what got you in .. why is horseracing ...

[SentToStud]

Worked the backstretch at DRC a couple summers as a kid.

Drove 1000 miles to see the Seattle Slew/Affirmed Marlboro race. Still the best sporting event I've ever seen or heard of.

[magic_idol]

Started going out with this bird after the bust up of my first marrige who was a track rider ,she then became a adult apprentice jockey so i never got to see her so got into training just to see her
Remember lying on my RV to get my trainers licence as they like people from racing families not a Welder from the ghetto,won my first race with a 5k second hand horse with my apprentice now wife aboard & that was me gone ,
Now she works for the opposition "Queensland Racing" teaching apprentices & im still stuck dreaming loving & hating them all at the same time

[Benny Leger]

My dad owned thoroughbreds when I was young. Mostly cheap claimers who ran at River, Latonia or Beu. Little Stevie Cauthen setting records as a young teenage apprentice rider did it for me. I just saw him at TP on KY Cup Day. Looks like he could still ride both ends of the Double. I'm facinated at how competitive horses are with nothing on the line but their pride.

[geeker2]

Saratoga Harness track when I was 16 years old...when early DD was king!

I bet a horse called Crestwood Copper 2wps..collected something like $47..thought I was a millionaire...

Been chasing Crestwood Copper ever since ....

[2Hot4TV]

Grand Dad would tell Grand Ma we were going fishing at the local park and we would go to Santa Anita. I go back a ways and cashing a winner on Mr Right in I think was the Santa Anita Hcp got it started, but seeing horses like Big Red, Slew, Bid, Affirmed, Precisionist, and John Henry has continued to seal it.

[King Glorious]

I would go over my grandfather's house and no matter what was going on, he'd always go to another room at a certain time of night. Turns out it was when the race replays show was on. I started going in and watching with him. I didn't know anything about the races but I liked the action. I'd say that hearing Trevor Denman call the races was what really excited me the most. The next year, I started paying more attention and was really drawn in watching Snow Chief in the SA Derby. By the end of the year, watching on tv wasn't enough so I told my grandfather that I wanted to go to the track for my 16th birthday. Just so happened that this was the same day as the BC at Santa Anita in 1986. First bet I ever placed was on Capote in the BC Juvenile.

The interesting thing for me is that I don't care for the gambling part of the sport. If I see something that I like, I'll play it. Sometimes it's weeks or months between plays for me. What's even more interesting is that I don't like horses at all. Never have. Well, I like them when they are racing and winning but that's all. If they can't win or once they retire, I don't care anymore. I think that the fun part for me is trying to decipher the form and how a race will turn out. I like watching horses that don't need anything. They don't need a certain track, a certain condition, pace, weight, level of competition, etc.; they just go out there and take the race to the others. I like flat out speed. Give me a horse that is going to run as fast as he can as far as he can and that's a horse I'll follow.

I like the promise of tomorrow. Seeing an exciting 2yo that I think could be the next big thing is what keeps me. I don't care so much about the Derby. We all know that's a crapshoot race anyway. I remember in April I said that I didn't know if Curlin would win the Derby or not but that by the end of the year, he'd leave no doubt as to who the best 3yo was. I care about the entire season and watching things unfold.

I care about the top races and the top horses. I know that the claiming game is the backbone of the sport but I have no interest whatsoever in watching the lower levels of racing. If it's not grade one or two, I'm not interested. Which makes it hard to keep interest these days because the lines between top horses and middle level horses has never been so blurred.

I love the trainers like Lukas and Biancone. They aren't afraid to step out of the box and try unconventional things. I don't like the guys that pigeonhole their horses into certain things and stay there.

I'm disappointed that next year, we will be without so many of the top horses from this year. Street Sense is gone. Lawyer Ron is gone. Hard Spun, AGS, Octave, Dylan Thomas, etc. It's basically like starting over from scratch each year. But the prospect of seeing War Pass turn into an all-time great will have me back next season.

[deltagulf]

my dad had a co worker who owned race horses. so that whats got be started. along with the close racing.

[Uncle Daddy]

The hook was set early. In Chicago in the late 70's they would show stretch runs of the feature from Arlington on the local sports news. I had family who worked at Sportsman's and Hawthorne and racing talk always seemed so grown up and exciting.

[Thunder Gulch]

Always been an avid fan of all sports and was at least somewhat interested in horses, but getting roped into going to the 1991 Derby hooked me.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

I used to tell girlfriends never to worry about me meeting a girl at the track (or the OTB) when I went off on my own to watch and wager. I really believed it. Too focused on the horses and the form, and not many girls in attendance.

That all changed when I went to Belmont to see Easy Goer and Sunday Silence, with hopes of seeing Sunday Silence win the Triple Crown.

I was hanging by the paddock before the 1st race, not far from the Secretariat statue, when I met a young lady. We ended up having a wonderful day. At least I did. It was the first time in my life I met a girl (besides my mother....!) who loved thoroughbred racing. I won't go into much more detail of that day being a supposed gentleman and all that....

