Race Track Diary, Entry Number 41 – Billy Budd’s (August 1, 2026)

  

Race Track Diary, Entry Number

 Forty-One

41 – Billy Budd’s (August 1, 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.

======================================================================

• 41 – Billy Budd’s (Aug 1, 2026)

  • There was a fair crowd when we first arrived at Budd’s, at about 3:00 in the afternoon. There was the usual mix of regulars and non-regulars, largely skewing older and male.

  • It is that time of the year when there isn’t a lot of big-game sports going on, so the watchers were fairly subdued. There was some talk about baseball and naturally enough, talk about horse races.

  • Renegade was mentioned, the horse that didn’t win the Kentucky Derby. Clearly people are still expecting great things from the horse. I won my bet on the Derby, with Renegade (a show bet if I recall correctly), so I am happy with the horse.

  • That was about it, for general observations, outside of observations about horses and betting. So, let’s get right to that.

  • I kept an eye on some of the thoroughbred races at Del Mar and Woodbine. Nothing too striking came up, in terms of odds drops, though there was a drop from 15 to 1 to 8 to 1 at Woodbine. That horse came in third, though I didn’t get around to betting on it.

  • Eventually the harness races at Woodbine/Mohawk came on:

    • In Race #1, I bet the #6 horse to show. That was strictly to get my beer bet in, as the odds for the horse were low by race-time. The horse came in second, and paid 2.80 to show. So that took care of the beer bet. It was a fun race – my horse was in second for much of the race, then dropped back to fourth, but rallied for second place at the wire.

    • I missed Race #2, as I had to do a reply message to a couple of people that I used to work with long ago, who wanted to get together for lunch soon. That was fortunate, as it is doubtful whether I would have bet correctly.

    • In Race #3, I went back to the #6 horse to show. It had some good indicators, and went off at pretty good odds of 5 to 1. It did indeed come in third, but the crowd had loaded up the show pool on the horse, so it only paid $2.50 on a $2 ticket.

    • I missed the 4^th Race, which was too bad, as my ‘long-shot with a chance’ system did like the eventual winner, which paid $7.20 to win. But I was busy eating a delicious pizza at that time, so too bad. Priorities!

    • In the 5^th Race, I bet the #7 horse to win, as both of my systems and the racetrack touts had the horse as top pick. It ran as per expectations, and paid paid $4.50 to win. The judges gave a ‘did not get off to a fair start’ decision for the #2 horse. It is hard to say whether that affected the final prices, though.

    • I missed the 6^th Race, due to problems with the signal. A bunch of screens started going black, which made it impossible to discover the odds on the horses. The winner was ranked quite highly by one of my systems, but one never knows how his bet would have gone.

    • The 7^th Race had a huge favourite, the #6 horse going off at 1 to 9. My systems thought pretty highly of the #1 horse, so I bet it to show, as it went off at 32 to 1. It placed, paying $8.20 for second and $6.00 for third. These show pools are weird when there is a big favourite in the race.

    • At that point, the screens began acting up again. There were some thunderstorm warnings as well, so Craig thought it best to retreat, as he had got caught in some nasty weather last time out. That necessitated waiting out a fierce thunderstorm for half an hour (the rain was too hard to drive in), then detouring around several flooded roadways. As they say, sometimes discretion is the better part of valour.

  • Summing up, I did ok, rather well in fact. I picked up money on all the races that I bet, which included a couple of decent prices. In percentage terms I came close to doubling my money, though I was betting quite lightly, so in pure dollar terms it wasn’t all that much.

  • There was some luck involved, I suppose, since I did skip 3 races, for one reason or another. However, there was a decent chance that I would have got at least one of those, at a nice price. One never knows what might have happened.

  =================================== 

• On the Road with Bronco Billy

Sit back and go on a ten day trucking trip in a big rig, through western North America, from Alberta to Texas, and back again. Explore the countryside, learn some trucking lingo, and observe the shifting cultural norms across this great continent.

