Race Track Diary, Entry Number Thirty

- Kentucky Derby Day

This is a bit out of sequence, but I thought it would be a good idea to get out an entry on the blog about the Kentucky Derby. It was quite interesting, even when one was not actually at Churchill Downs.

30 – Kentucky Derby Day at Billy Budd’s (May 2, 2026)
- It was another pleasant Saturday afternoon, so as usual people were out and about. But, for horseracing enthusiasts, this was a special day. It was the day of the Kentucky Derby and related high-priced stakes races.
- Although we were at a modest off-track facility in a far-away city, the magnetic draw of the Kentucky Derby still drew people in. Many of those were casual racing fans, at best, but that was fine by me. There is a certain interest to be had in watching the crowd’s behaviours and interactions, and for filling up space in a blog.
- My brother Craig, on the other hand, was none-too-thrilled about the presence of so many amateurs, as they crowded the betting machines and took up the best seats. Thus, we arrived earlier than usual. As he suspected, the best seats in the house were taken, but we found some tables that had a passable view of the screens.
- The wait staff was being very attentive on this day. No doubt, it was a good day for tips. The English lass serving our table was being quite considerate; we had been pretty good tippers in the past, which always helps.
- Also, on our last visit she had forgotten to pick up our money for the tab, which we had left on the table. I had notified the bartender/horseracing attendant of that, and the English lass then came to get the cash (it was cash, not electronic). She seemed slightly surprised that we didn’t just walk out. I think that may have also helped matters.
- I then picked up some programs and profiles from the printer. Unfortunately it got slightly jammed part way through printing the Churchill Downs program. Curiously, that happened just as it started on Race 12, the Kentucky Derby. Was that an omen?
- I notified the staff of this and one of them came to unjam the printer shortly thereafter. Luckily it was a minor jam, so she soon got it going.
- I then retired to my seat and started to examine the form. It was strangely difficult to make out some of the small numbers. I wondered about that, then noticed that I had taken the wrong reading glasses to the ‘track’. Another omen? Well, I thought, we must press on anyway.
- As I noted earlier, it was a more varied crowd than usual. There was a significantly greater proportion of women and of younger people, than is normally the case. Some people were obviously newbies – I had to walk one fellow through the use of the printer, though he said he was quite familiar with the betting machines.
- As the time for the Kentucky Derby to be run neared, many varied people began drifting to the betting machines. There were lineups, though generally it was possible to get through in time for the race (I did).
- Here are some random observations about the crowd, in and around that time:
  - There was a young guy with a goatee and suspenders. It was an interesting look, though it made him look a bit like a farmer, in the city for the day, maybe even a Hutterite from one of the nearby colonies. That said, it was probably just a style choice, by some city guy.
  - Then there was another young guy with a very long beard, though not a grey beard. Often the long beards are grey, but not this time. It seemed likely that this fellow won his bet on the Derby, as he lined up after the race at the bar, to cash in his betting slip for actual cash. Interestingly, he had a sort of portable folding scooter under his arm while doing so.
  - Same thing for a tall older black gentleman. He also appeared to be lining up to cash in a ticket, once the race was over. No scooter, though.
  - The Chinese fellow who had tipped me off to the horse Renegade seemed to be present. The horse was the favorite, though it came in second. For me, that was alright, as I had put show money on it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to talk to the fellow and thank him for his information. Of course, he might have assumed that I would have bet Win, and would therefore be angry with him. So it goes, at the track.
  - There was a blonde lady in a ‘shift’ (I think that is what they are called). My first impression is that she was a newbie, since she spent a lot of time at the betting machine. She also drifted around from one machine to another. But as time went on, I wondered whether she wasn’t making bets for someone else, maybe a number of someone elses.
  - The same was true of another lady, this one in one of those big Kentucky Derby hats. She was middle-aged, but still something of a looker. She also seemed to spend quite a long time at the betting machines, going from one to another.
  - There was a young woman in a short dress and top, a pony-tail, and multiple tattoos, quite a striking contrast. She might have been part of the wait staff, though I think she was probably a patron on the other side of the pub.
  - It was a funny crowd, from my point of view. One fellow looked a lot like someone I had worked with, though somewhat older. The same was true for another man, who also looked like an ex-colleague at the University. At times I thought he really was the same man, but was avoiding me, since this was a booze and gambling joint.
  - Then there was also a lady who was a ringer for my sister-in-law. That wouldn’t have been all that surprising, as she was quite a fan of the horses, as was her husband (one of my brothers). My brother Craig, who was with me, also noted the resemblance.
  - Sometimes I think there are just so many faces in the world, so occasionally you see these near doppelgangers.
- Enough about the crowd, what about the races?
  - I had picked up a Churchill Downs program, as well as Santa Anita and the harnies at Woodbine-Mohawk. However, it soon became obvious that it would be pointless to try to follow multiple tracks at the same time. Thus, Churchill Dows took centre-stage for me.
  - Race 9 was about to go off there, which I quickly handicapped, using an abbreviated version of my usual method. I threw some money on a horse, but it did nothing, even though it had good numbers.
  - Same thing in Race 10. My system picked out the favorite, so I put a little money on it. It led for a while, then faded and died in the stretch. I believe Craig picked up a nice show ticket, though.
  - I skipped Race 11, which was smart, as the horse my system picked did nothing.
  - Now it was Race 12, the Kentucky Derby.
    - It took a long time before they got to running the race. The Kentucky Derby is a big TV event, so they were milking it for all it was worth. Lots of interviews, lots of touts. Plenty of ads, natch.
    - Throughout all this time, the odds for the horses didn’t seem to budge by much. It seemed pretty locked-in to me.
    - There were 20 horses in the race, so it took quite some time to prepare, then load the gate.
    - While this was going on, the crowd sang "My Old Kentucky Home". That’s a tradition of the race and the crowd was quite pumped to sing it. It is a song with a complicated history, which I won’t go into here. These are the lyrics – though I think they have been altered over the years, to fit the temper of the times. (Note: I am running out of indents).
      - Oh, the sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home
        'Tis summer, the people are gay
        The corn tops rise and the meadows all in bloom
        While the birds make sweet music all the day
        The young folks roll on the little cabin floor
        All merry and happy and bright
        By and by hard times come a-knockin' at the door
        To my old Kentucky home, goodnight
      - Weep no more, my lady
        Oh, weep no more today
        We will sing one song for my old Kentucky home
        For my old Kentucky home far away
    - Finally, they were off. The crowded field surged out and many horses competed for the lead. With 20 horses it was difficult to make much sense of the race as it proceeded.
    - The early speed looked good for quite a while, but it eventually got clobbered in the cavalry charge in the stretch.
    - The favorite, Renegade looked good closing in the stretch but was overtaken by a longshot near the wire, who closed even better.
    - The result was that a 23 to 1 horse won, the 5 to 1 favorite came in second and a 70 to 1 horse came in third. Renegade did not get the roses. So much for the theory that the chalk wins the big races.
    - As for myself, I had bet a show ticket on the favorite, Renegade, so I was rather happy with the result, as the show ticket paid $5.46 on a $2 ticket. I had stepped up my bet, so I more than made up my losses on the 9^th and 10^th race.
    - I should note that Renegade’s numbers on my figuring were not all that great, but I had a hunch it would be in the money.
    - It turns out that the winner will not be entered in the Preakness, so no chance for a Triple Crown winner this year.
  - There were two more races at Churchill Downs, but I skipped them, as my system didn’t seem to be working very well at this track. As it turned out, the 14^th race did run true to my numbers, with the winner paying nearly $16 on a $2 bet. So it goes.
- It was now time, as usual, to turn my attention to the bucke-pullers (harness-races) at Woodbine/Mohawk.
- A lot of people cleared out, once the Kentucky Derby was done, so we could now got up to the arc-bench, where the light was improved and the viewing of the screens was better. There were maybe about 8 or 10 hardy harness-racing fans left.
  - The races at Churchill Downs had cut into the Woodbine time, so the first bettable race was the 5^th. I bet the number 6 horse, though it didn’t have a lot of great indicators. However, the 2 horse had been bet down to 2 to 5, so that didn’t seem worth a bet. I had a hunch that the 6 was due and the odds were very good. It did turn out to win, paying off handsomely at about 8 to 1. So, I could relax and play with the track’s money for a while.
  - I skipped the 6^th race, as far as handicapping was concerned. Craig hit a Triactor, though not for a great deal of money.
  - Race 7 was also a loss, both for my bet and for our exotic (a Pick-3).
  - In Race 8, the #6 horse looked good, having several positive indicators. It went off at nice odds, so I put place money on it. It did indeed place, though the price was lower than I expected (about 3 to 1).
  - For Race 9, the #2 horse was bet down to just below even money. I figured it was worth a shot to win, as it was a small field and the #2 really should win. But it came in second, paying a whopping 2.10 to place, on a 2.00 bet (i.e. a cool dime).
  - In Race 10, the 5 looked like a long-shot with a decent chance. But, no dice, as it came in fifth.
  - Race 11 and 12 were the same; threw some money on long-shots with a chance, but they actually had no chance.
  - So that was it – one very good win ticket and one fairly good place ticket paid out. So that meant a pretty good profit at the the bucket-pullers of Woodbine/Mohawk to go along with a decent profit on the Kentucky Derby.

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And here are a couple of short books you might like.

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

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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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And here is an account of a summer job on the railroad, during my undergraduate years.

One Summer Working on the Railroad

What follows is anaccount 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.

U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CN661P8Z

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CN661P8Z

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India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0CN661P8Z

France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Netherlands: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Japan: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0CN661P8Z

Brazil: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0CN661P8Z