What got you started????

[Aerocraft67]

I picked it up in middle age. Seduced by the modern complexity of the game and its archaic charm. I'm a sucker for specialized knowledge—this certainly fits the bill. I mostly play online, but a Sunday at Laurel captures the spirit pretty well.

It's like a subculture. People don't know what to make of it when I mention it. Sometimes the reaction is dispiriting, but usually they get a kick out of it. Maybe they even appreciate hearing an informed opinion on the Kentucky Derby.

The first book I read was Crist's Exotic Betting. Totally cart before the horse, but it speaks to what I like. After years of vertical playing, I'm still trying to graduate to the trifecta.

Not surprised to see lots of people getting started young. Partly because it was more popular back in the day. But also because it might be something you're less likely to pick up as an adult. Like hunting. Then again, I also think it particularly suits middle-age, which might have opened the window for me.

[ChartingHorseValue]

Cool thread. I started at UCLA, when I walked into a dorm room and drew Ferdinand randomly. Loved the difficult problem solving and would often ditch class to go to Santa Anita or Hollywood Park with my friend Jesus (that was his Latin name). My grandmother was from Australia and they absolutely love horse racing so I took her to Bay Meadows.

Now I've had a great normal career where I travelled all over the world and visited tracks in UK, France, Hong Kong, Japan & Dubai.

Now I live near Lone Star in TX. Nice track, horrible races. Oh well.

[coachv30]

Originally Posted by Aerocraft67

I picked it up in middle age. Seduced by the modern complexity of the game and its archaic charm. I'm a sucker for specialized knowledge—this certainly fits the bill. I mostly play online, but a Sunday at Laurel captures the spirit pretty well.

It's like a subculture. People don't know what to make of it when I mention it. Sometimes the reaction is dispiriting, but usually they get a kick out of it. Maybe they even appreciate hearing an informed opinion on the Kentucky Derby.

The first book I read was Crist's Exotic Betting. Totally cart before the horse, but it speaks to what I like. After years of vertical playing, I'm still trying to graduate to the trifecta.

Not surprised to see lots of people getting started young. Partly because it was more popular back in the day. But also because it might be something you're less likely to pick up as an adult. Like hunting. Then again, I also think it particularly suits middle-age, which might have opened the window for me.

I can relate to the different reactions....I do not have a huge circle of friends who play the ponies. My peer circle revolves around my assistant baseball coaches (none of whom play the horses), my colleagues at work ( I've gotten a few involved over the years), and my immediate family.

I almost feel like a degenerate when one of them ask, "What are you doing this weekend?" and my response is, " I'm going to play Saratoga this weekend from home" or, I'm heading up to Parx Racing."...I usually get a reaction such as..."Oh...you gamble?"

[coachv30]

This thread could be turned into a book titled, "Memoirs of a Horseplayer".

[porkchop]

Born at Saratoga hospital spent most of my life here its seems to be ingrained into our mindset . Started working as a busboy for harry m stevens when I was 15 , got all the good spots best dinning rooms at the track and then left there to work at the gideon putman main dinning room ( father was shop steward for the bartenders union and close friends with joe deleberto the union head ) . if you lived in saratoga in those days you kept a plastic cup in your glove compartment so you could stop at any of the springs for a drink , always had a couple bottles of Saratoga Vichy in the fridge . The 4 weeks of august was incredible , no otb , no online wagering , you wanted to play you had to go to the track , those days are long gone , but most of us still are involved with handicapping races. The upstairs bar at the harness track is where most of the locals hang out and dont go across the street very much , although we all have the season pass , usually sunday we go and hang out with bj at the shake shack bar , i really miss the saratoga from the old days all the colorful characters that went with it

[AMPHAR]