Amazon U.S.: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon U.K.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00X2IRHSK

=======================================================

What follows is an account of a ten day journey through western North America during a working trip, delivering lumber from Edmonton Alberta to Dallas Texas, and returning with oilfield equipment. The writer had the opportunity to accompany a friend who is a professional truck driver, which he eagerly accepted. He works as a statistician for the University of Alberta, and is therefore is generally confined to desk, chair, and computer. The chance to see the world from the cab of a truck, and be immersed in the truck driving culture was intriguing. In early May 1997 they hit the road.

Some time has passed since this journal was written and many things have changed since the late 1990’s. That renders the journey as not just a geographical one, but also a historical account, which I think only increases its interest.

We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near miss from a tornado, and a large-scale flood were among these events. But even without these turns of fate, the drama of the landscape, the close-up view of the trucking lifestyle, and the opportunity to observe the cultural habits of a wide swath of western North America would have been sufficient to fill up an interesting journal.

The travelogue is about 20,000 words, about 60 to 90 minutes of reading, at typical reading speeds.

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

And here’s an account of some road trips in south-western Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

 Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCMJP47G

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

The Magnetic Anomaly: A Science Fiction Short Story

“A geophysical crew went into the Canadian north. There were some regrettable accidents among a few ex-military who had become geophysical contractors after their service in the forces. A young man and young woman went temporarily mad from the stress of seeing that. They imagined things, terrible things. But both are known to have vivid imaginations; we have childhood records to verify that. It was all very sad. That’s the official story.”

You can purchase it for all of 99 cents.  Alternatively, keep your eyes open for a free promotions, which occur periodically. Or, get it with Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon:

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0176H22B4

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0176H22B4

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0176H22B4

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0176H22B4

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0176H22B4

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0176H22B4

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0176H22B4

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0176H22B4

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0176H22B4

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0176H22B4

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0176H22B4

India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0176H22B4 

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0176H22B4

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

======================================================================

The Magnetic Anomaly – A Science Fiction Novel

The novel version of The Magnetic Anomaly is now available on Amazon (ebook, print version, also audible version soon to come).

Summary

Two young Earth scientists, Alex and Mary, get caught up in a vast conflict, based on an accidental finding that they make at a diamond exploration camp in the far north. Eventually, this discovery leads them on a perilous quest and involvement in an interstellar war, a conflict of literally cosmic proportions with a rogue AI, which considers itself duty-bound to destroy sentient life (or, from its point of view, liberate sentient life).

During this time, they encounter a variety of enigmatic persons, as well as other entities, all of whom are also engaged in this struggle. With some of them they end up allying; with others, they contend in deadly conflict. The struggle takes them around the world, and eventually into the far reaches of the solar system.

During this time their relationship continues to evolve and deepen. Circumstances demand that they grow in courage and confidence, though within the scope of (mostly) normal people, as has been the case for countless people throughout history.

The story also showcases some historical events, relating to different versions of what went on in Antarctica, shortly after World War 2. Several versions of these events, official and unofficial UFO lore are given. This becomes a springboard to much of the action. Some philosophical and scientific concepts are also explored, though not in such a way as to get in the way of the plot.

Amazon:

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

India:  https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0F9J3HHFW

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

Race Track Diary, Entry Number 40 – Billy Budd’s (July 25, 2026)

  

Race Track Diary, Entry Number Forty

40 – Billy Budd’s (July 25, 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.

======================================================================

• 40 – Billy Budd’s (July 25, 2026)

  • It has been an insane weather summer locally, oscillating between extreme heat and extreme rain and thunder storms, much of the time. This Saturday was one of the hot days, and would conclude as one of the stormy nights. But, fortunately the air conditioning was working nicely in the off-track-betting area of Budd’s, so we received some respite.

  • It was a pretty good crowd when we first arrived at about 3:00 in the afternoon. There was the usual mix of regulars and non-regulars, largely skewing older and male, though not exclusively, as a couple of ladies shared a table not far from where we were sitting.

  • Our old racetrack companion Ted wasn’t in attendance but I reckon he will show up every now and again. His usual venue is in a different part of town, in the west-end.

  • We had some time to kill before the bucket-pullers would start, so I kept an eye on a few thoroughbred tracks, namely Saratoga, Gulfstream and Del Mar, for big odds drops from Morning Line to Race-time. However, no interesting angles came up during our time of waiting.

