Page 12 - The Game July 2006
P. 12

12 The Game, July 2006 Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper
40Years ofWoodbine Memories
By Peter Gross
In honour of Woodbine’s 50th Anniversary, fans have been asked to submit cherished memories from the history of their visits to the Rexdale establishment. My relationship with Woodbine goes back almost 40 years so I am presenting here, as an exclusive docu- ment for faithful readers of The Game, four decades of unforgettable personal experiences at Woodbine Racetrack.
My high school years were spent at York Mills Collegiate. In the 60s, E.P Taylor’s Windfields Farm was located right beside our football field. Although Northern Dancer probably never galloped on those particular acres, my buddies and I would feed our fantasies, looking out the windows of our biology class, claiming to see the great Dancer frolicking in the grass.
We would sometimes skip class to hit the afternoon races. One day, the vice- principal cornered the delinquent trio of myself, Anthony and Kenneth.
“I heard you planning your trip to the track yesterday,” he said, admonishing us for our absence. We were each confined to detention, though the V-P never told us why he didn’t just stop us from leaving in the first place.
In 1967, that same threesome decided to attend our first Queen’s Plate. It was a low- budget affair; in those days, the cost of parking, admission, program and form ate a hefty chunk of a high school kid’s betting fund. By the time the Plate rolled along, we were tapped, except for the flotsam and jetsam of a few coins each. I looked at the board and saw that a horse by the name of In The Ring was 99-1. Now this is where math class comes in handy. By reading the actual amounts posted to win on each horse, I could see that In The Ring was actually closer to 200-1.
Among the three of us, we scraped together a $2 bet and put in on In The Ring
to win. We had no reserved seats that day and so we stood with the throng on the apron down by the finish line. Darryl Wells‚ call of the race, blended with the screams of over 30,000, made it impossible to tell where our horse was. The field stormed down the stretch and at the line, it seemed any one of six horses could have won.
“Where’s In the Ring?”, asked Anthony.
“I don’t know, I don’t see him,” said Kenneth.
“They’re all real close at the wire. Maybe he won!” I exclaimed.
The optimistic banter went on enthusiastically for a good 30 seconds, and then In the Ring came loping down the stretch, clearly the last and slowest of the field. Up front, Conn Smythe’s filly Jammed Lovely had won giving ‘Sunny’ Jim Fitzsimmons his second Plate win as a jockey.
In 1969, The Queen’s Plate was a very different experience for Peter, Anthony and Kenneth. We all had girlfriends, namely Jane, Martha and Lynne respectively. Well in advance of the running of the Plate, I had persuaded each of our six-some to bet on Warren Beasley’s Jumpin Joseph. However as the horses paraded onto the track, the girls fell in love with a grey by the name of Fire ‘N Desire. When Kenneth and Anthony bet the grey, I felt betrayed. I stuck to my guns and put $40 to win on Jumpin Joseph.
As the field completed the clubhouse turn, Fire ‘N Desire had a clear lead and seemed to be in control down the back- stretch. The girls were giddy and Kenneth and Anthony looked smug and proud as they clutched their tickets. Jumpin Joseph was last in the field of 12, but jockey Avelino Gomez knew exactly what he was doing. One by one, he began picking off horses and, at the head of the stretch, assumed control for an easy win. It was the
last of a record four Queen’s Plate victories for Gomez.
Jumpin Joseph had been the even money favourite,
so I didn’t get rich, even if I felt vindicated. I remember that we all reconvened at my house, where the rest of my family, conveniently, was away. Each couple found a vacant bedroom and I found myself once again trying to be persuasive about a certain course of action.
I made a point of attending just about every subsequent Queen’s Plate. In fact, I was part of the record crowd of 40,137 that attended the Plate on June 30, 1973. In those days, you would have to line up for 20 minutes to assure getting your bet down and I really can’t remember if I cashed when Ted Colangelo guided the Gil Rowntree trained Royal Chocolate home for the Stafford Farms. I do remember it took a good hour to get out of the parking lot that evening.
