I was invited to judge the 2004 National AOBA show. I was so excited about the invitation that I arrived a day early, on Thursday; the show didn’t begin until Saturday. With a day to kill I began a leisurely breakfast with the USA Today newspaper and graduated to the Louisville Courier. It was wall to wall Smarty Jones. I will warn you now this is not an alpaca article.
The whole town was on fire with talk of Smarty’s prospect at the Preakness. He had become a common man’s favorite, his pedigree doesn’t recommend him and he’s small to boot. A Seabiscuit of a horse.
I was hooked when I read a quote by a trainer who said, “Smarty Jones is proof that you don’t have to breed the best to the best to get a champion. If that was true the richest horse breeder would win every time.”
I decided I had to have a Smarty Jones tee shirt. The paper said they were going fast and I figured that if he won the Preakness my shirt would be a collector’s item. I headed for Churchill Downs; the first race went off at 2:45. I bought myself a shirt and picked up two more for my boys. I was down $48.00
Next I decided that, as long as I was at the home of the Kentucky Derby, I should watch a race: no betting. The race was exciting and I walked out the wrong door on my way out. I ended up in the paddock where the horses in the next race were getting saddled and ready.
I walked over to the fence and asked a fellow, who would later introduce himself as Bruce, when all the horses would be out. “In about five minutes,” he said and we began to talk. It turned out that Bruce was an insider at the track. He knew people.
The next thing I knew he was confiding in me. He told me, “You know people around here play a lot of games.” “Really I asked. “Yes,” he said, “this place is so crooked that it is actually honest.” How can that be, I asked? “Well,” he tells me, “You never know who is going to win.” As I was digesting that piece of information Bruce confessed that he had a “sure thing tip from his jockey friend.” “The eight horse,” he said.
I had never had a second hand tip from a jockey and I figured this is too good to pass up. I looked in my wallet on my way to the window. All I had was a hundred dollar bill: no change. I took that for an omen and bet the whole C note on number 8, Joise’s Country Girl, to win, place and show. She went off at 7 to 1 odds and ran 5th. Thanks Bruce
I left the home of the Kentucky Derby down $148.00. I sure hope those Smarty Jones tee shirts are a winner on EBay. Next time I judge an alpaca show I am going to arrive on time.