  • Here are a few general notes of a non-racing variety:

    • One guy yelling (though not very loudly): “Come on Johnny, run away, run away!” I have heard this encouraging vocalization before; I don’t know if the fellow has a favourite jockey of that name or just uses that as a general term of endearment/abuse for any and all jockeys (like any American G.I. during WW2 being called “Joe”).

    • One of the waitresses laughing, while talking to somebody (off in a far part of the pub): “I needed some extra money, so I brought out the girls today.” And it turned that she had, as became evident when she served our side of the pub, later on.

    • I realized that one of the two women sitting behind us was Lil, the lady that some guy was trying to smooth-talk during another visit. She and the other lady were very intent on the horses this time and seemed quite knowledgeable. I got the feeling that they must have lived around horses in their younger days, maybe growing up on a farm or having relatives in the racing game.

    • Me (to another fellow):

      • “It looks like your high-beams are still on.”

      • He looks around in confusion, then notices light being emitted from his shirt pocket. “I’m not used to these smart phones, this is my wife’s phone that she lent to me.”

      • He turns the smart-phone flashlight off and fishes out a flip-flop phone from another pocket. “I’m used to these.”

      • Me: “Yeah, those are good.”

      • Him: “With smart phones, you touch the wrong part of the screen and you don’t know what will happen.”

      • Me: “Right. Whoops, I think I just launched some missiles.”

    • The waitress nearly tripped going up the small staircase to where some of the off-track-betting tables were located. But she managed to catch herself and recover without spilling a drop. According to my earlier observations, there were glass spilling or glass breaking incidents during racetrack diary entries #2, #15 and #23. So, given that this is diary entry #40, the time is about ripe for this event to happen again, according to Poisson process statistics.

    • The screens were full of tornado and thunderstorm warnings, as the afternoon and eventing wore on. Craig and I traded some dark humour about the weather paranoia of recent years. However, we did get caught in a wicked thunder-storm on the way home at about 9:30, which lit up the sky like high noon and dumped oceans of rain, which necessitated pulling over to the side of the road, as visibility went to nearly 0. There is a lesson there about taunting the weather gods.

  • At about 4:30 the harness races at Woodbine/Mohawk started:

    • Race #1 was a Trot and all my systems had the #6 horse taking it. Oddly enough, the morning line had it third, but the crowd wasn’t fooled, as it was bet way down, to 1 to 2. I went with it, strictly as a beer bet, betting it to show. It came in second, paying a whopping 2.10 to place and the same to show. So I won my beer bet, but a lot of people must have gotten burnt rather badly on the win ticket. Note that this was the only Trot race today.

    • In Race #2 I bet on the #4 horse, to place. It finished way down the track.

    • In the 3^rd Race I was shut-out. That was just as well, as the horse that I planned to bet came in fifth. None of the top three horses in the race paid much on a bet anyway.

    • In Race #4 there was big odds-drop on the #4 horse, going from 10 to 1 in the morning line to 2 to 1 by race-time. In addition, one of my systems had the horse rated quite highly (second), so I put a place bet on it. It won by a neck, paying $5.90 to win and $3.30 to place. It would have been nice to get the win, but you take what you can get.

    • For the 5^th Race, I bet the #6 horse to place, as both of my systems had it rated at or near the top. The #10 horse was the favourite, but it came out of the gate very poorly and was never in the race, finishing last. It was then decided by the judges that it didn’t get a fair start and all bets on that horse were cancelled, with bettors getting their money back. My #6 horse actually won the race, so I won my place bet, which paid $8.70 to win, $5.00 to place. The fact that the judges cancelled bets on the favourite probably cut down those payoffs, likely by no small amount. The decision struck me as a dodgy one that cost me money.

    • In Race #6, I bet horse #6 to show, as my “long-shot with a shot” system liked it. It did come in third, not far off the winner, but it was bet down to less than 2 to 1, so the show ticked only paid $2.40 per two dollar bet. My notes say “kind of a joke”, as it was 5 to 1 in the morning line. So it goes.

    • I skipped the 7^th Race, as it was a short field and had a decent purse. It just seemed like a tough race to call. My systems did like the winner, but picked it 2^nd best. The horse it liked best came in next-to-last, so it was a good race to skip. The winner (#6) ran an interesting race, laying up in last place until the 3/4 pole, then charging down the stretch, to finish in first place. Nice to watch, as long as it didn’t beat out your horse.

    • In Race #8, I bet the #1 horse to place, primarily on the basis of a rather large odds drop, from 8 to 1 to 3.7 to 1. Neither of my systems thought much of it, but I have learned to respect these odds drops. It turned out that it ran almost wire-to-wire, winning the race by two ticks (i.e. two-fifths of a second, which translates to somewhat more than a length). It paid nicely, 9.40 to win and 5.10 to place.

    • As for Race #9 , I skipped it. My favoured horse was a huge long-shot, and I was tempted, given the odds that it was going off at. But I decided against it. It came in 7^th, the crowd’s estimate of its potential being correct. There was no show-betting allowed, which seems odd for a 10 horse field.

    • In Race #10, I bet the #6 horse to place. It was rated second by both of my systems and it also had a substantial odds drop, from 6 to 1 to 3 to 2. It ran wire-to-wire in first place, paying $5.20 to win and 3.20 to place.

    • I skipped Race #11. My systems liked the #5, but I didn’t feel confident about it. As it turned out, the #6 horse won, paying quite handsomely, 16.30 to win and 7.50 to place. One of my systems did rank the #6 second, but only slightly better than a few other horses, so it didn’t seem like a good bet. Besides, I had been hitting most of the races, getting at least a bit of money, so I was beginning to feel that luck was bound to turn against me soon.

    • Race #12 proved that my premonitions were accurate. I bet the #7 horse to show, as it was favoured by both my systems and was going off at 50 to 1. But it came in dead last.

    • Race #13: skipped it.

  • Summing up, I bet 8 races and won money on 6 of them. I skipped 5. Most of the prices were short, but I managed to grind out a profit between 10% and 30%. The uncertainty is due to my bad record-keeping on one race, where I am not sure if I bet place or show (though I am fairly certain that it was place).

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

 

On the Road with Bronco Billy

Sit back and go on a ten day trucking trip in a big rig, through western North America, from Alberta to Texas, and back again. Explore the countryside, learn some trucking lingo, and observe the shifting cultural norms across this great continent.

Amazon U.S.: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon U.K.: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Germany: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B00X2IRHSK

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B00X2IRHSK

=======================================================

What follows is an account of a ten day journey through western North America during a working trip, delivering lumber from Edmonton Alberta to Dallas Texas, and returning with oilfield equipment. The writer had the opportunity to accompany a friend who is a professional truck driver, which he eagerly accepted. He works as a statistician for the University of Alberta, and is therefore is generally confined to desk, chair, and computer. The chance to see the world from the cab of a truck, and be immersed in the truck driving culture was intriguing. In early May 1997 they hit the road.

Some time has passed since this journal was written and many things have changed since the late 1990’s. That renders the journey as not just a geographical one, but also a historical account, which I think only increases its interest.

We were fortunate to have an eventful trip - a mechanical breakdown, a near miss from a tornado, and a large-scale flood were among these events. But even without these turns of fate, the drama of the landscape, the close-up view of the trucking lifestyle, and the opportunity to observe the cultural habits of a wide swath of western North America would have been sufficient to fill up an interesting journal.

The travelogue is about 20,000 words, about 60 to 90 minutes of reading, at typical reading speeds.

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

And here’s an account of some road trips in south-western Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

 Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCMJP47G

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Race Track Diary, Entry Number 39 – Billy Budd’s (July 18, 2026)

  

Race Track Diary, Entry Number

 Thirty-Nine

39 – Billy Budd’s (July 18, 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.

======================================================================

• 39 – Billy Budd’s (July 18, 2026)

  • This Saturday visit might be called the “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” episode. I will expand upon that later.

  • There was a pretty good crowd when we arrived at 3:00 in the afternoon. The World Cup consolation game was on, that being the game played for ‘bronze’ (i.e. 3^rd place), between England and France. I should note that England won by a score of 6-4, which is highly anomalous for soccer.

