Venue for February 2 - Gulfstream

[JolyB]

Originally Posted by cal828

I remember when Oaklawn had only daily doubles and cashiers and ticket sellers were separate and when there was no simulcasting and when the Oaklawn meet was done they removed the ticket selling machines and shipped them to Churchill so they could be used there. I can remember when Charles Cella finally let Oaklawn have exactas and tris. He resisted it. I think his reasoning was that people who won exactas and tris would take too much money home and not put it back into the wagering pool.

We all sound so old. When was the first time all of you went to the track?

For me it was around 1963, I think. I was a junior or senior in high school and lived not far from Monmouth Park. Caddied at a local golf course where many of the members owned thoroughbreds (Monmouth's signature race is named after one of them) and the older caddies all played the horses (at least they talked a good game). Shared an early morning "loop" with one of those older guys, who talked me into going to the races with him that afternoon. The minimum age for wagering was 21, and I looked much younger than my age, but no one ever raised an eyebrow when I stepped up to the window.

Like you, Cal, I recall the separate windows for "bet" and "cash", and different windows depending upon how much you wanted to bet (perhaps a $2, a $5 and $50 window). They had Win, Place and Show and a Daily Double for the first two races only (designed to get patrons to the track early). I sort of remember that there were separate windows for win, place and show, but am not positive of that. The tickets were preprinted pieces of cardboard (if you bet $6 to win, you received 3 tickets for $2 each), and when you won a bet, you only received cash, no paper vouchers. At the end of the day, you usually had a pocketful of dimes since payouts that involved change only paid in dimes. After a race became official, it seemed to take a very long time for the prices to be posted - computers have changed everything.

Things have sure changed since then.