Originally Posted by jahura2

Started going to Keeneland in the early 70's, as a 16 yr old. I was a catholic school student and I remember a bunch of us skipping our Senior Graduation mass to go to Keeneland to watch the Bluegrass stakes which was run on a Thursday at that time ('74) only 10 days before the derby. I bet all I had left on Judger the winner that year.
Fast forward a year and I am sitting in my dorm room at Eastern Ky University watching the Today at Keeneland show replaying the races of that day. Someone pokes his head in the door and asked if he could watch it with me and that day I became friends with one of the greatest horseplayers in the game today...Mike Maloney. Spent the next 4 years going to Latonia, Keeneland and Churchill with Mike and his dad Bud trying to learn as much as I could. One day Mike went to Churchill by himself and bet 500 to win on a horse that hit, and I knew that day he was way out of my league.
I found my niche as a semi serious/recreational player but owe my love of the track and handicapping to Mike and Bud Maloney(RIP)
now I work at Keeneland teaching people how to bet , read the form , and BRIS and play weekly online.

Love this. I used to arrange my spring schedule at Morehead State so I could hit Keeneland during the day.

It was awesome rolling into night class half lit with a program rolled up in the back pocket.

[AMPHAR]

I also owe my love horse racing to my older brother. There was an age difference. He wanted to be a hair metal drummer, me not so much. We could talk for hours on derby week.

[Suff]

Originally Posted by porkchop

Born at Saratoga hospital spent most of my life here its seems to be ingrained into our mindset . Started working as a busboy for harry m stevens when I was 15 , got all the good spots best dinning rooms at the track and then left there to work at the gideon putman main dinning room ( father was shop steward for the bartenders union and close friends with joe deleberto the union head ) . if you lived in saratoga in those days you kept a plastic cup in your glove compartment so you could stop at any of the springs for a drink , always had a couple bottles of Saratoga Vichy in the fridge . The 4 weeks of august was incredible , no otb , no online wagering , you wanted to play you had to go to the track , those days are long gone , but most of us still are involved with handicapping races. The upstairs bar at the harness track is where most of the locals hang out and dont go across the street very much , although we all have the season pass , usually sunday we go and hang out with bj at the shake shack bar , i really miss the saratoga from the old days all the colorful characters that went with it

Good story.

I Worked for HMS at Fenway park 1974-1976. My father was Suffolk Downs buddy with Joe Mooney- Director of Field & Grounds for the Red Sox.



Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans outfield.

[Achilles]

The first horse races I ever saw were at the Allentown (PA) Fair back in the early fifties. They were harness races run on a half-mile dirt track. There was no data, just a program like you might get when you enter a thoroughbred track today. They would have six or so harness races, and then close out the day with two one-mile races for T-breds (or somthin'). Some of those jockeys were huge. There was no legal wagering, but they still drew big crowds during the week. I watched from behind the concrete wall that formed the outer boundary of the track on the grandstand side. I was short, but I could see over the wall itself, which was topped with iron pickets. There was supposed to be a bookie back in the stable area where you could place a wager, but I never was interested enough to search him out...................Oh, on Saturday they raced AAA and later, USAC sprint cars on the very same track, with no alterations to the racing surface.


When I was younger, probably seven or eight, my parents and I would ride the trolley from the east side to the Fair Grounds where you could pay 25 cents to ride a pony or a horse. One time they put me on a decent size horse who did a Hop-Along Cassidy (reared up on his hind legs and pawed the air with his forelegs). He did it so quickly, I didn't have time to get scared. These were not guided rides. The horses knew where to go. Once, they had no saddle horses available, so I drove a horse and four-wheeled buggy on the track. I did not really drive, the horse just took off once he got on the track. That did scare me......I had no control at all, and I thought he was going to keep going until he hit something.


Can you imagine parents nowadays doing that for their special snowflakes? It really was a different time and place.


