what brought you into the game!

[hoovesupsideyourhe]

just wondering why all of you have made this sport your hobby,work,game of choice. did you have a mentor.or learn the hard way..was there a point where you hit a big one and got hooked.did the puzzle of handicapping lure you.or just like the game as a whole ..love the athletes/owner visit to the track as a kid..what..

[DJofSD]

Handicapping and wagering on horses is more profitable than solving crossword puzzles.

[Overlay]

The mental exercise/challenge of it, plus the possibility of achieving consistent profit through skill (in contrast to luck-based, negative-expectation wagering games).

[classhandicapper]

I was always attracted to gambling, but the combination of gambling entertainment, intellectual challenge, and money won being twice as sweet as money earned is a tough combination for me to overcome.

[2low]

I enjoy games where money flows from the people who do it casually for fun to those who take the time and effort to learn to win. Certainly not a given with horse racing, but possible.

I like puzzles and strategy games.

I wanted a good excuse to kick up my excel skills and learn a bit about programming software. I'm slowly working towards building a handicapping blackish box - two birds with one stone I guess you could say.

In the end, I suppose I enjoy trying to figure out how to consistently win more than I enjoy actually watching the horsies run around the track, although I like that part of it too.

[BombsAway Bob]

My Grandfather owned horses. They ran in New England & New York, so by the age of four I was listening to AM Radio with him for racecalls & results. Then We'd go to the Fitchburg Bus Station newsstand for the next days' Telegraph & the five-star Evening edition of the Boston Record-American(and a candy bar or two...I didn't travel cheap).
By Five, I was making selections from the R-A's graded entry sheet, & calculating $2WPS Mythical wager results that my parents & I had made the day before, to determine the best handicapper in the family!

[formula_2002]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhe

just wondering why all of you have made this sport your hobby,work,game of choice. did you have a mentor.or learn the hard way..was there a point where you hit a big one and got hooked.did the puzzle of handicapping lure you.or just like the game as a whole ..love the athletes/owner visit to the track as a kid..what..

genes!!!

[scgmhawk]

My father was an owner from about 1979 - 1995, so I was exposed to the sport that way. Went to Belmont, Aqueduct, Monmouth, Meadowlands, and Arlington Park to watch the races, along with visiting some farms in KY when he had a few broodmares. I like the intellectual challenge in addition to the gambling, of course . Plus, I can't throw a jockey like I throw the occasional golf club so it's probably safer!

[hoovesupsideyourhe]

myself, i got into the sport in high school.in the midwest arlington park /hawthorne/ sportsmans. used to know some people who were owners. got out of it wile in the military.then when i returned i went back. love the puzzle and all parts of the game.my kids have been to arlington.churchill keeneland.. i hope those memorys keep the next generation of people coming to the sport..

[Grits]

One horse. One race mare and her trainer/exercise rider, one morning, on the apron at Keeneland.

Beautiful Pleasure and Donna Ward.

And I'm grateful, still, to both of them.

All the races, all the travel, all the handicapping, the money spent, the time involved, etc, etc, the sport still holds me. Even, with all its flaws.

Tennis, golf, and the Country Clubs that go with them--they can keep 'em.

Let me watch horses saddled, and run.

[whyhorseofcourse]

IMHO its the most social out of any gambling type.
Used to go with my parents when I was young. Seemed like everybody knew everybody.

[turfnsport]

chicks

[dav4463]

I loved watching horseracing on TV as a kid. They had a show where they showed old races and you could pick the winners and win prizes. "Day at the Races" maybe? I also watched the big races that were on TV and I just liked the sport.

[joelouis]

A brain freeze, thank God I thawed out.

[joelouis]

Originally Posted by turfnsport

chicks

chicks ha ha you have to be kidding.