In the early 90's i was a banquet captain at the Garden city hotel here in NY. Every year (probably going on as we speak) they hold a party there and all the players from trainers to jockeys etc.. are invited.
One of my jobs was to kiss a$$ to the vips. Being that i was a fan of the game i was in heaven,I had some nice conversations with chris lincoln and some others. I struck up a conversation with tom bohannon who was the trainer of prarie bayou(rest his soul) and let him know i was rooting for him as i really liked the horse.He was a real nice guy and told me to give him my name and pick up something at the willcall at the track. Man i was in heaven. Later i had a converstaion with jerry bailey(another really nice guy) and asked him about what he thought on the race. I swear to god he told me the following: He told me that as far as he was concerned julie krones horse was working in the mornings like a monster and could win by daylight.I rushed home and told my girlfriends dad(he plays horses) about it and asked me to bet 500 to win and place on julies horse.
Well too make a long story short i went to the track and Mr. bohanon had left vip box seats near where he was. Being the idiot i was (and still am) i was so "in love" with prarie bayou that i not only bet all my money on him but i bet her dads as well dismissing what jerry bailey had told me due to betting with my heart instead of my head. The rest is history....Julies horse was colonial affair and won by daylight as said and paid 29.80 and my poor boy blew his leg out on the first turn. I was in shock and felt sick.They made an annoucement after the race that praprie bayou had a career threatening injury but not life threatening.I only found out later that he was put down. I think the only person more in shock was my wifes dad when i told him i bet it all on bayou...I never bet with my heart again after that.
There is a moral to this story. The moral is...I AM AN IDIOT!!
One of my jobs was to kiss a$$ to the vips. Being that i was a fan of the game i was in heaven,I had some nice conversations with chris lincoln and some others. I struck up a conversation with tom bohannon who was the trainer of prarie bayou(rest his soul) and let him know i was rooting for him as i really liked the horse.He was a real nice guy and told me to give him my name and pick up something at the willcall at the track. Man i was in heaven. Later i had a converstaion with jerry bailey(another really nice guy) and asked him about what he thought on the race. I swear to god he told me the following: He told me that as far as he was concerned julie krones horse was working in the mornings like a monster and could win by daylight.I rushed home and told my girlfriends dad(he plays horses) about it and asked me to bet 500 to win and place on julies horse.
Well too make a long story short i went to the track and Mr. bohanon had left vip box seats near where he was. Being the idiot i was (and still am) i was so "in love" with prarie bayou that i not only bet all my money on him but i bet her dads as well dismissing what jerry bailey had told me due to betting with my heart instead of my head. The rest is history....Julies horse was colonial affair and won by daylight as said and paid 29.80 and my poor boy blew his leg out on the first turn. I was in shock and felt sick.They made an annoucement after the race that praprie bayou had a career threatening injury but not life threatening.I only found out later that he was put down. I think the only person more in shock was my wifes dad when i told him i bet it all on bayou...I never bet with my heart again after that.
There is a moral to this story. The moral is...I AM AN IDIOT!!