  • I asked the English waitress how she felt about that.

    • “I don’t know what happened, for them to score 6 goals. They should have done it earlier in the semi-final [ed. note: which they lost]. If you don’t win first place, you are just the best loser.” That’s true, though there is actually prize money for third in the World Cup, so there’s that.

    • Contrast it to horseracing, when you make a successful show bet. It’s not a win, but if the horse comes in third, you still get paid, occasionally rather handsomely. However, that consolation is not an option in most sports.

  • The crowd was the usual mix of regulars and non-regulars (or semi-regulars). It skewed older and mostly male, as is generally the case.

  • At first, we first sat at a table off the main area and began waiting for the bucket-pullers to begin. But then Craig spotted a fellow that he recognized. It was a guy he worked with and gambled with, back in the day. I knew him slightly, as well, from the former racetrack era, but not nearly as well as Craig did. So, we picked up our stuff and joined Freddy at his table (name slightly altered for privacy purposes).

  • Freddy and Craig proceeded to swap stories from the past and share news about the present. There were plenty of stories to relate, about work, betting, health, family and friends. Fred and Craig were both (a building trade), so given the nature of the trade, they moved from job to job, picking up anecdotes as they went. And they did a lot of betting, especially on the horses, though sometimes with trips to Vegas. They even knew a bookie or two, which seems rather quaint now.

  • A few random words of wisdom from Fred:

    • “You get bitter when you get old. But then we were bitter when we were young, weren’t we Craig.” (laughing). “The horses do that to you.”

    • “If we could feed the carnage, it was ok.” (referring to the vagaries of betting, especially on horses).

    • “They’re off...you lose.” (when your horse tucks in last at the start of the race).

    • Me: “I’m waiting for the bucket-pullers to bet.” Fred: “I know, you’re a sick man.” (laughing). He prefers the thoroughbreds, but will bet on harness races too, though he considers them crooked as a dog’s leg.

    • Re: an old racetrack crony, nickname “Water Bill”, because he always drank water, not beer. “He died – likely starved to death. They found him dead in his room.” What can you say except Yikes!

    • Re: the old Northlands Racetrack days. “They gave out door prizes, some were pretty good – T-shirts and stuff. Sometimes they gave out wallets and the odd one had money in it. Craig got one with a thousand bucks in it, once.” (Craig nods in agreement).

    • I mention a work-friend who visited the old track with me one time and won the door prize, a selection of meats worth quite a bit of money. Freddy: “I remember her – the meat lady.”

    • Freddy is still working part-time under the table. He notes (building trade activity) a business recently, changing a couple dozen (building trade activity), high up on the ladder. Which is awfully good for a guy his age.

    • Craig: “He’s a hard worker. The horses drive him to make money.” Me: “Whatever gives you purpose in life, I guess.” Once you hit a certain age, you can become philosophical about such matters.

    • Health problems had Craig sidelined for a while. It was good for him to connect with Fred.

    • Anyway, Fred left about the time that the bucket-pullers came on. I thought he didn’t care for the harness races, but Craig said he was probably just out of money, having made (and lost) a bet or two while we conversed. “Fred actually likes the buckets.”

  • After Fred left, we then turned our attention to Woodbine/Mohawk. But the interval before the first race dragged on and on. A note on the TV screen said it was a weather delay. But it looked sunny there (the view was from the barns, but a big door was open in the background).

  • After nearly an hour, it was announced that the races were cancelled that day, due to poor air quality. That was because of smoke from forest fires, way off in northwestern Ontario. I suppose that the health of the horses were the main concern, as they would be breathing hard, which would not be good for their lungs. No point risking expensive horses’ health.

  • Given that, we turned our attention to some other tracks. I picked up a program for Del Mar, in San Diego. That’s a long way from the smoke of Canada. Besides, I have had some success there in the past.

  • I started in mid-card:

    • For Race 7, I made a beer-bet to show, on #6. It didn’t have the best numbers but it did have a rather significant drop in odds from Morning-Line to Race-time. It came in and paid a very small profit. But it respected the beer-bet rule, and that was what mattered to me at the time.

