?

You can't be serious. Which do you think the track would rather have, a family of four licking ice cream cones, or these SCUM characters betting real money? Characters in front, by many. :rolleyes:

Guilty as charged.:lol:

there are some guys who just don't seem to know when their horse has lost all hope. the number they're following will flattern out and start to fade with a furlong and a half to go, yet they keep cheering loudly like the horse may just sprout wings and come back to life.

then there is the guy who yells "stop the race!", when the horses are on the backstretch.

always love the guys who offer their breeding recap for a field of conditioned 5K older claimers. when the horse is 2 for 47 lifetime don't start talking to me about how he's bred for the distance.

I love it! :ThmbUp:

'Stop the race' guy is truly a thorn in my ass.

I tried to portray these guys in the match race scene in Seabiscuit. They directed us to stand there on the apron and cheer as the horses came up towards the line. Fine, I thought, but how realistic is that? And, I over-thought, wasn't War Admiral like the 3-5 fave, so shouldn't there be some form of disappointment in the outcome along with the cheering? So I paper whipped 'em for about 20 yards and slammed my Form in disgust when the outcome became inevitable. Alas, my attempt at method acting is still carpetting the cutting-room floor. It probably cost them the Oscar. :p

Love It
 

That kind of race is the one where the screamers come out. I had a 8 to 1 in front the other day. I was screaming in my house. " Come On. Come On. " Now the neighbors think we're crazy, screaming at computer screens . I told them I play the horses. Now they know. I won the race. Got My 1000 dollars. Man, those are the screamers. LOL

Could perhaps add at least another half dozen or so types to stear clear of. One character to keep at a distance at all costs is a dolt I will call "Jealous Julius". This is the guy that just cannot stand to see another player cash a ticket. So help me, given a choice, he would rather see you lose than for him to win. When his horse finishes fifth but yours gets beat a nose, he has a happy smirk on his face. This is the guy you summon all your restraint to keep from punching.

Ones that particularly bother me, are those that yell . . . . "DIE, four, DIE, four." Or worse . . . . "DIE, MFer, Die". They cross the wire and he's still ranting, "damn MFer". Obviously, this one's not their winner, or part of their ticket. The DIE thing is pretty bad; it gets me. I distance myself pretty good from these guys. And yes, characters they are.:faint:

Thanks Andy,for a most entertaining thread...

The Guy who approaches you and says, "I'm on a losing streak, I need some help ...If you would give me your best bet just once, I would be eternally grateful and maybe I could turn things around"

If the horse wins, he returns and says "I did not have enough money on it to do any good, Whats the best next one"

If the horse loses, he returns to inform you that you are a dog or stiffed him and you should learn how to read a form...because if he had not taken your stupid advice, he knew the winner and would have bet it. :)


Don't you love it? I would rather be at the races than anywhere else.

rwwupl

LOL! There's a guy at an OTB near me who yells out EVERY DAMN TIME when two horses(Lets say 5 and the 6) have the lead in the stretch, "COME ON 5-6, COME ON 5-6!, I GOT THIS EXACTA HARD!" Then another horse will always come in and ruin his exacta and then he always yells, "Ok I got that too!" :lol: :lol: :lol: Everytime.

Every single time(99%) a horse beats him he's still got it in his ex's and triples even though he never mentions the number beforehand. Everyone just quietly laughs at him. I don't know why he doesn't stop.

This thread belongs in the PA HALL OF FAME.................TRUST ME WE COULDNT MAKE THIS UP ITS ALL TRUE>>>PEOPLE LIKE THIS REALLY EXIST>>