In The Beginning...

I am posting this first blog with much excitement and more than a few butterflies in my stomach. It's pre-race jitters, I know, but I'm hoping this blog will maintain the stamina required of a mile and a half turf race and not spin out of contention after a too hot first quarter.
As mentioned in the "About Me" section, I'm currently writing a column for Down The Stretch newspaper that goes by the name of Night Moves. It's a brilliant paper run by editor and sports media personality extraordinaire Peter Gross. This blog hopes to extend my writing into more personal areas and hopefully feature everything from, but not limited to:
- race recaps
- book/film reviews
- essays
- random thoughts
- videos
To begin, I am posting a story I wrote for a contest run by Woodbine Entertainment in honour of their 50th anniversary in 2006. My intention was simply to write something that would put the names of my dad and his friend Ted into print. The story did not end up a contest winner, however it was published on page three of the souvenir magazine and even garnered a mention in the editor's opening comments.


Till the next post time...-KBM



First published June 2006:

Woodbine is the location for many of my fondest memories of my Dad. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s, my Dad took me to Woodbine nearly every Sunday to see what he called, "The Big Races." I was privy to see such stars as With Approval being ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Don Seymour and La Lorgnette by the brilliant David Clark.

Arriving back in Canada from Northern Ireland in 1983, my Dad's favourite events were the turf races. We'd get the Daily Racing Form the night before the Rothman's International and take turns reading through the entries. I still have the program from 1986 - I was 12 at the time. I have an old soccer kit bag full of racing programs, many of them autographed.

My Dad would sit in the grandstand with his friend Ted and handicap the races while I watched intently and placed "bets" against them. As the race finished, I'd race to the old clubhouse area with my pristine program awaiting the jockeys who hadn't taken the ride back in the old trolley, pulled by a golf cart. Looking back, I've discovered programs autographed by Sandy Hawley, Robin Platts, Laffit Pincay Jr., Pat Day and Chris Antley. A Beautiful drawing of With Approval features Don Seymour's neat ballpoint scrawl.

As the races got richer, more jockeys would arrive from the U.S. and Europe. I was lucky to meet more than a few legends. I equally treasure those of locals Richard Dos Ramos, Larry Attard and Dave Penna whose names are etched in my memory from the many times Dad roared their names during an intense stretch run.
One favourite memory truly stands out. The year we came back to Canada, I picked Key To The Moon to win the Queen's Plate. I stood pressed against the fence at the finish line, watching as Ten Gold Pots gave up the lead at the top of the stretch. The neck and neck duel between Platts and Attard began with Key To The Moon and Let's Go Blue bumping each other for the last 40 yards. The crowd was in a frenzy. As I strained to see over the green metal fence mere yards from the action, the two hard charging horses matched each other stride for stride. Somehow, Key To The Moon nosed out a win, confirmed after a lengthy inquiry. I was ecstatic. "My horse" had won, Platts became "my jockey" and the moment has never left me. A great photo of the race appears in the Louis Cauz book on The Queen's Plate. With a magnifying glass I can spot a splotch of brown hair along the fence that I know is mine. I've been a racing fan ever since.

My Dad is home in Belfast now living through the late stages of Alzheimer's. We can't talk about the races anymore, though I like to think that a part of him is still replaying the close finishes and glorious memories of the long shots that won. The Queen's Plate of 1984 launched two decades full of memories for me and I can close my eyes and take myself back to them anytime I want. Just me, my Dad and a warm summer day at the track.