I am Fairly Certain it is alright to extend a special GOOD LUCK
to our UpInClass member who has a runner going on Opening Day...

Hi Dell,

It will be fun to go out and see Fire in Excess run on Wednesday. Race came up tough for the level (25k n2l) but I am hoping for a good run.

Reviewer

Whatever happened to your classically named horse "Israel Fast"? You mentioned him when we had dinner at the Orleans last October, I believe.

Also, are you making the Summer Classic at the Gold Coast? Good luck Wednesday.

LL

Hi Larry,

Israel Fast had a physical problem and unfortunately the trainer believed it was best to retire him. He helped us find a good home for him.

I am not that happy with the number of tracks and total number of races at the contest at the Orleans. Trying to follow 8 tracks for 3 days is just so much work. I enjoyed playing but was so drained by the end of it. I would probably still play if it was only 2 days or they cut back the number of tracks each day to about 4 (rotating all 8 tracks with the 3 days) but not in the present format.
When we were playing at the Orleans contests, there were not so many options to play in contests. Now Israel, Jim and I have kind of preferred to play at the Del Mar contests which is about every 3 months. Its just the last 8 races at the SoCal track for 2 days with $2 win and place format and caps. We only travel about a 1/2 hour, pay 1/2 the price of the cost of the Orleans tournaments plus no hotels or airfare to pay for. Of course the prize money is only about 10K for first but the top 3 qualify for the NHC and a shot at a million dollars.

Bernardo

Sorry to hear about Israel Fast not getting to the races. FWIW, both Ellis and Monmouth are dark on Thursday so only 6 tracks instead of 8 that day. Still, I know what you are saying about the exhaustion that can follow 1 of these 3 day Vegas events. I typically take a 1 or 2 extra days off from work when I get back home to recover. Good luck with the Del Mar contests.

LL

We'll see you there...
Heather has just informed me
that we're On The Road to Del Mar!

That's great. Looking forward to seeing the two of you there. Let me know if you need seats and I will talk to a friend that normally has some in the clubhouse. My brother Jim and I might be sitting there although Miyadi said he might be able to get me something else for the day (but being opening day it does get very crowded out there).

Bernardo

Hope to see you and Heather out there tomorrow Dell! I managed to cancel work and will be somewhere around the 16th pole per my ticket provider. Damascus

OUTSTANDING! (909) 525-6249 ...call me when you get settled in at the track.

Have a fun day out there guys and gals. Best of luck with your runner Reviewer.

Nice race today, Reviewer. 2nd only to a bomber, your runner looked good under P. Val. Can't tell you how many times I backwheel a price play but I didn't do it today at only 7-1. I hope you guys had a great day and some luck throughout the card.

LL

Mike,

Thanks for the good wishes today. didn't see your post until this evening.

Larry,

Being a speed horse on a day that favored closers wasn't in our favor. Patrick Valenzuela did mention that point in the paddock which mostly explains why he sat in 4th today. Nevertheless, I think he ran a good race for first off a 7 month layoff. Overall had a good day playing the races I liked and did pick up the exacta in our race (but missed on the juicy trifecta).

It was also nice to meet Damascus briefly at the end of the day as well.

Reviewer

...was this lady who arrived early-early to play Delaware Park.


She was talkin' to herself...
cussin', laughin' and havin' a heckofa time.
It appeard as though she was speaking to the folks
sitting nearest to her ...but she was alone in the grandstand.

I decided to make contact.

We got into a bit of a conversation.
She explained her "System" and how she woulda hit 3 trifectas
except... "those gaw-damn track stewards tell those gaw-damn jockeys
to hold my horses back. They're gaw-damn cheats and they screw me every time!"

Badactor LOVES the craaaaaaazy people at the race track!

Thanks for the pix. Love the ones from the infield,brings back memories from when Saratoga opened their infield. Saw Onion beat Secretariat from the infield.
Hooper

Great pics, indeed! Thanks.

LL

Interested Onlookers!






Got the call from Damascus while we were in the Infield.
We headed toward him through the tunnel and he headed from the Grandstand toward us...


Note: photos were taken by Antifreezette.
She wouldn't let me anywhere near the camera
and I'm tellin' you fellas... these shots represent
only a fraction of the Interested Onlookers out there.

...then it was time to meet Bernardo in the paddock.

Hey had a terrific time out at the surf&turf for opening day. I had the very good fortune to run into Del and Heather and got to meet the Bernardo and his brother. Albeit too briefly but there is always another day as they say.

Beautiful day, beautiful interested onlookers, got to spend the day with a couple of good clients and on the whole i could not think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

To any on the forum who have never been it is a real treat.

Best regards

Dam

P.S. oh yeah, i won lets say only 10% of all of the bets placed on the day. it was a learning experience!

Always great to see you Mike!

Fantastic Pic's Bad.... I miss going there dang it! Been over 15 yrs now.

I used to work out there and there is nothing like being three in the mornings and all the smells and having that Del Mar Fog... Sometimes it was so thick, you could hardly see the horses on the track.


By the way.. Was that someone passed out on the bench in one of those pictures?! lmao!!

and the SHOES!! Good lord! I just couldn't imagine wearing something like that to the track and having to walk around all day in 4 inch heels. Yikes!

Good morning Laura... after a closer look,
it appears that there was a little ROMANCE
going on in the infield on Opening Day.

The boy & girl pushed two benches together
and made themselves an Infield Love Nest.
The pictures are of the horses, but I think
we may have caught pics of two sweethearts
huggin' & kissin' & messin' around & stuff! Ooops!

I like 'em... I like 'em a lot!

those are some great shoes!

didn't realize that dmr was such a great place for those of us who like to gawk at shoes!

tc

Opening day was fantastic! Great to see Mike and Bernardo again.

Dell and I spent the beginning of the day in the infield where we met a gal who explained the 'shoe' phenomena to me. "Every girl needs a day to dress in her best hooker shoes. Look, some of them even know how to walk in them." Even though I was wearing jeans and boots, I understood. Girls are sluts. Look at the pictures! Not a single gal knows to stand with her legs together. What? Are they all airing out or something? It wasn't that hot! And the couple in the infield... banging on the bench. Hmmm, what an idea. Guess that's the real reason to wear a short skirt to the track.

There were folks drunk by 10:30 am and girls being carried out by fellas like it was a late night frat party. I wonder how many of them got 'home'. Yet with almost 50,000 in attendance, only 15 DUI arrests, 35 traffic citations, 14 cars impounded, and 345 total vehicles stopped. Oh yeah, Mike Smith was also a DUI recipient.

Place was packed, lines were long, tellers were slow, and the food was expensive.
It was a great time and we cannot wait to go back!

Jim, Bernardo, and Badactor...









I cannot begin to thank you enough, Bernardo, for allowing me to share the dream!

Heather, that was funny sh**! LMAO

Thanks for all those images, Dell and Heather. Awesome! Too many comments come to mind, so I'll just say "wow." And Heather, you gotta post more often!


TW