    • I missed Race 8. I enjoyed a nice glass of beer and a pretty good personal-sized pizza instead of betting. This was just as well, since my preferred horse finished out of the money. The pizza was so good, I got another one to take home to my wife. She agreed that it was rather tasty and a nice break from cold sandwiches (it had been too hot to do much cooking).

    • In Race 9, I bet the 5 to show. Unfortunately, it came in 4^th by a nose.

    • For the 10^th Race, I made another show bet, this time on the #7 horse. It had very good numbers, in addition to a substantial odds drop. It came in place and paid tolerably well.

    • I skipped the 11^th, as most of the horses had never even been in the money in their past performances. Amusingly enough, the three that did have some history came in 1-2-3. Too bad that I missed that, but so it goes.

  • That put me even on the day. Actually I came out a little better than that, as when I put my bet through the machine, it gave me an extra voucher. So, from that point of view, I came out ahead, about 10% in ROI terms.

  • This was interesting, as I had accidentally put a bunch of vouchers through the laundry earlier that week (I forgot to take them out of my shirt pocket). That mistake washed every last bit of ink off the vouchers, so I was out a fair bit of money. I suppose that fickle spirit of the racetrack will eventually return the money – the extra voucher was a down payment on that promise. At least that’s how I choose to interpret things.

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Hiking the Wild North Shore of Lake Superior

The north shore of Lake Superior is wild and beautiful. It is also quite sparsely populated, so a hiking trip (or other adventure) will truly give you chance to get away from it all, and back to nature in its full glory.

Lake Superior is big – it is the largest of the North American Great Lakes, and one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. One could spend years exploring the area, and still have barely touched the possibilities.

This account focuses on a multi-day backpacking trip in Pukaskwa National Park, some light canoeing in White Lake Provincial Park, and some day-hiking in the Thunder Bay area.

What follows is a journal of some of the highlights of a trip to Northern Ontario in the summer of 1998. That gives the trip a bit of a historical flavor, but things don’t change very quickly in the wild country of the true north, so it will also give the reader a good idea of what to expect during their own exploration of the north shore.

You can purchase it for 99 cents U.S., equivalent price in other currencies.  Alternatively, keep your eyes open for a free promotions, which occur periodically. Or, get it with Kindle Unlimited.

U.S.:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F9TV4C8
U.K.:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07F9TV4C8 
Germany:  https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07F9TV4C8

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B07F9TV4C8

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B074LZDQ9F

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B074LZDQ9F
Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07F9TV4C8  
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07F9TV4C8
Australia:  https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07F9TV4C8
India:  https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07F9TV4C8

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And here’s an account of some road trips in south-western Alberta:

A Selection of Back-Road Trips Around

 Southwest Alberta

There are two main aspects to a road trip: the journey and the destination. Sometimes the trip is all about the journey, sometimes it’s all about the destination. Usually it is a little of both.

This collection of back-roads journeys feature a little bit of both of these aspects. Some accounts are more about the ‘journey’, such as a road trip on scenic Highway 22. Others are more about the ‘destination’, such as the show-jumping at Spruce Meadows. I hope you will enjoy reading some of these accounts and maybe give them a spin for yourself.

Southwest 1 – A Road Trip on Scenic Highway 22

Southwest 2 – The Equestrian Competitions at Spruce Meadows (Calgary)

Southwest 3 – The Bar U Ranch, south of Long View

Southwest 4 – Kananaskis Country

Southwest 5 – Blackfoot Crossing

Southwest 6 – Back-roads, from the Prairies to the Foothills: Brazeau Dam Trip

Southwest 7 – A Back-roads Trip to Hinton and the Forestry Trunk Roads

The reader may wonder “what about the Ice-fields Parkway?” or “where is a visit to Banff?” I would answer, that these famous destinations are covered very nicely by other books. This account is meant to focus on some less travelled areas, thus the “back-roads” descriptor.

I should note that the other three quadrants of Alberta also have a lot of interesting back-roads journeys, but those are material for some other books which will be published in due time.

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon U.K: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Mexico: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DCMJP47G

Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DCMJP47G

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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.