Race Track Diary, Entry Number Five Rosslyn Hotel (Prospectors Room) (Apr 2, 2025)

 

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Five Rosslyn Hotel (Prospectors Room, April 2, 2025)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

5 – Rosslyn Hotel (Prospectors Room) (Apr 2, 2025)

This off-track betting lounge is off the Yellowhead Trail and 97 Street in North Edmonton. Given the part of the city that this place is in (a major thoroughfare), the traffic was fairly heavy during the early afternoon.

It is not exactly the nicest area of the city, but it’s not dangerous area or anything like that. Still, it is a bit sketchy. There was one guy sitting on the sidewalk at the side of the hotel, who looked to be a homeless chap. However, he minded his own business and we did likewise.

It is close to the graveyard that my dad’s marker is in (military ground), so we have been there in the past (after Remembrance Day). Family members generally go to the cemetery for the November 11 flag ceremony, followed by brunch and possibly other frivolities. He was a sapper in WW2, I have written a book about that, linked below.

This place has a pretty decent restaurant and a nice lounge with slots and off-track racing facilities. The betting area and lounge is called the Prospector’s Room, though the neon lights for the latter part of the first word weren’t lit up. Thus, Pro Room. Not sure if that was an omen, and if so, what did it mean? The mind staggers at some of the possibilities. But surely the law and public morals haven’t dipped that low.

The lounge itself isn’t bad. There is a quieter area for sipping a drink and chatting, followed by a lot of loud slot machines, then finally the off-track horse-racing area. The track area had smaller than usual TV screens, which made things a bit difficult to read. Also, there weren’t the usual plethora of screens that one often finds, though there were enough.

There were a few other guys at the track area when we arrived. They were actually rather decent fellows. One guy gave us a little demonstration of working the machines that produce the racing programs and forms. He even noted that the proper racing form gave a lot more data than the usual programs, but at a higher price ($8.50 vs $2.50). I knew all that, but I played along anyway. His help was useful, though, since these machines can be rather counter-intuitive, until you get used to them.

Then we sat down and I noted to my brother Craig that I had forgotten to bring a pen to aid in handicapping. Quickly, a pen slid down the long table that we were standing at, from one of the fellows down the table. I guess he didn’t need it any longer. I thanked him, he nodded.

Along with the other fellow’s help at the program printing machine, I was reminded that the old comradeship of the horse player community still existed, here and there. Craig said that they probably thought I was a newbie to the horses, since I had a sort of sports jacket on, which may have made me look slightly out-of-place. It was nothing special, though, just some $140 job that I got from Tip-Top the previous year for Christmas.

It was mostly bucket-puller tracks running on this day (i.e. harness racing). The only thoroughbred tracks seemed to be Meadowlands and Turf Paradise, if I recall correctly.

I chose to play Turf Paradise, out of Phoenix again. I would have preferred Santa Anita (Los Angeles/Pasadena area), but it wasn’t running this day. That was probably a bad choice, as Arizona allows its tracks to charge very high takeouts (the money held back from bettors). Craig also played Turf Paradise, while waiting for his precious harness racing at Woodbine/Mohawk (Toronto), which started later in the afternoon.

I have done better at Santa Anita than Turf Paradise in the past. I don’t know if that is because it is a higher class track (thus better, more predictable horses, or so one assumes) or if it is just random luck on my part. The sample size is too small to draw definitive conclusions, obviously.

There was only one screen per track, so it was tough to follow the odds as the betting progressed, for each individual horse. The odds were focused mostly on the exotic pools, so you had to infer the odds per horse. That was a little bit annoying.

In the first set of races, I had a couple of close calls, betting exactors and or quinellas (I usually bet a favourite and a longer odds horse whose chart shows some promise). But they were nipped at the wire and close isn’t good enough.

I had a win on the last race, but the betting machine acted funny. It took my voucher (the bet) but then wouldn’t accept my bet. After a little while, I gave up on it. It was only a $4 voucher, I thought, so it didn’t really matter.

Then, the combination that I was trying to bet on did actually come in. It didn’t really matter much – the bet only paid about $6.50 on a $2 bet, since it was a favourite and a second favourite that came in, thus low odds, even on a so-called exotic bet. At most, I was out a sawbuck.