In the middle of the 1970s I was trying to create a career for myself in television. I was hired by City-TV, which, at the time, was trying to establish a street credibility and was more interested in ordinary looking people who liked to tell stories about themselves.
One of my very first assignments in 1976 was to do a story called “How to Bet at the Track”. A cameraman and I picked a race and persuaded the rest of the staff to bet a horse to win. We collected $100 and it was up to me to pick the prospective winner. I remember interviewing Jeffrey Fell who was riding a filly named Nurso and Richard Grubb who was on Fort Prevel. Grubb said something to me that resonates even today.
“The other fillies will make her win,” he told me with confidence.
Fort Prevel was 9-2 on the board. When I looked closer at the form, I understood Grubb’s comments. Because of the way the other horses liked to run, Fort Prevel’s speed gave her an advantage. I bet the staff’s $100 to win and got back an ominous looking black ticket (today’s computerized printouts completely lacks the art and drama of the different coloured pieces of thick paper that machines spat out in those days).
The cameraman and I carried 60 pounds of equipment to the Woodbine roof and started shooting the race. Fort Prevel
battled for the lead and was pulling away easily in the stretch when the camera guy flinched, turned to me and said,
“The battery’s crapped out!”
My first big story. I’d put the money of my fellow workers on the nose of a winner and now I had no video proof. We went begging to the film office and arranged for them to play the race back on a monitor. With a
fresh battery, we were able to record the race off a tv. That compromise gave us very poor video, but no one back at the shop seemed to mind as I doled out shares fromthe$550payoff.
For several years, my coverage of the races created for me a certain identity as the sportscaster who loved the track. I have one indelibly wonderful memory of Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis doing their Bob and Doug McKenzie impressions for Jeanne Beker when suddenly Thomas interrupted and did his impression of me, shouting,
“..and now it‚s time for Horse Racing from Woodbine!”
And speaking of Jeanne Beker, the world famous fashion reporter; (not to drop a name), but we actually dated, once. She went with me to the Queen’s Plate Ball one year at Woodbine. City-TV actually sprung for my tuxedo and a limo and Jeanne looked fabulous in a gown that was designed by champion figure skater Toller Cranston. We ate lobster, drank champagne and kissed, once.
It was on June 14, 1980, the year that Woodbine was celebrating its 25th year of operation that I cashed the biggest ticket of my wagering career. My friend Clint, a producer at City loved the races and we went often. We had come for the Queen’s Plate Trial with the intention of betting on Duns Scotus. But before the race went off, I was tapped. Clint kindly lent me $10, which I bet to win on Duns Scotus.
The horse roared from off the pace to win and he paid exactly $6. I now had $30. Clint gave me $12 more and I boxed four horses in the last race tri. Hugo Dittfach was on a 30-1 shot named Royal Centurion, which seemed over his head, but I was going through a handicapping phase where I loved outside horses in one-turn races and this was a mile on the Marshall Turf, starting approximately out by the airport. I spent my remaining $6 keying Royal Centurion with the other three.
Well, Royal Centurion won, Bugs Buddy at 11-1 came second, and Milgate Manor at 7-2 was third. I was ready to explode.
“Clint,” I gushed, “This is paying, like $3000, maybe $4000.”
“Pete, calm down,” whispered Clint, fearful that we would be mugged.
It took an agonizing ten minutes, but finally the price of the triactor was posted:
$6996.50.
I gave Clint an even $2000 for lending me the $10. I cleared almost $5000. I tipped the cashier $100 because I thought she was cute.
I have had many other fantastic memories of Woodbine. For many years I made a point of covering the Queen’s Plate Barbecue, which is held the Monday before the big race. For me, the Barbecue is always about the food and one year, announcer Darryl Wells helped me with a gag. I was sports director at City-TV at the time and in my stable of reporting stallions were Jim Tatti, ........ Continued Page 14 - See Peter’s Woodbine Memories
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