Grandstand Memories

Image result for Baby dressed as a jockey

 

 

In every sport we have them. – You can hear the arm-chair warriors carrying a torch for their team or runner. – That’s just fine. It makes the game interesting. But, over the years, I’ve noticed some pretty good imitations of a rider walking around in the grandstand. – They’re not going to make weight and pick up a call, but they’ll sure give you all they got when they have $2 on the line. – Here are some of my favorites, and others I wish would go home early.

 

1. – The program whipper = This person can reach into their pocket and draw out a rolled program. – It’s tight and bent, but it will do the trick. – They go right to the stick and cheer and scream as the horses turn for home. – They give commands as if the rider would hear them and won’t stop until they hit the line. – If it all went south. They can tell you the rider should have switched sticks, changed leads, or threw a few crosses.

 

2. – The finger snapper = This is not my favorite, and I turn my head when hearing the snap. – They can get a snapping going by twitching their fingers and you can hear it deep to the bone. – They call out “Come on Willy, Come on Will. – That’s it, Jorge, That’s it. – Make the move Eddie, shoot the rail.” – All the while this wicked snapping sound is like fingers on a chalkboard. – I’m all for rooting, but this one is rough to watch and hear.

 

3. – The smoocher = They’re not giving anyone a kiss, but you would swear it was happening right there. – Smmmmoooooch – Come on baby, smoooooccccch. – They are calling to the horse like a rider does with a whistle, chirp, or a high pitched scream.

 

4. – The stooper = When tickets hit the floor they can flip the flat ticket like a world cup soccer player. It is an art, but tracks frown down on this practice of looking for winners that got tossed on the floor.

 

4. – The Hi-Five Gang = Usually a group of young men or women, and you’ll see them jumping and giving the big five! – I love to see the energy, but sometimes they look like the cover of the program where you see people in bow ties and sunglasses having a great time.

 

5. – The Announcer = This is the guy in the far back of the racebook who roots for whoever is on top. – Funny, they have every winner and call it as they turn for home. ” Get em, James. Turn him loose. You got it, you got it, draw and hide from them.” – These folks are funny for about the first two hours but it gets old at the end of the night.