Posted By:
Fred CMarshall,
I was just having a little fun there. I'm used to Hollywood Park, Santa Anita and Del Mar. Those tracks have a pretty healthy daily handle. I remember going to Evanston Park (you talk about a small track) and it was funny to see that a lot of the races didn't even have over $2K on the tote for the favorite.
I think a lot of tracks are tied together for the OTB so you'd have to be sure that the OTB isn't tied to the tracks paramutual system. I used to go to TJ to throw a few bets because they aren't tied into the OTBs. But those guys aren't stupid, they'll block the action on races where it's obvious that someone is trying to make a killing.
Josh, that's pretty cool about Venetian Way!
My best track story has to do with a trainer named Mel Stute. This happended three years in a row (back in the 80's). I'm standing in line to place a bet and I was talking to the person next to me. He said, my horse looks good today. Lots of people say "my horse" when they talk about a selection. Somebody asked me what the guy said and I told him that he said his horse looked good. The guy thanked me and said "do you know who that is?" I didn't - the guy told me it was Mel Stute. Ah, ding, ding, ding... he had a horse in that race at 13-1. I got back in line and threw $20 on it to WPS. The horse WON. It happened two more years in a row with Mel. That 13-1 was the longest odds horse though. I'll never forget it.