Michael isn't a Desormeaux fan and hates that he fought Big Brown after the break. I watched the replay carefully and have to agree. There was room for the horse to get up along the rail and he wasn't boxed in until Desormeaux fought him, trying to take him back and to the outside from the get go. When he was asked pre-race by Jeannine Edwards if going to the front was a possible strategy, Desormeaux replied with an emphatic "no! not at a mile and a half". Well, it worked for one horse. All hindsight now, however, and there are 101 reasons (excuses) that my horse got beat - as they say. It's good to know I'll probably see him at the Travers.
I guess this kills the deal with Suffolk Downs. Sufferin' Downs to me. Home. Where it all began. I may have even made the journey back to witness that Mass Cap. One thought leads to ancient musings which prompted me to dig out some of my old track badges that I've managed to save. Some of you reading this weren't even born yet when moi was pioneering and struggling to make way for the infinite possibilities you modern females enjoy at the track today. You're welcome. Please enjoy this stroll down the ol' timer's lane:
My name was Wilson back then (brief husband no. 1). The year is 1973 at Narragansett Park (now an industrial park) and I worked for the notorious B.K. Sipp. Listen up kids - Dutrow is a cream puff compared to that bad actor.
Here's my partner in crime before we even met. The year is 1974 and he was one of the youngest to get a trainer's license. This was at the old Lincoln Downs, now a greyhound track (I think). It was here that I got my very first race track license at age fifteen.
Precious at the old, wonderful Rockingham Park, now a shopping mall. Many, many fond memories of that party meet when we shipped over from Suffolk on the 4th of July to enjoy two short months at the lakes.
Notice the scarf and frozen expression. That's because Suffolk ran the winter meet - akin to being detained to a work camp in Siberia. It's 1979 and I'm still very young yet getting wise...
My last year at Suffolk, 1983. Now married to husband no. 2. Ready and willing for bigger and better adventures..."Hindsight is wonderful. It's always very easy to second guess after the fact". -
Helen Reddy
2 comments:
Shoebox memories and old photos- I've got a bunch of those too. How is it that we didn't look old enough to even have an opinion on anything and yet thought we knew so much.
What a fun chronology.
Ah youth and innocence.
Too bad about Big Brown- are you hoarse from screaming at the screen?
Bonnie: I didn't scream at anything except Big Brown's rider, Kent Desormeaux. It was a horrible ride which still has me scratching my head.
Glad you enjoyed the ancient badge photos. Ironically, when those photos were taken, I cringed at how bad I thought I looked. What I wouldn't give now to look that "bad".
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