Race Track Diary, Entry Number
Twenty
20 – Billy Budd’s (Jan 16, 2026)
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.
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20 – Billy Budd’s (Jan 16, 2026)
We ended up skipping a week, as my brother Craig had some other appointments to deal with and my son Scott was back to work, after taking some time off during the Christmas season. But it was back to Budd’s for a Friday session of thoroughbreds at Santa Anita and bucket-pullers at Woodbine/Mohawk.
They must have a pretty good lunch special on Fridays at this place, as there has usually been a fairly decent ‘crowd’ at the horse-betting part of the tavern on these days. Today there were about a dozen people watching, mostly older gentlemen.
We got there in time for the races at Santa Anita. I like this track, or perhaps it likes me. Looking back on these diaries, I perceive that I have made money or broke even on five occasions at Santa Anita and I don’t see any money-losing days there. However, there are a few outings where I didn’t bother recording the track that I was betting at.
We were shut-out for the first race. That was just as well, as the winner was not the highest rated horse in the race, by my figures (though close).
In the second race, my preferred horse wasn’t even close. The win and place horses were both short-priced, anyway. The winner paid 2.80/2.10/2.10, so not a bet that could make you money in the long run.
The third race was similar, with my horse not in the money. The winner did pay a good price, however, and had the highest speed ratings by my system, though lower Beyers numbers. The same was true of the horse that came in second. So, I should have had an exactor there, had I stuck with my system. Well, that’s easy to say once the race has been run and you pour through your handicapping –"aha!, I actually had that one (though I didn’t bet on it)".
One of the fellows playing the horses was a true gentleman, as Craig had forgotten to retrieve one of his vouchers from the machine after the third race, due to having to struggle with that machine’s poor paper-cutting. The fellow asked us if we had left a voucher in the machine, as he was the next person to use that machine, and had found the voucher. Craig said he did forget the voucher (he had already mentioned it to me) and the fellow gave it to him. It wasn’t a lot of money (a bit over ten bucks), but it showed a lot of class on this fellow’s part. I hope the racing gods rewarded him appropriately later, with a nice win. But they are fickle gods, so I wouldn’t count on it.
I was shut-out again, for the fourth race. Once more, I was lucky, as my preferred horse was nowhere near the money. These were some of the best bets of the day!
The fifth race was on the turf (grass). Andy Beyers says that turf races don’t handicap well, as far as speed handicapping goes. This race supported his observation, as my pick ended up out of the money.
About this time, a group of older guys near us had a very long discussion about the merits of laser eye surgery. One of the waitresses joined in the debate. They were all very knowledgeable, having had the surgery themselves, or having had someone close to them have it. The consensus was that it worked quite well, but the prices were high and unpredictable. The things you learn at the races.
By that point, things were getting kind of grim. Half a card was over, and still no wins. But the 6th race had a very obvious choice, with speed numbers far exceeding the rest of the field. For some reason that I couldn’t fathom, the crowd was laying off this horse, which meant it had amazingly good odds at post-time. That threw me a bit, so I jammed out and bet it to place. It did indeed win, paying a very healthy $21.20 to win and $7.00 to place. That was enough to cover my losses for the day, though it would have been nice to cash a 11 to 1 win ticket.
With that winning bet, I allowed myself a beer, Rickards Red. Craig had one as well. We chatted a bit more than we did during the other races. I pointed out that the Oilers goalie situation had improved remarkably since they traded their goalie to the Penguins, getting the Penguins goalie in return. Since then, all of the goalies in question had been playing well, but the Oilers were doing better by the trade.
Speaking of hockey and horses, it turns out that Oilers star Ryan Nugent-Hopkins comes from a horse-racing family and one of his horses won a major stakes race in Ontario (he’s from B.C.). Here’s Nuge with his horse.
At any rate, this hockey digression (and the beer) was so interesting that when we eventually looked up at the screen, we saw that the 7th race was already being run. Once more, I was saved by the shut-out, as the winner was a huge ($40) longshot that was very difficult to predict. I had worked my numbers for the race, and the winner had no obvious virtues.
The 8th and final race of the card had ten horses running, and they all had plenty of past performances in the form. So, by the time I worked out my numbers, the race was ready to go and I was once more shut-out. But again, that turned out to be a blessing, as the horses with the best number didn’t do anything. That said, the horses that ended up in the money did not have great odds, so one wonders if some sort of betting coup might have been going on. The last race of the card seems to be that way, in my experience.
