[Kasept]

I've had mostly positive experiences at the track with gal pals. And at the '93 Breeders Cup at Santa Anita I arrived sans girlfriend and left with one named Terri who was from Sacramento and worked for Hewlitt Packard.. I remember little of that Cup because we were entwined in each others lap on one of the benches off to the side of the paddock...

But 80's era girlfriend Karen ("The Muffin") and I were at Alabama Day in '90 for Go For Wand. I hit the first two, $120 exacta and the Double ($80) which I NEVER bet, and was up $200. She had been kvetching to go to the Shoe Depot downtown, so I said we would go, get her shoes, come back for the 'Bama..

But she ran into a friend from Cortland St. by the Carousel, and starts yapping... So it's 5-6 minutes to the third race and I spot a 16-1 shot I liked called Balinar (the 7). I wheeled him up and down with the 1-3-5-9... all the odd # horses.. They're turning for home, and the screen says "7-3-1-5" and the 7 is up 5 lengths, so I know I'm a winner...

In deep stretch, I see something coming like a blur on the outside and suddenly there's a horse getting to my 7 and I don't know who it is... There's an old guy who was watching the race with me and I had told him what I played so he was rooting with me on the 16-1 shot... They get to the wire and the closer gets up and I'm yelling "Who was it?" And he's yelling "Do you gots it?"... Me: "Who was it?"... Him: "Da 9.. It's da 9"... Me: "I got the 9.. I got the 7 with the 1-3-5-9"... Him: "You gots it! You gots it! The boy gots it! You my hero!"

The 9, Keynote Speaker, was 27-1... Exacta paid $721.00... My first IRS ticket... And all because Muffin ran into a girlfriend at the track! We had an apartment together in Ossining... "The Love Shack"... Now she's married with a baby.. the Mini Muffin.