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06-24-2017 07:01 AM |
Belmont: Saturday, June 24
Good Morning. I'll be back later with my picks. But, for now: "A Tale From The Track".
The "Capo di Tutti"
“Get what uze want!” I said. “It’s on me,” I added. “Hot dog. Hamburger. Soda. French fries. Ice cream. You name it. Whatever uze want,” I repeated.
I was “greasing” all my friends. I was riding an extreme high. As I think back, I felt like Jimmy Conway (Robert de Niro) in “Goodfellas” stuffin’ “Double-Saws“ into people’s shirt pockets. I was all aglow. It was as if my Nonna Gulia was lookin’ down on me and sayin’, “Walt, you dun good!”
Yes, on one spring evening in the early-1960s, I was, at least for the moment, the “Capo di Tutti”. I was takin’ care of all my cugines. (Hey, I was born in Syracuse. Not that Syracuse. The one in upstate New York).
But why the largess? How had this poor kid who was raised on the streets of Boston suddenly turned from a scrounging and grinding urchin into…“The Man”.
That evening, my friends piled into my 1954 Dodge as we made our way north to southern New Hampshire’s Rockingham Park (the parking lot was so big they had trams that took you to the main entrance).
Once inside, I “scoped” out the race-card. It was then that I said, “I’m gonna try to hit the Twin Tri.”
At this point I should mention that this type of exotic wager was, back in those days, “a reach”. But, for some reason, I felt strongly about my chances.
Well, as I think back, I hit the first twin-tri race. I had exchanged for two “live” tickets in the second half. I must tell you that I was panting like a dog in heat when I made that exchange. One of my tickets put the #7 horse, Necy II, on top. Wouldn’t you know it, Necy II grabbed the lead right off the starter’s car and held on. I collected a cool $400 (a fortune in those days).
As I recall, my entourage followed me to the windows (I love seein’ four pictures of my favorite non-President, Benjamin Franklin). It was then, like “The Pied Piper of Hamlin,” that I led “my flock” to the concession stand and said, “Get what uze want. It’s on me.”
As a post-script and - I might add - a lesson in money management, I returned the following evening only to give back about half of what I had made the night before. Live and learn. Yet, the memories will always linger of that day back in the early-1960s that I felt like the “Capo di Tutti”.
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