Handicapping Horses

Fri 11 Jun 2010 Filed in: Photos | My Life
A couple of months ago while I was in California I was treated to a day at the races courtesy of my brother and his financial advisor. It promised to be a fascinating day with free admission, free valet parking, and free lunch in the track’s Turf Club. The blessings increased - sort of - when someone from the financial advisor’s office handed out $5 bills as seed money to “invest” in the horses.

People who know me well are aware that I am not much of a betting man. My risk tolerance tends to be pretty low. But now I had a dilemma: Would I feel guilty at the end of the day if I left with the same $5 bill in my pocket, knowing it had not been used for its intended purpose? I briefly wondered if the parable of the talents applied to this situation.

That is how I came to place my first-ever bet on a horse race. I wished I had paid better attention to the brief presentation at lunch about how to handicap horses. All I remembered was the “favorite number” method (choose your favorite number and bet on the horse with that number in every race). It didn’t sound reliable to me, though there was a gal at our table wholly committed to that “system.” I waited for the second race, which had that fewest horses running (six), figuring that would increase my chances of success. I made what I thought was a well-reasoned choice and then placed a $2 bet to “show.” If the horse finished in the first three, my wager would pay off, and I had a 50-50 chance.

The horse did not come in first. Or second. Or third. The race started and went well until the horses were about 1/3 of the way around the track. Then my horse (my horse??) stopped. I don’t know much about races, but I’m pretty sure that if you don’t finish the race, you can’t win. (There is an important spiritual lesson here somewhere....) Then the horse turned around and started walking - yes, walking - back to the beginning.

It was an enjoyable day, but I won’t be returning to the track anytime soon. If someone gives me another day at the races with a free lunch thrown in, I’ll probably go. And if they give me some betting money, I just might use it. But next time, I’m using the favorite number method.
Happy
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