I think I've told the story before, but once I was by myself at an OTB in Indianapolis when what I considered to be an attractive unescorted girl came asking to see my form, and sat down and struck up a conversation. I was in town on business, and honest to goodness I presumed she was a hooker. In fact, I flat out asked her if she was a hooker.... pretty matter of factly. I didn't need no hooker interfering with my horse racing gambling! Turned out she wasn't. She had a good laugh, and we had some nice times together.


FWIW, going forward, I would not recommend "are you a hooker?" as an ice breaker line.

http://www.thoroughbredracingradione...,09/Itemid,35/

listen to the start of hour 3 (about 5 minutes in) with Steve and Rick Hammerle.

[ALostTexan]

In high school, a friend and his dad, who was at that time my high school principal, offered to let me tag along for a trip to Remington Park in OKC. His dad let us take $30 each, no more, and we made win bets all day long. Had a blast.

But that didn't get me hooked, because it was about 10 years later that I was in Williamsport, PA, and overheard a few poker buddies talking about hitting the trifecta on a harness race. I was interested, and went to the OTB with them. I was starting to get hooked right after I bought the DRF there, and haven't looked back. I decided to go to all three of the TC races that year, and I did, and haven't looked back.

But the life-changing point was last summer. I was driving home from a job that I wasn't too thrilled about, listening to a racing show on Sirius that I had really gotten into, and overheard a guy talking about a racing program at the University of Arizona. Two days later, my girlfriend and I were ready to pack our bags, and we moved down here last winter. I start classes in January, and cannot wait.

I guess racing is truly a part of my life now, and in 2 years, I will be out of my current job at a hospital and into the racing world full-time. It's gonna be an awesome ride...

[2Hot4TV]

Enjoy the ride, Lost in Texas. Good luck

[Rudeboyelvis]

Started going to Rosecroft Raceway (outside of Wash DC) on Friday nights. I had just graduated high school and was going to a community college, working at a car dealership as a lot attendant in the afternoon and on weekends. One of the top salesmen was a guy that had been at this dealership for like 25 years and knew everyone and anyone in the area. The guy would move 40 cars a month just by selling to folks he'd known forever, or were referred to him by folks he'd known for ever. Anyway, this guy in addition to being a very adept harness handicapper apparently knew more than a few folks at the track and more than a few things about the "goings on" as it were.
My buddy and I would take care of him - prepping his cars first, doing anything he needed to get the sale done, etc, and in turn he would let us tag along with him to the track after work.
Needless to say, when you can take a 20.00 bill to the track and come home with 140.00 - your hooked (talking 1980 money here, I was lucky to take home 60 bucks a week working part time )
I've only seriously followed thoroughbred racing since I moved to the Tampa area about 4 years ago and went to TBD to watch the Preakness. It's a fantastic venue for racing and for the first time in my life a thoroughbred track close to home. 18 days....18 days.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

The interesting thing for me is that I don't care for the gambling part of the sport. If I see something that I like, I'll play it. Sometimes it's weeks or months between plays for me. What's even more interesting is that I don't like horses at all. Never have.

You are - without a doubt - one of the most perplexing individuals I have ever encountered on the internet or in real life.
I have never heard of someone who did not like gambling OR horses, but was a big fan of this game.

[boswd]

growing up 40 mins outside of Saratoga

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by miraja2

You are - without a doubt - one of the most perplexing individuals I have ever encountered on the internet or in real life.
I have never heard of someone who did not like gambling OR horses, but was a big fan of this game.

I do like the gambling. Just not that important to me. I don't need to be in on every race to make it exciting for me. The horses as animals, I don't care for. As competitors, I like to watch them. The fun for me is trying to see if I can be correct in my handicapping.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by miraja2

You are - without a doubt - one of the most perplexing individuals I have ever encountered on the internet or in real life.
I have never heard of someone who did not like gambling OR horses, but was a big fan of this game.

What he also is, that you don't find on the internet too often, is bluntly honest.

Personally I respect that a great deal.

[EpBurns]

The First time I ever went to the races was at Bowie I was about 11 years old and my uncle who has loved the horses and owned some later in life had a friend that was a trainer, It was a stakes races at Bowie and my uncle gave me a ticket to hold for him it was a $2 exacta box with the friends horse and he won the race and the exacta paid $132.00 and he gave me the ticket I thought I was rich,,, I will always remember the horse that won that day name was Isella (sp?) and ever since then I love the excitement of horse racing the thrill you get when they come to the finish line win lose or draw.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

What he also is, that you don't find on the internet too often, is bluntly honest.

Personally I respect that a great deal.

As do I.
There are few people I enjoy arguing with more than KG.

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by EpBurns

The First time I ever went to the races was at Bowie I was about 11 years old and my uncle who has loved the horses and owned some later in life had a friend that was a trainer, It was a stakes races at Bowie and my uncle gave me a ticket to hold for him it was a $2 exacta box with the friends horse and he won the race and the exacta paid $132.00 and he gave me the ticket I thought I was rich,,, I will always remember the horse that won that day name was Isella (sp?) and ever since then I love the excitement of horse racing the thrill you get when they come to the finish line win lose or draw.

I remember Isella. Was your uncle's friend Leon Blusiewicz?