Race Track Diary, Entry Number Thirteen

Billy Budd’s (Oct 10, 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.

13 – Billy Budd’s (Oct 10, 2025)
- In our quest to visit all or most of the off-track betting joints in north-central Alberta, we hit a pub/restaurant called Billy Budd’s.
- It is fairly centrally located, on the south side of the city (98 Street and 63 Avenue). That also means that it is close to my house and a fairly easy drive down the Whitemud Freeway for Craig. Though, with the recent surge in traffic volumes due to rapid population growth, no freeway drive can actually be considered ‘easy’, any longer.
- I was impressed by the place. It was well maintained, not any kind of dive at all. There was plenty of space, with places to eat as well as drink, including a central bar. One area had some pool tables and another area had some VLTs, though not an excessive amount. The horseracing area was nicely done and the seats were quite comfortable. I suppose you might say it was a bit classier than most of the other venues. Possibly being located in a more prosperous area of the city was a significant aspect of that.
- There were a few tables directly across from the TV screens. Beyond those was a raised area (a few steps, enough to get a clear view of the screens), which featured an arc shaped seating area, something like a very small lecture hall might have. These seats faced the screens, they also had counter-top with undermount lighting. That gave us horseplayers who like to work out our numbers on-site, plenty of desk space and light. Finally, behind that there were a number of booths, for those times when you are visiting with a larger group of players.
- The waitresses were quite professional and friendly towards the customers. They seemed to know some of the regular horseplayers and chatted freely with them. They were also very willing to change a TV screen to a different track, should a customer request that.
- As noted, there seemed to be some regulars among the bettors. Though the crowd skewed towards older males, there were also some younger fellows and a few women.
- One guy used his iPhone to broadcast the race that he was keying in on. But it was only for a couple of minutes and added a bit of interest to that track. Of course you wouldn’t want too many people doing that, as it would create quite the cacophony.
- Speaking of cacophony, though there was a VLT section near the betting area, it only had a few machines and was lightly used. So, it was blessedly quiet, without the repetitive blaring of snatches of pop songs, sirens, horns, buzzers and the like, that are generally associated with the machines. That said, the VLT action did pick up a bit as the afternoon wore on, though it never got intrusive.
- Some of the bettors were rather ebullient with regards to winning ( a bit of the old Whoo Hoo!) or loudly disappointed at losing (a bit of the old #!$$#). But all in all, it wasn’t bad. You can’t blame people for getting excited, after all, that’s a good part of the reason for attending.
- Some of the chit-chat of the regulars revolved around who was still alive and who had passed on. I think those regulars must have hearkened back to the days of the ‘real racetrack’, since some of the people they talked about seemed to have worked there.
- Another guy talked about his cataract operation, noting that he now has 20/20 vision. One of the waitresses was quite interested in that, as she said she had contact lenses, but might soon have to go to ‘progressives’.
- As the afternoon transitioned to early evening, the crowd shifted as well. Things audibly picked up in the bar area, likely due to the Friday night after-work crowd.
- A couple of middle-aged women took seats in the horseracing area, in the tables below us. They played the horses for a while, as the earlier group of regulars took their leave.
- Eventually, three youngish women and a middle-aged guy took some seats below and in front of us and played the horses. Judging from their time of arrival, I think they were probably there to play the local racetrack, which was now into the harness part of the meet.
- As for our own betting, I have to confess to going 0 for 6 on this outing. As usual, I had a few close ones, but that was it. I will chalk this up to unlucky 13, also known as Triskaidekaphobia in its more extreme forms.
- As for my brother, I believe he hit some winners, but I don’t know if he had a profit for the day overall. It is a sort of mutual understanding, not to be too inquisitive, unless the other fellow volunteers the information.
- But we had a good time anyway or at least I think so. The hockey season had just begun and Craig’s bette noire (the Oilers goaltending problems) was a major point of discussion, along with the races.
- At one point I ordered a beer and almost forgot to tip the waitress. When she came back with the beer I rectified that, and said my mind had been on "horses and hockey". She nodded and said "horses and hockey, that pretty much sums things up."
- And it did.

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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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And here is an account of a summer job I had, many years ago, when I was 19, working on the railroad.

A Summer Working on the Railroad

What follows is an account of a few weeks one long-ago summer, when I was 19 and was working for the Canadian National Railway (CNR) on a railroad construction gang, in the wilds of north-central British Columbia, Canada.

The journal is in the form of a letter, that was never sent. Decades later, I think it has an interesting historical resonance. At times I come off like a callow youth – I plead guilty as charged. I swore a lot more in those days than I do now, but in places the writing is surprisingly good, at least in my humble opinion. And the story has a compelling narrative arc.

There were a lot of interesting and dramatic events that occurred – a number of industrial accidents being the most serious. There were also some colorful characters on the crew, which resulted in some dramatic and at times amusing conflicts and altercations. I perhaps flatter myself by including myself in that number. Or perhaps I condemn myself – I’m not sure.

So, if you want to be reminded of one of those summer jobs that was kind of life-changing, read on. My story may just kick-start some memories of your own.

The memoir/journal is about 9,000 words, a length that can usually be read in an hour or so. It is priced at 99 cents U.S. (equivalent in other currencies) and is free on Kindle Unlimited. Periodically, it will be offered as a free promotion.

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