I had joked to Craig about that possibility, before the race started. I had even shown him the 1-8 combination that I wrote down on my program, as my intended bet (a quinella, where you bet the top two horses in either order). A young fellow in front of us gave me a consoling look, after overhearing Craig and myself talking about it. I am not sure what he said, as he had a rather incomprehensible Jamaican accent. But he seemed sympathetic to my situation, so that was cool.

There was another Jamaican fellow there who was quite excited by everything, cheering his horses on them damning them when they lost. He was an older guy, but he appeared to know the younger guy. These two seemed to be part of the after-work crowd now, as it was later in the afternoon. There was another fellow, of ambiguous ethnic background, who was also quite chatty. But he wasn’t too intrusive, so that was ok, as well.

I guess that’s a cultural thing. Some people (like Craig and me) like to feign an almost indifferent attitude to winning or losing (i.e. we can take it in our stride); others love to get into the excitement and emotion of the moment. It’s all relative, I guess.

There was also a guy in a wheelchair, who played the races for a while. He always stayed very close to a betting machine. It seemed like he might be lacking a leg or two, as he had a blanket over that part of his body. But, good for him, if racing got him outside of the house and interested in life.

I always said that gambling was the one dependable life-long “vice”. Drugs, booze, tobacco and wild women can shorten your life and bring you to a lot of other grief. Betting a few bucks at the track is just a pleasant mental challenge and few laughs, as long as you keep the investment within reason. Not everybody does, of course. As Hamlet would say, ‘there’s the rub’.

After that last race at Turf Paradise we called it a day. We took a route back to my place that went through downtown, but overall, the traffic was surprisingly light. Craig pointed out highlights as he drove, particularly the haunts of the down-and-out that he has observed (e.g. “there was encampment under this bridge last year”). He finds that interesting, an ongoing barometer of the state of society.

So, it was not a winning day, but there was some interesting race-track sociology to observe.

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Since I am running a book publishing blog, here is a plug for a horse-racing oriented short story that I wrote.

A Dark Horse, A Gothic Tale

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain:https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And since I mentioned my dad’s time in the army, here is a book about his unit that I wrote:

The Sappers' War: A History of the 12th Field Company Royal Canadian Engineers, Oct 1943 to Sept 1945

What follows is a review of the history of the 12th Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, primarily relating to the time that the company was in the Italian and Northwestern European theatres during World War II. Though the book focuses on the experiences of a particular company of Canadian military engineers, it also discusses some of the wider issues of the second world war and how it affected the people wholived through the era, civilian and military. Among those are my father (a sapper or military engineer) and mother (a war worker in wartime Britain and ultimately a war bride).

Thus, this is meant to be an informal and unofficial history of the company, written by an interested party in an effort to understand what these men went through during this period, and how that experience affected them and other people who lived through the war. The military aspects of the company's history are there (e.g. training, fighting, building bridges, detecting mines, maintaining routes), as are the cultural factors that influenced them and their times (e.g. the movies that they watched, the drinking they did, the many diseases they faced, their interactions with the Italian, British and other civilians that they lived among, their worries for the future). Some focus on life on the British home front is also given, via the experiences of my mother and her family.

Since many people had family and relations that lived during this time, it is my hope that the account will be of general interest to them, and to any that have a particular interest in this critical interval in history. Also, though the text relates specifically to Canadian sappers, I believe that many of the experiences will be common to the soldiers and loved ones of other nations who lived through the war, especially Americans and those from Britain and the British Commonwealth.

The primary sources of this document are the 12th Field Company War Diaries and related orders, with some material from The History of the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, Volume 2 as well as various official histories by the Department of National Defence. Various other published sources are used as well, especially when discussing the wider issues of the war or the army experience (e.g. Churchill’s history of the war), or conversely when relating very specific episodes of the war (e.g. Popski’s Private Army in late 1944). Personal accounts of my father’s or mother’s stories also augment the narrative. I have tried to fit those in during appropriate time periods, though some stories are more general and have therefore don’t necessarily relate to the time period being discussed. Nonetheless, they do help capture the essence of “being there” during the war years.

The War Diary is a day by day account of the primary activities of a given unit, as recorded by personnel in the headquarters staff of that unit, and signed off by the commander of the unit. As such, it is an official record, though the writers often brought a bit of their own character into the document. Naturally, as a relatively brief document it can’t hope to capture the complexity of the individual stories of 280 or so men, so the family lore generally has no corresponding entry in the War Diary, though there are sometimes tantalizing hints and near-verifications of these personal accounts.

There are a number of other sources for the book, from official histories to popular history books. I include quotations and references from these works (an eclectic mix), as I believe that they also shed light on different aspects of this period of time, and besides that, are just interesting accounts, in and of themselves.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09HSXN6Q2

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Four Century Mile (March 20, 2025)

 

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Four Century Mile (March 20, 2025)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honorable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

4 – Century Mile 2 (March 20, 2025)

It was a second trip to Century Mile, near the airport, also known as the actual racetrack (as opposed to an Off-Track Betting site). On this trip, we took some back-roads into the airport area, rather than the main highway, courtesy of Google Maps.

This was a pretty good route, missing heavy traffic on Highway 2. It was a fairly direct run, but there were a few spots that were unpaved, with washboard ruts. Craig didn’t like that, so he took the main highway back from the track.

Scott (my son) accompanied Craig and myself, since he had a week of vacation time from work and thought it would be something new and interesting to do. He had come with me to the track on occasion, back when he was in elementary school, but had not been back since then. Now that he is grown up, it is time to take up the family tradition (his grand-dad was also a bit of a horse-player, way back in the day).

It was a rather pleasant late winter (or early spring) afternoon. The place was reasonably busy, based on the car count, especially by the time we left. There was a power-ball draw upcoming, whatever that may be. It seems to attract a lot of regular citizens, who prefer slots and VLTs to horses.

Having said that, the off-track betting section of the casino was fairly empty. We also had a quick look at the outdoor track. There were many vehicles in that section of the parking lot (not open to the public, so evidently for the horse owner/trainer/rider crowd). It looked as if they were preparing for the upcoming bucket-puller (harness races) meet.

I look forward to visiting later in the year, when the thoroughbred meet is in action. Race horses are such fine-looking noble animals (regular horses are too, but race-horses take that up a notch). I always enjoyed looking them over at the paddock parade, though it would be a lie to say that I am any judge of horse-flesh. But on at least one occasion I picked a high-odds winner, just on the basis that it looked regal and ready to go. One of my other brothers, who was at the track with me that day, would later frequently remark on that. Another advantage of the paddock is the rather attractive young women who would walk the horses around. On that score I won’t lie – that holds some appeal as well.

We opened the betting with Craig scoring a big win of a Superfecta on the first race. That’s where you pick the first four horses in a race. He picked up about 175 dollars on that. His handicapping is basically odds-based. He tries to figure out which combinations of horses will come in from an examination of the odds, factoring in supposed cheating by the horse owners/trainers/jockeys/track. I never know how much he believes this to be true. It’s a bit cynical, but...whatever. Sometimes it works.

For my time, I tend to go on records for speed, times, and final positions of horses. For these trips, I just do it by hand, rather than rigorous math/stats, which I used to do, in an earlier incarnation. I played around with a pdf containing past performances of harness horses (programs are free on-line), but the format is rather tricky (e.g. superscript fractions rather than decimals). So, coming up with an efficient way to parse the data for a stats package or spreadsheet might be a rather difficult and time-consuming task. It is tempting, but not sure if I want to make a big time commitment like that, over a once-a-week hobby.

Going for exactors, consisting of a likely favorite and a longer odds horse that has some good indications (e.g. time, final position, etc.) has worked pretty well. Last time out, I made some decent money, and on this day I broke even. Scott and I nearly picked up a good price on the final race, but missed by one unexpected horse getting in the top 3. So it goes.

Scott was also betting a few bucks that his mom (my wife) gave him to bet, just for laughs. For those bets, he used the “interesting horse name” method. Basically, that’s when the horse’s name gives off a good vibe, has some sort of personal meaning to the bettor, rings a bell, things like that. It’s magical thinking, but whatever. Sometimes it works. It’s very appropriate when betting for his mom, as she is very into all that stuff.

For the thoroughbreds, we chose to bet on a track called Turf Paradise, which is located in or around Phoenix Arizona. Though Phoenix is a pretty big place, I sense that its track is not considered to be top tier. Plus, as I understand it, Arizona tracks have a pretty high takeout (that’s the cut of the money that the track and government take, which reduces the prices that bettors get). Santa Anita (near L.A.) wasn’t running on this day, which is a track I prefer. It is considered to be fairly top tier, with a more reasonable take-out.

