Looking Back on the Belmont Stakes

If there’s a bad day at the races, or you nailed the big winner. They stay inside your heart forever if you’re a true horse player. You can recount the bad beats with the utmost accuracy, and it seems like it happened just minutes ago. As we are five days away from the third leg of the Triple Crown here are some of my favorites and some that stick out like a bad dream. – Either way, I still love each and every one, and the stories they’ve given me will last a lifetime.

Every once in awhile even the best horse players fall in love with a horse. We try to keep these feelings away as they cloud our gambling vision. In 1989, I had a crush on a runner that I would have bet everyday. I never gave up no matter how tough, and he finally had a chance to strut his stuff on the big stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2g0dME0NzE

It seems like yesterday when this three-year-old ran. – I first had my first opportunity to see him at Turfway Park as a two-year-old and he was schooling in the early morning. We were doing the “Turfway Track Talk” radio show and I saw this monster. At the break, I went over and asked if he was running in the Kentucky Cup Classic. ” No sir. He’s only a baby. He’s in the Juvenile today.” – I bet him with both hands and he didn’t dissapoint. – He lost the Derby this year as Gary Stevens said he moved too soon on him costing him the race. – I got over the hard loss and never lost faith in this guy. Here is the 133rd Belmont Stakes to showcase one of my all-time favorite runners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My1oNAoX55I

It was the 136th Belmont Stakes and I was rolling all day long at the windows. We all have days like this if we play long enough, and on this day I had plunked down all of my winnings closing out pick-fours, pick-threes and every gimmick under the sun. The payoff stood to be a bit of a lifechanger, but “Big Sandy” had other plans. -Just watching still brings back the pain as Smarty Jones turned for home and Stewart Elliott found out the stretch at Belmont can be a heart-breaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuLGsOjnGmo

It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t include a little touch of history. Horse players have ice water in their veins and feelings buried behind the Racing Form. If you didn’t have chills as the roar of the crowd welcomed home this winner. You might want to check your pulse. – The 37 year wait made it that much sweeter, and all bets were off for this gambler as history stood in the balance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyDcXtVb8_U