When ever I hear the TRF ad played on Steve's show and they replay the stretch call of Gulchs 1988 BC sprint win I cringe. I had Play the King at something like 70-1. Ruined my whole day until Personal Ensign's win. How that isnt the greatest BC moment is beyond me.

i went to hollywood park with the girl i married 3 years later and watched the races. they had placed temporary seating on the apron between the stands and the track and I had two seats there for $15 each. they were in the sun all day but were just before the finish line. i remember I couldn't believe how well placed the seats were for $15.

i remember the "pavilion off the stars" had just opened and had the most expensive seats but they were on the wrong side of the finish line.

i'm looking through the program and seeing all the notes i scribbled on it and wonder if it would be worth anything if i hadn't done that. i can also see my ex's cryptic 5,1,1,4,7 on the pages with the classic and wonder what it means.

mostly I remember betting $50 on the slew o' gold entry in the classic. i was probably making about $7/hour and paying $300/month or so for rent. i had assured myself and my ex he couldn't lose. $20 would have been more than i could afford to bet on 1 race at the time.

it remains one of my personal touch points for not betting heavily on favorites.

.......P.E. getting up in the last jump to beat Winning Colors Ruined my day. that was 2 great fillies doing serious battle.

one hell of an effort from an amazing horse. i don't know that any horse has ever tried harder than personal ensign did that day. every time i watch the replay, i still think she's not going to win...even tho i know the result. just seemed too impssible to do. she wouldn't quit, when she had every right to toss it in.

I was too "young in the game" (not young as a person, mind you) in 1984 to have much recollection of anything I really thought about the Breeders Cup then. I just know I was really excited about it. I'm born and raised SoCal, but for some reason, I didn't go to Hollywood Park that day. I just parked myself in front of the TV with my Racing Form.

I remember Chief's Crown, Fran's Valentine/Outstandingly, Eillo, Royal Heroine, Princess Rooney, Lashkari, and Wild Again like they were yesterday!

I'd like to tell a little story about 1986 Breeders Cup at Santa Anita, my first Breeders Cup that I attended, and it speaks to the issue that came up earlier in the thread about the wagering opportunities back in those days.

I went to a seminar the night before, held at the adjacent mall. A popular and respected newspaper handicapper, Jerry Antonucci, was on the panel. Exactas ($5 minimum) were only offered in the 5th, 7th, and 9th back in those days, and Jerry was in a snit because the Mile came up in the 4th race that day. He said that the only two horses in that race were Last Tycoon and Palace Music, and he was gnashing his teeth because there was no exacta opportunity.

Turns out he was right! Last Tycoon won that Mile at some ridiculous price, and Palace Music came in 2nd! I had $2 to WP (that was my MO at the time) on Last Tycoon only because of Jerry Antonucci, and I swear, I thought I was rolling in dough! Man, that was fun!

I watched the first BC in the grandstand at lovely Jefferson Downs. I was 15 and a newbie to a sport that I had just started following that year. Simulcasting was basically non-existent in Louisiana in 1984. Other than the rare simulcast of a major stakes event, you were limited to wagering on the live races at your local track unless you wanted to bet with a bookie, which many opted to do. My exposure to major horses in 1984 was mostly confined to watching replays on Racehorse Digest and reading about the equine stars in DRF, Blood Horse, and Thoroughbred Record, so it was quite exciting to see so many good horses run, even if I was just watching them on a small color (I think) monitor at JD. I recall betting on Wild Again because he had won the New Orleans Handicap earlier that year, but it is more likely that I bet on him to place or show. Also, if my memory is correct, the BC pools were not yet commingled, so the payoffs were different depending on where you bet.

This is still the best exacta I've hit in betting the Breeders Cup. Actually bought the ticket at Arlington Park then watched on TV. I love that commercial on ATR. Early in BC history, the Woodbine horses were virtually ignored. If I remember correctly, I loved Play The King because he had ran a 1:10.00 flat 6 furlongs in his prep race and by Woodbine standards back then anything under 1:12.00 was smoking. (long before poly was invented)

Great memories!!!! (although a little sketchy)

1990 BC Belmont 43F

I bet 50WPS on Itsallgreektome and in mid stretch when it looked like he had a shot I was yelling "Nakatani Nakatani Nakatani" . My friends said "who the f is Nakatani ?" He ran 2nd by a neck at 36-1.

I also had $100 on Bayakoa - that was a bitter sweet win.

Can't wait for next Friday!

Huge fan of Gate Dancer - the ear muff blinkers were cool.

Have never seen anything quite like that before or since. I saw him in the Arkansas Derby. I think it was the 1984 running. He got beat that day by the filly Althea and another horse by the name of Pine Circle. Wonder how they ever figured out that he needed the ear muff blinkers?

He was a nervous wreck and the ear muffs helped drown out outside noises.

Obviously one of my favorites, growing up in Omaha and living at Aks-Sar-Ben, I was a huge JVB and Gate Dancer fan. Certainly one of the best horses I have ever seen run in person. I still maintain that he had the reputation as somewhat of a 'bully' because he loved to make that move coming into the stretch and pull right up to the nose of anyone in front of him. He definitely wanted to intimidate other horses. I still say Wild Again was tiring and lugging a bit outward when Slew O Gold and Gate Dancer were pressing him in the stretch. Wild Again closed the hole on Slew not Gate Dancer. But I'm sure the stewards wanted no part of any DQ of the winner. GD made it easier for them with his reputation.

As an aside............the earmuff thing is still rare but I have seen a number of horses especially in Japan racing that seem to have the used this. Maybe because of the large crowds they get on track.

Favorite race and betting moment
 

Best race---Personal Ensign over Winning Colors. Gutsiest performance I ever saw...epitomized the phrase "refusing to lose".
Best betting moment---The year Thirty Slews won the Sprint. Pools were fragmented in the day and got 30-1 on him at an OTB in IL when he was around 4-1 in CA. $$$$
Great thread!

i've seen other horses with the muffs, altho some do just resort to cotton in the ears. i guess it wasn't enough noise reduction for him tho.

I was in the paddock for the 86 big cap, Gate dancer was very nervous around the huge crowd that day, he broke terrible and was 15 wide.......Jorge Valasquez was in from New York to ride him.... LOVED Jorge.

by the time of the bc, he had three quarter cracks. they almost didn't run him, but wanted to be 'sporting' and help out the bc by running him.
check this out, perfect example of the press about the inaugural race, and slew o'gold's role in the big day..


http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=6676,5783345

wow. superb find.

looking through it put the time in sharper focus for me. reagan/mondale and indira ghandi's assasination.

interesting read in the other sections of the paper. but i still think the interference played a bigger role in the loss than quarter cracks.

i do, too. always liked slew o'gold, and was sorely disappointed i couldn't see him a few years back when we went up to ky.

and to you, and cardus, when i saw that page i said 'wow'. love stumbling upon old stuff like that.

i have a book at home with copies of old newspaper articles on races horses, from colin vs fair play up through the 70's. i used to get that book at the elementary school library and look over it, repeatedly. then, found a copy on half.com. yay!


that youngblood article was a hoot-wonder how many even know who merlin olsen was! or youngblood for that matter...

and found stuff about the usfl in there. neat stuff.