For what it is worth, I did better betting on Santa Anita than on Turf Paradise. Of course this is far too small a sample to draw any conclusions from. That said, there is a school of thought that the bigger tracks are more honest or at least more reliable, from a handicapping perspective. That’s because there is more money at stake, therefore more eyes on the prize, looking out for skulduggery.

An alternative view is that small tracks are better. The betting pools are smaller, so nefarious betting coupes are easier to spot. That’s when a trainer darkens a horse’s form, so that it will go off at higher odds than it actually rates, and the trainer or owner can score a big payday that way.

On the other hand, there is a school of thought that jockeys (or sulky drivers) can more effectively join in conspiracies, to let a long-odds horse win, thus picking up some nice betting prices for the inside group.

This kind of reasoning is endless, it is circles inside circles. But it is kind of fun. When a 99 to 1 horse comes in first, it gets knowing nods and looks from betters. It can seem like a more likely explanation than “on any given day, any horse can beat any other horse" (or a whole field of any others).

Speaking of conspiracy theories, when I went to the washroom, a security guy was washing his hands as I left. Then, during a later trip, same thing, same guy. Coincidence? Or, was he checking on some nefarious form of cheating that goes around, that I don’t know about. Maybe he was watching me, figuring that I was working some kind of gambling coupe. Or maybe he was just watching out for smokers, catching a few puffs in the facility. I’m mostly just kidding about all that.

On that note, there is a small cigarette smoking area near the entrance to the casino. It had a sort of bus shelter enclosure, with a sign saying that smoking marijuana is not permitted there (smoking a joint is now legal in Alberta, whereas smoking tobacco is nearly illegal, or at least heavily regulated). A couple were out there having a cig – we shared a laugh with them about the changing morality over the decades.

Scott had a plate of fish and chips. I had a Caesar salad. The food was ok. We also had a Rickard’s Red each. These corporate places don’t sell good local craft beers, of which there is an ample supply in the city – I suppose the track makes deals with the big breweries.

For the last race or two, some fellows sat at the table next to us. They didn’t seem to be betting, just talking trash. They were loud but not to an overbearing extent. Craig said they were plumbers, somewhat dismissively. As an electrician, he was in what is considered the highest status trade, by most people. But the world needs functioning toilets too, so hurrah for plumbers.

After the Turf Paradise meet was done, we called it a day. Craig had made some bucket-puller bets, on Mohawk/Woodbine races (Toronto), but he said that he would watch them on the internet later.

It was a pretty good day. Craig had a nice win. I broke even. Scott seemed to enjoy it, even if he didn’t hit any winners. Maybe next time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I am running a book publishing blog, here is a plug for a horse-racing oriented short story that I wrote.

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain:https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.

Halo Moon

Halo Moon 

A couple of nights ago, there was a beautiful halo around the moon. These don't really do it justice, but it's worth a try. Note: the green thing near the bottom is not 3I/Atlas, but part of a clothes line. 

It was a cold, clear night with great seeing, but ice crystals created a nice halo, that had quite quite a few colours in it, though primarily the GBIV part of ROYGBIV.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

And here is a book plug for a novel that features moons quite a bit (note that blogger seems intent on throwing in lots of different fonts today - that's just how it rolls sometimes):

The Witches’ Stones Book 2: Love and Intrigue Under the Seven Moons of Kordea

Go on a romantic science fiction adventure with Terran Confederation agents Sarah Mackenzie and Coryn Leigh as they grapple with the forces of Earth’s galactic rival, The Or, a their own growing attraction for each other. 

The novel is about 100,000 words and is priced at $3.99 U.S. (or equivalent in other currencies). It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is periodically offered as free promotion.

 

It is also available in paperback at Amazon, currently priced at $9.99.

Amazon U.S: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon U.K.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00YGB2KC0

Here’s a more detailed summary of the novel:

The feisty, ESP-talented Earth woman Sara Mackenzie has arrived on the anomalous planet Kordea to take up studies in Witch-lore, among the race of wise women on that planet, known as the Circle Witches of Kordea. The Terra Confederation Agent, Coryn Leigh, who helped her to escape the clutches of the authoritarian enemies of the democratic Terra Confederation, has also arrived on Kordea, taking on the diplomatic posting of the Kordean-Terran Liaison Officer. His duties include helping the Witches to keep Sarah and the cache of ESP-enhancing gems known as amartos, or Witches' Stones, safe from their enemy’s hands. That adversary, known sometimes as The Organization, will stop at nothing in their attempts to grab the Stones and an ESP-capable human, in order to gain the ultimate power with which to take over the inhabited galaxy.

