I'm often asked how I became involved in horse racing and thought answering that question would make for a decent column. My grandfather was born in in Queens, N. There was no T. He found his new source of income and entertainment entirely by accident when a friend told him that the jockeys often left small treasures around the barns after these late night games.
My grandfather and his friends would scour the hay in the late mornings and some of the bounties consisted of one cent deposit bottles, packs of cigarettes and small change. But once in a while, a dollar bill, gold chain or a watch could be found. But my grandfather was always more intrigued by what joyous event had transpired in the previous evening that would cause you to leave your watch or money behind. One day, the year-old decided to head to the barn at 4 a.
He crawled quietly through the hay and observed five very loud and drunk jockeys sitting around a table made of hay bails and a large piece of slate. These card playing, little fellows fought each other constantly. If one guy mentioned he did something great, another jock would state how he accomplished the feat first, only better and faster.
They would fight for a while until someone noticed they weren't playing cards anymore. When the game kicked back in, the severely buzzed jockeys would then fight about where they had left off in the game, or who didn't put into the pot. They would sometimes punch each other in the head and then sit back down and continue playing cards while bleeding or crying.
This was absolutely amazing to my granddad and he couldn't get enough of the show! The riders would also argue on occasion, about who was going to win, and, on which horse in a given race. At first, my grandfather didn't pay it much attention but after a few weeks of taking in the games, he noticed the jockeys celebrating the wins they had predicted while splitting up large amounts of money.
