Upon hearing the news from Jack about Betfair Hollywood Park closing at the end of the year, I thought about the many great Friday evenings I spent there during the past two decades. (I started playing horses a bit late in life, at age 31...
Friday Nights at Hollywood Park was the best entertainment for your dollar.... Bargain food, beers, and $1 admission courtesy of an ad in the LA Weekly.... And you had a chance to win all the money back at evening's end...
There was one Friday Night back in 2005 I will never forget in my thoroughbred racing adventures.... Out of the blue, about 10 friends wanted to join me and my cousin for an evening at the races. I had just enough passes for everybody to get in free.
After a few beer rounds by race 3, I decided to get the whole group in on a 10 cent superfecta box.... With 12 of us, it would cost us each only $1. Everyone agreed luckily, so I placed the wager for a five horse superfecta box for $12. We had boxed one horse at low odds, two horses at 9/2 and the other three were 15-1 and beyond. When the race went off, our whole group was yelling like crazy. And the rest of the crowd goes wild. Around the final turn, I noticed the longshots were gaining ground on the chalk...
I could not believe it... At the tape, the order was 8, 3, 7, 1.... The chalk (favorite) finished fourth. The three longshots finished ahead of the favorite. Our whole group was going nuts. They had no idea how much this ticket would pay. After a few minutes, the results were official.... $1 superfecta 3,600. With our 10 cent ticket, it paid $360.... Excellent, more beers and hot dogs for everybody!!!! That was the best experience I ever had winning $30 as one of twelve....