Tiger
Hearing all the news lately about how Bay Meadows Racecourse will be shutting down at the end of 2007 has kept the venue at the top of my mind. Therefore, I thought tonight was as good as any to begin the 2007 Bay Meadows Farewell Tour.
Jeff and I met at Shitty Pub in lovely, regenerated downtown Redwood City. After a pint or two, we hit the train up to the track.
Getting on Caltain always conjures up some memories, but the seats are really starting to get the best of me. The seats are really awful. You know, the cloth type of seats that absorb everything, with a preference for human bodily fluids? Why don't they install the waterproof seating that can just be hosed down? That's what we need. Those new trains are disgusting!
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yeah, so Jeff and I get to the track and "upgrade" to the $6 Club House section, as Jeff has a hard time relating to the common man in the Grandstand. We quickly walked toward the paddock bar and Jeff turned to me and said, "How much to you bet that Tiger's working?"
"Pretty good chance," I said. "She's always here."
Tiger is the 30-something bartender who works the paddock bar, and she has a striking resemblance to Tiger Woods. But her name is Michelle, not Tiger, and people don't even call her Tiger as a nickname. Giving the topic some analysis, Jeff and I determined that it probably wouldn't be a compliment to any woman to be told she resembles Tiger Woods. Therefore, I continue to bite my tongue when I'm at Bay Meadows (but my blog is a different story!).
Anyway, Tiger fetched us a few brews and we got down to the tough analysis with the track program and Daily Racing Form. Since Jeff told me he'd be betting on horse #4, Helmsman Hank, I abandoned my initial instinct to bet on #4 and I put my money on #1, Swiss Sonata, ridden by Russell Baze. A few minutes later I added an exacta bet on the 4 horse.
Sure enough, Swiss Sonata won the race in flying colors and Helmsman Hank brought up the rear. The good news is that I won my $10 WPS bet on Swiss Sonata. The bad news is that I donated $20 to the kitty when I foolishly put down the exacta bet with Hank on the slip.
Jeff had already turned the page before I got back with my winnings.
My strategy for Race 2 was to bet big on the favorites. While #4, Cali Randi, and #5, Chasin' Chasen, were technically the two favorites, something about #3, Curry Wray, caught my attention. Maybe it was my penchant for Indian women. Whatever it was, when I got to the betting machine I entered a 3-4 extacta box, when it probably should have been a bet on the 3-5 horses, the true favorites.
Steering clear of anything remotely smelling of curry, Jeff bet the 4-5 exacta.
A few minutes later, my craving for curry paid off. Curry Wray took first, and Cali Randi took second. I had money on both the exacta and Curry Wray, so things paid off nicely for Leroy. Jeff, on the other hand, was almost crying in his beer. There's nothing worse than having 1/2 of your exacta.
Unless you have 2/3 of your trifecta. Which is what happened to me in races 3 and 4.
Jeff and I picked up a side bet or two the rest of the way, and I plopped down a WPS bet on #2 two horse on race 8 before we caught the train back home. As I write this, I just checked my slip and #2 placed. My $30 bet pays $85.
I guess that's better than a kick in the head. But I gotta go back to Bay Meadows to get my money.
I wonder if Tiger will be there?
Jeff and I met at Shitty Pub in lovely, regenerated downtown Redwood City. After a pint or two, we hit the train up to the track.
Getting on Caltain always conjures up some memories, but the seats are really starting to get the best of me. The seats are really awful. You know, the cloth type of seats that absorb everything, with a preference for human bodily fluids? Why don't they install the waterproof seating that can just be hosed down? That's what we need. Those new trains are disgusting!
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yeah, so Jeff and I get to the track and "upgrade" to the $6 Club House section, as Jeff has a hard time relating to the common man in the Grandstand. We quickly walked toward the paddock bar and Jeff turned to me and said, "How much to you bet that Tiger's working?"
"Pretty good chance," I said. "She's always here."
Tiger is the 30-something bartender who works the paddock bar, and she has a striking resemblance to Tiger Woods. But her name is Michelle, not Tiger, and people don't even call her Tiger as a nickname. Giving the topic some analysis, Jeff and I determined that it probably wouldn't be a compliment to any woman to be told she resembles Tiger Woods. Therefore, I continue to bite my tongue when I'm at Bay Meadows (but my blog is a different story!).
Anyway, Tiger fetched us a few brews and we got down to the tough analysis with the track program and Daily Racing Form. Since Jeff told me he'd be betting on horse #4, Helmsman Hank, I abandoned my initial instinct to bet on #4 and I put my money on #1, Swiss Sonata, ridden by Russell Baze. A few minutes later I added an exacta bet on the 4 horse.
Sure enough, Swiss Sonata won the race in flying colors and Helmsman Hank brought up the rear. The good news is that I won my $10 WPS bet on Swiss Sonata. The bad news is that I donated $20 to the kitty when I foolishly put down the exacta bet with Hank on the slip.
Jeff had already turned the page before I got back with my winnings.
My strategy for Race 2 was to bet big on the favorites. While #4, Cali Randi, and #5, Chasin' Chasen, were technically the two favorites, something about #3, Curry Wray, caught my attention. Maybe it was my penchant for Indian women. Whatever it was, when I got to the betting machine I entered a 3-4 extacta box, when it probably should have been a bet on the 3-5 horses, the true favorites.
Steering clear of anything remotely smelling of curry, Jeff bet the 4-5 exacta.
A few minutes later, my craving for curry paid off. Curry Wray took first, and Cali Randi took second. I had money on both the exacta and Curry Wray, so things paid off nicely for Leroy. Jeff, on the other hand, was almost crying in his beer. There's nothing worse than having 1/2 of your exacta.
Unless you have 2/3 of your trifecta. Which is what happened to me in races 3 and 4.
Jeff and I picked up a side bet or two the rest of the way, and I plopped down a WPS bet on #2 two horse on race 8 before we caught the train back home. As I write this, I just checked my slip and #2 placed. My $30 bet pays $85.
I guess that's better than a kick in the head. But I gotta go back to Bay Meadows to get my money.
I wonder if Tiger will be there?
posted by Leroy at
12:24 AM
1 Comments:
Tiger Martinez?
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Anonymous, at 7:11 PM
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