By this time, it was getting around 6:00 p.m.. Things were picking up, the bar was getting noisy and the hockey game was on. And it was time to play the bucket-pullers at Woodbine/Mohawk!
I started working out some speed figures for the harness races, beginning with Race #5. Craig had already beeen playing some of these races, so I kicked in a few bucks to get some of the action. But they were what Byers calls token bets (or Mickey-Mouse bets), so it was just for a few laughs to pass the time.
We had a series of rolling Pick-3 bets going. They would get close, we would be alive to the final leg, then be brought down to Earth.
But the last Pick-3, races 10, 11, and 12 came through for us, though at an admittedly small price. We also put a bit on the winner, as a straight win bet. Those were enough to cover my bets, with a bit to spare, so once more, I left the track with more money than I came with (aside from three beers).
Craig has observed that the Woodbine/Mohawk harness track has a bias to the number 6 starting position. And, as it turned out our winning Pick-3 was 6-All-6, so it turned out to support his theory.
I wondered why this could be. Craig said it was because the 6-horse went quickly for the lead, to prevent going wide into the first turn and wasting energy. Well, that is true, but for me the question is why does the 6 horse win the starting race to the rail, when the inside horses should have the advantage?
Perhaps there is a softer track along the rail at the start of the race, so the number six horse can get there, while the inner horses are held back by the softer ground. Then, once the number 6 horse is in the lead, it simply does not relinquish it. Perhaps the inside track is better in the back-stretch? It’s a mystery, assuming there is a big bias towards the 6th position.
As for other stuff during the bucket-pullers segment of the evening:
One younger guy sitting below us talked about being on blood thinners, beta blockers and cholesterol drugs since he was 35. I think it was a couple having dinner and playing a few races. It sounds like they had a dog that was suffering and might have to be put down. The fellow noted that his family had always been around horses, so he was used to this. It sounded like the woman’s family was having a hard time with the situation and he was trying to help out.
There was a lacrosse game being shown on one of the TV screens, as the horse-racing began to draw to a close in North America. It was a surprisingly large crowd at the game being broadcast. Maybe an Ivy league game in the northeastern states?
Huge snowflakes were falling at Woodbine. Perhaps that helped out our 6-All-6 bet.
Craig began reminiscing about the old days of racing at a real track downtown, and all the colourful cronies that were there.
The Australian ‘devil horses’ showed up on the screen again. That was a good signal that it was time to go.
So it was a good day. Between Santa Anita and Woodbine/Mohawk I did a little better than break even for this week’s horse-racing outing.
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
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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.
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A Ride on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail
U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GBG8JE0
U.K.: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01GBG8JE0
India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01GBG8JE0
France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01GBG8JE0
Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01GBG8JE0
The book is only 99 cents U.S. (equivalent price in other currencies). It is also available on Kindle Unlimited and is occasionally on free promotion.
The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is one of the longest and most scenic biking and hiking trails in Canada. It covers a good stretch of the south-central interior of British Columbia, about 600 kilometers of scenic countryside. British Columbia is one of the most beautiful areas of Canada, which is itself a beautiful country, ideal for those who appreciate natural splendour and achievable adventure in the great outdoors.
The trail passes through a great variety of geographical and geological regions, from mountains to valleys, along scenic lakes and rivers, to dry near-desert condition grasslands. It often features towering canyons, spanned by a combination of high trestle bridges and long tunnels, as it passes through wild, unpopulated country. At other times, it remains quite low, in populated valleys, alongside spectacular water features such as beautiful Lake Okanagan, an area that is home to hundreds of vineyards, as well as other civilized comforts.
The trail is a nice test of one’s physical fitness, as well as one’s wits and adaptability, as much of it does travel through true wilderness. The views are spectacular, the wildlife is plentiful and the people are friendly. What more could one ask for?
What follows is a journal of two summers of adventure, biking most of the trail in the late 1990s. It is about 33,000 words in length (2 to 3 hours reading), and contains numerous photographs of the trail. There are also sections containing a brief history of the trail, geology, flora and fauna, and associated information.
After reading this account, you should have a good sense of whether the trail is right for you. If you do decide to ride the trail, it will be an experience you will never forget.
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