It is not long before the planet Kordea comes under attack. The Organization turns their latest weapon upon the planet and its unusual moon, Lina. That moon is nearly wrested out of its orbit - only the emergency interventions of Sarah and her colleagues can prevent planet-wide catastrophe.

It becomes clear that Sarah, Coryn, and others, including the Witches of Kordea, must undertake a risky project involving an undercover mission to destroy this threatening super-weapon, in order to safeguard Kordea and the peace of the galaxy.

At the same time Sarah and Coryn have to deal with their growing attraction to one another. Coryn is in a conflict-of-interest position, since he has taken on a guardianship role toward Sarah, necessitated by his new, diplomatic position. Sarah, on her part, must struggle with self-doubts: about her looks, her worth, even her identity—although not about her ESP abilities, which are considerable. They must struggle with their personal dilemmas, even while trying to counter the enormous threat to the democratic way of life of the humanity of the galaxy.

 

 

 

 

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Three (March 7, 2025)

Introduction

This blog and some following blogs are sections from an informal diary of “visits to the race-track” at a particular time and place, by a person who has followed the races with varying levels of participation over a long period. These relate primarily to some visits to the track and/or off-track betting venues in the 2025 period and onward. They contain observations about the activity, both specific and general. Although these remarks are personal, they also reflect general cultural and historical trends, as they have impacted horse-racing, wagering and culture in general.

The setting is Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (population of about one million plus). However, I imagine that the observations would apply to many places in the world, as they are a reflection of how changing trends in technology, globalization and culture in general have affected this ancient and honourable activity of horse-racing.

For now, I will use what I call “polished point-form” for the narrative.

3 – Century Mile 1 (March 7, 2025)

• This facility is near the International Airport, about 20 of so minutes south of Edmonton, depending on traffic. Traffic can get rather intense, as this is the main southern route into the city.

• The racetrack is associated with a large casino. The term casino is a bit of a stretch, as the gambling is almost entirely of the VLT (video lottery terminal) or slot machine variety. There are probably hundreds of those. I believe that there is also a Keno or Baccarat area (they use the term "electronic tables" on the website).

• The racetrack itself is a good facility, as it is a mile-long track. A lot of horse players like that, as it means fewer turns in the race and more straight runs. Presumably that cuts down on the effect of the inside post positions and resultant jockey strategy, making the race more of a pure speed event. Conversely, it takes away some of the tactical considerations from the race (i.e. the good or bad ‘trip’ - no, I don’t mean LSD).

• My handicapping is generally based on speed and early speed, so I suppose that I ought to prefer the mile track. My brother Craig is more interested in the intricacies of the race and other strategic considerations (ethical and not-so-ethical), so I suppose that he ought to prefer the five-eighths mile, which probably gives more scope for shenanigans.

• This track has supplanted the old Northlands Racetrack which was located well-inside the city limits. Actually, it was a slightly sketchy area of town, though I can’t recall having any problems there. Arguably, it was a bit seedy, but that was part of its Damon Runyon type charm.

• For decades, Northlands just did horse-races (thoroughbred and harness). At that time, horse-racing was the only form of gambling that was legal in Alberta or for that matter in most of North America. Later, a casino was added to the track.

• Eventually lotteries moved in and proliferated, as did high-stakes Bingos and ‘charity casinos’. Those were then supplanted by fancier casinos and multi-game sports betting. Now, most everything is permitted. In my opinion things were much more interesting in the horse-racing and low-stakes bingo eras, but that’s just me.

• In the fullness of time, the racetrack that was Northlands was shut down in favour of the new facility that is Century Mile.

• We took up some seats in the horse-racing part of the casino/racetrack that is Century Mile. There were a multitude of screens, as well as the usual automatic betting machines and racing form printers. In the quaint old days, human beings would have taken care of these tasks.

• The Century Mile racetrack itself is a nice facility, or so they say. You can play about a dozen of so tracks from the casino area, so I have yet to visit the track itself (I know, that is kind of sad). I should note that Century Mile has both thoroughbred and harness meets. However, the races are a bit later in the day and my brother prefers the afternoon, so I rarely bet on the local track (I know, that is kind of sad too).

