They say almost is good only in horseshoes, horse racing, and hand grenades, but if you don’t even place third in a horse race, are you still a winner?
Imagine you have a stable of good and in some cases excellent horses. You keep plowing your winnings back into them and end up with one of the most famous trainers in racing and Derby history and a chance for greatness with a young horse, Track Phantom. He’s winning and winning and has the points to make the Derby. You’re a hard-working risk-taking American with several successful green businesses and an insane love of horses and racing and here you are, livin’ the dream.
Meet Jerry Caroom, co-owner of Track Phantom.
I’ve known and worked with Jerry in the lighting business for years. I follow Jerry’s horses through my long-time sports betting friend Joe T, who I’ve mentioned many times in my Bobby Vegas posts. Joe T is the reason I first came to Vegas. And Joe has worked for Jerry for years.
Joe told me two months ago that Jerry’s horse Track Phantom was on his way to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. And he did.
Jerry had bought a futures ticket on Track Phantom that would pay seven figures for a win. I started trying to buy tickets on the Derby when I was in Vegas for the Super Bowl and the Pinky Ring opening. I couldn’t find them. No one had any of the Derby futures. Not South Point, Caesars, or MGM. Finally, Circa did. A crummy return only 10-1 on Track Phantom when it should have been double that, but at least I had a C-note ticket in the race.
Last week when I returned to Vegas, Circa had it at 24-1. I bought another.
This wasn’t advantage play. This was gambling — on a friend and his incredible horse.
Well, if you watched the Derby, you know that Track Phantom jumped outta that gate and led the pack for most of the race until he took a serious bump that knocked him back to 11th place, out of the 20 horses.
On the phone today, I said to Jerry, “Injustice at the Derby!”
Jerry, being Jerry, replied, “Well, I don’t know about injustice, but yeah, that was a serious bump. And if my jockey had listened to me to stay on the rail, well …”
The good news is, one of Jerry’s other horses won a $250,000 purse in another race, not a bad consolation prize.
It’s all about bein’ in the game and givin’ it all you got. On my nine-day trip that ended Friday, even though I lost money chasing a $11,750 positive-expectation progressive, I have many stories to tell about my further adventures with Bobby Wilson and his connection to Bruno Mars, as well as workin’ the casinos like a pro to get the comps and credit I deserve and more. I even met four people who read my blog!
It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it. If you’re not in the game, ya can’t win it. And if you are, something’s gonna stick. Nature of the beast.