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I've played the horses for 35 years - Southern California, mainly. Sat in the grandstands and on the benches at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park when the crowds were overflowing. Moved to Tahoe and played at Caesars and Harveys race and sports books, and had to get the sportsbook supervisors to put a reserved seat at one of the tables to guarantee a spot for race day weekends.
Stayed up for hours with my Tomlinson figures and Helm ratings, as well as a marked-up Daily Racing form. I loved it!
Then the following happened:
--5, 6 and 7 horse fields, with scratches on top of that.
--Jorge Navarro and his open disdain for fair play and laughing at the realization that he stiffed his "bookie" with "the juice".
--Horses at Gulfstream Park not getting to the gate until 6 or 7 minutes after "zero minutes to post".
--Tampa and Santa Anita following GP's lead with their own delays.
--Odds changing in deep stretch.
--Herding where jockeys aren't held accountable
--the jockey in Louisiana (Smith?) who claimed light-headedness and got away with it when he clearly threw the race.
And this doesn't even include the breakdowns at SA (drug induced?)
Thank God for Oaklawn Park...and, to a lesser degree, Woodbine.
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