I grew up on the backside of a racetrack. And I am not ashamed to say that in kindergarden I could read a racing form.
In the 2nd grade I begged and begged my mom to bet an exacta on two horses that I loved. I mean I used to sneak down to their barn and groom them when I was supposed to be down at our barn doing things for mom. My mom said ok, and bet me a $2 exacta on Scooby Doo and a horse named "Jet" (cant remember his "real" name and the exacta paid over $250. My dad thought it was the funniest thing, and asked my why I made sure my mom put Jet on top of Scooby Doo and I told him something to the affect of, "Scooby Doo told me he could beat all of the horses in the race but he couldnt beat Jet". I guess you can say that is when I got hooked on capping!