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 4th 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 5th 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 6th 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 7th 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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment