Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lions and wagers and Quinn, oh my.


So yesterday my mother wanted to go to Arlington Racetrack and I must say it’s really quite a nice place to spend Mothers Day. Julia went all out and even got a private box for her dear mother and guests and it was relatively pleasant weather and just very nice all and all.

With the economy as it is and money being tight I decided I would bet on one race and one race only and let my 2 year old Quinn pick the winner. To do so we held up a racing form and told him to point at a horse in the third race. Well this kid doesn’t even fat finger it he kind of just drags his hand down the whole page basically picking every horse in every race for the remainder of the day. I guess he was telling us he thought there was going to be a 12 to 16 way tie in every race from that point on. Of course being older and much more logical (‘much’ might be a strong word) we realize this can’t be and told him “No, Quinn. Just point at one horse.” So he points again in almost exactly the same fashion and this time he only picks 14 horses to win in the 3rd race. Since we didn’t have all day we just selected the first horse he ‘kind of’ pointed at more than the others.

The horses name that was ‘chosen’ was Lions Circle. Of course in my own mind I needed to make this some sort of divine pick and so I thought to myself “Well I guess he likes lions. This must be a sign.” It’s true too because one time at the zoo I think he pointed at a lion and he seemed to think it was cool. This is when it got interesting though because I think it was Dan who glanced at the jockey’s name and lo and behold the pick Quinn had made was in fact destiny. The jockeys name was Quincy Hamilton. We all knew right then and there that this thing was a lock. What are the chances? This was surely some sign from above. So I texted a few people to see if they wanted a piece of this ‘can’t lose’ stallion they call Lions Circle and we placed our bets and got ready to get paid.

I think the words “Oooh, that’s not good” came out of my brother Dan’s mouth about 2 ½ seconds into the race. Lions Circle was leading the pack but by a very small margin and there was plenty of race to go. This friggin’ horse. I think I might have been able to literally jump the fence and beat this thing in a foot race the last ¼ mile. Second to last. That’s where this mule ended up finishing. At least I think it finished as my attention was diverted by Quinn attempting to scale the fence to our box and I guess ultimately get at that stupid horse that made him look like such a fool.

I guess the moral of the story is that you shouldn’t gamble. Or at least don’t base your wagers on the absent minded whims of someone who may or may not have just pooped himself.

Happy belated Mothers Day to all of you Mothers!

-Chad