• One nice thing about this new facility is the food, which is really surprisingly good. I had a plate of fries and gravy – they were more than just ok. Actually surprisingly ok.

• Still, nothing beats the old track-burger at Northlands, in my memory. Mind you, I was younger then, and more tolerant of not-so-great food. We used to joke that the burgers were made from horses that lost a few too many races.

• Getting back to today, it was a fairly thin crowd at the horse-racing section. Most of the people were playing the slot machines. The crowd (horse-racing and slots) tended to be older, but not exclusively so. I suppose that the government is getting its pension money back via gambling taxes.

• As noted, the horse players were older, with a few exceptions. One fellow was quite chatty with some relatively younger females, who seemed to find him amusing. It made you wonder.

• All the horse racing betting machines worked fine, including the program printers (we had problems with them at an off-track place the previous week). However, the horse-racing cashier shut down early, so I had to get my winnings at the slot machine cashier (yes, I got winnings).

• There was continual music, mostly emanating from the VLT and/or slot machines. That got irritating after a while. I would be happy to never hear "Paradise at the Dashboard Light" again, for as long as I live. What an ear worm.

• As I noted above, I came out ahead. That was based on winning a couple of exactors at Santa Anita, a track near Los Angeles. I had some luck with favourites that I coupled with longer odds horses who had potential in their form. They paid well, so I came out ahead by a creditable amount of money.

• Just kidding about luck, it was all due to skilful handicapping. :)

• Unfortunately Craig’s bets didn’t work out as well. But he likes 3 and 4 horse combo bets, especially at the Mohawk harness races, so it takes a while to make a hit.

• At the bucket pullers at Woodbine (Toronto), a 99 to 1 shot came in, in a 6 horse field. Seems dodgy, Craig was not impressed. That said, he was amused in a sort of ironic way, as is his nature.

• The place had a selection of regular corporate beers i.e. nothing very good . However, the Rickard’s Red was acceptable, in a pinch.

• We took the long way home, via the road that goes near Devon, on the west side of the city. It was experimental, an effort to bypass the main highway. It was a bit longer and took a bit more gas, but it is a nicer drive, not so busy as the main highway.

• Later, while on one of the main city routes, a truck ahead of us was sparking, from below. Something dragging? Eventually, it parked on a median on an on-ramp to a city street not far from where I live, presumably to check the source of the sparking. Weird place to park to check a vehicle.

• Strangely enough, some months later I read an account in the local paper of a fellow doing the exact same thing at that location. Unfortunately, he was struck by a car and killed when he got out to check his vehicle.

• You never know what fate holds in store for you, never mind the horses.

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Since I am running a book publishing blog, here is a plug for a horse-racing oriented short story that I wrote.

A Dark Horse

In “A Dark Horse”, a gambler’s desire to hit a big win seems to lead him to make a Faustian bargain with a supernatural evil.  Or is it all just a string of unnaturally good luck?

The story is just $0.99 U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and about 8000 words. It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Spain:https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MDMY2BR

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01M9BS3Y5

Here’s an interesting review from Goodreads

(BTW, the writer has never met the reviewer and was not even aware of the review

 until very recently – You can look up the review on Goodreads, if you like)

A Dark Horse

Every gambler is bound to run out of luck eventually, right?

By far my favourite type of horror is psychological horror. I was quite pleased with how Mr. Olausen frightened his audience without spilling a single drop of blood or so much as hinting at anything gory. He knew exactly what hints to drop for us that made us deliciously dread the next scene simply by throwing out hints about who or what the dark horse might actually represent. This is the kind of stuff I love getting scared by, especially as Halloween approaches.

It would have been helpful to have more character development in this short story. While I certainly wouldn’t expect to see as much time spent on this as I would for a full-length novel, I did have trouble connecting to the main characters due to how little I knew about them and how much their personalities seemed to remain the same no matter what happened to them. If not for this issue, I would have felt comfortable choosing a much higher rating as the plot itself was well done.

I must admit to not knowing much about gambling at all, so I appreciated the brief explanations the narrator shared about how placing bets works and why some people have so much trouble walking away from a bet. While I will leave it up to experts on these topics to say how accurate everything was, I did enjoy learning more about the main character’s addiction and what he hoped to gain from betting on just one more game or race. It gave me a stronger sense of empathy for folks in his position.

A Dark Horse – A Gothic Tale was a deliciously chilling story for the Halloween season and beyond.