My horseplayin' buddy Randy went to Chicago over the weekend to attend his 30th high school reunion. Given the degenerate that he is, he spent Saturday afternoon at Hawthorne Park and even took his mom. Whenever Randy leaves the village of Greenville, NC, he either ventures to a town with a racetrack in the vicinity or a bog with ducks to shot. I joined him and his brother's family in Louisville for Breeders' Cup 2006 and we took an excellent adventure this summer to Belmont to hang out with Steve Crist and Mike Watchmaker. On his other trips to the track (or even OTBs), we talk over the phone about the card and try to divine some winners. Randy is a solid handicapper with an eye for conspiracies, perhaps attributable to growing up on rock bottom claimers at Balmoral, where a trainer had to cash a ticket to survive. 

I handicapped the first seven races at Hawthorne and it was a very refreshing experience in two ways. First off, it was the first time since the semester began that I really sat down and studied the form. For some reason I am insanely busy this year or at least have convinced myself I am. It could be the three kids, aged 5, 3, and 1, that demand constant attention or else they'd kill themselves or each other. Perhaps it is because I am now Department Chair, with a hundred little things to do and lots of paper to push. Maybe it is because the stock market has been tanking and everyone has sounded the alarm bells about the economy. I probably don't know anything more than the guy sleeping on the street, but the fact that I studied Economics and have the letters P-H-D after my name must mean something - I've gotten more calls for interviews and speeches in the last month than I did for my first eight years at Rhodes. Of course I also bought a horse. Owning horses are not only money sieves but also time sieves. On Friday night, however, I let that all slip away and studied the card. And what a fun card. The seventh race was a nice little stakes race on the turf for 3yos that included my pal Adriano. The first six races were all on the dirt. Real dirt. There were claimers, there was a maiden race for Illinois breds and an N3X allowance race. It was just a typical Saturday at the track, or at least what used to be a typical day before the invention of polytrack, pro-ride, and turf sprints. Back when dirt was king. I cashed on a $4.20 winner and $72 exacta and avoided Adriano who ran off the board. I was able to play the race using Premier Turf Club so I got a nice rebate and finished the afternoon up $100 (only to give it away that evening chasing the Pick 4 on Australian Racing).

Perhaps instead of devoting time trying to bet Saratoga in August, with all of its turf sprints and statebreds, I'll focus on Oaklawn in the winter. Nothing but dirt ... and that is fine by me.