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