Jack (Achilles)

[Actor]

Back in the 1980s I became convinced that my employer's pension plan was not the best way to plan for retirement. I started reading about the stock market and would regularly visit the local brick and mortar bookstore and browse the "investments" section. There I came upon Investing at the Race Track by William L. Scott. Of course I realized that the word "investing" in the title had caused the store employees to mis-shelve the book, but I was intrigued so I bought it. It only took a couple of trips to Thistledown for me to realize this was not the way to plan my retirement and I returned to studying and investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Still I was hooked and continue to pursue handicapping as a hobby.

I tried writing a handicapping program on my home computer, a Commodore PET with 8K of memory and the BASIC language. Back in those days BRIS files were not available (or if they were I had not discovered them), so data entry was manual and very time consuming, but still fun. Things improved a bit when I got a Commodore 64.

[mhaney0423]

Originally Posted by Actor

Back in the 1980s I became convinced that my employer's pension plan was not the best way to plan for retirement. I started reading about the stock market and would regularly visit the local brick and mortar bookstore and browse the "investments" section. There I came upon Investing at the Race Track by William L. Scott. Of course I realized that the word "investing" in the title had caused the store employees to mis-shelve the book, but I was intrigued so I bought it. It only took a couple of trips to Thistledown for me to realize this was not the way to plan my retirement and I returned to studying and investing in stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Still I was hooked and continue to pursue handicapping as a hobby.

I tried writing a handicapping program on my home computer, a Commodore PET with 8K of memory and the BASIC language. Back in those days BRIS files were not available (or if they were I had not discovered them), so data entry was manual and very time consuming, but still fun. Things improved a bit when I got a Commodore 64.

Too funny, that book is exactly what got me started back in the 80's. I remember finding that book laying around the house (mustve been my dad's). I became fascinated by the numbers and once I had all the rules down, was able to make a little money most days. Progressed from there to Scott's next two books and started calculating PCR's and ability times by hand in the East Coast edition of the form, used to spend about 3-4 hours per night every night just working the numbers, never really had any sustainable success tho…….next came Brohammer and I began making pace figs which took even longer.
I often wonder how much of my younger days I spent making these figures and trying to bet every race LOL...………...ahh life is so much simpler now! And I even win a few bucks!!

[FakeNameChanged]

Originally Posted by Aerocraft67

I picked it up in middle age. Seduced by the modern complexity of the game and its archaic charm. I'm a sucker for specialized knowledge—this certainly fits the bill. I mostly play online, but a Sunday at Laurel captures the spirit pretty well.

It's like a subculture. People don't know what to make of it when I mention it. Sometimes the reaction is dispiriting, but usually they get a kick out of it. Maybe they even appreciate hearing an informed opinion on the Kentucky Derby.

The first book I read was Crist's Exotic Betting. Totally cart before the horse, but it speaks to what I like. After years of vertical playing, I'm still trying to graduate to the trifecta.

Not surprised to see lots of people getting started young. Partly because it was more popular back in the day. But also because it might be something you're less likely to pick up as an adult. Like hunting.Then again, I also think it particularly suits middle-age, which might have opened the window for me.

The bolded statements resonate with me. I've mostly avoided even mentioning it to other people. My Brother-in-law and neighbor were my two racetrack cronies, and one has passed away and the other slipped into dementia, so it's become a solo pasttime.
My old hunting buddies have all become too health-challenged to continue.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Suff

Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans outfield.

You, me, and PA won about as many titles as that trio.

You wonder how history would have changed if today's format was in place. You had to win the division, and the AL East was always a bear. Probably many years the second best team sat home for the playoffs.

[Tom]

An thank God Achilles (Jack) got into the game.
When Funny Cide ran at Finger Lakes for what turned out to be his last race, I had hurt my knee and could barely walk or stand. Jack drove me me to the track, dropped me off at the door, and literally half-carried me around so I see the great horse - through the largest crowd I ever saw there - 11,000+

Couldn't have gotten to see him is not for Jack!

[Kassa's Korner]

Originally Posted by mikesal57

I started at the ripe age of 8....

I followed my father every where...

Same here.


Left the game for a while, and the universe brought me back.