My Scavs Style Holiday Timeline

[brockguy]

This will have to come in stages, I just hope I can remember everyone who I was lucky enough to see and chat to. I am shockingly bad at remembering things but this is my version of events..

Thursday 4.30pm ish - arrive in America - get a taxi from the airport to the hotel. The taxi driver, from Ghana starts going crazy at me for asking him if he had a GPS device. I say the S word to quiet him down (Soccer!). I tell him Im racing this weekend and asks me who I'll be riding. Yeah I'm Johnny Murtagh, 1st jockey to the most powerful stable in the world. I'm also 6ft 2 and Im being dropped off at a very cheap Holiday Inn Express. He was delighted to meet a great jockey though, he said he'd tell all his friends and make them jealous..

7.30pm - Go to Woodfield Mall to get some shopping. I needed a pair of jeans so went into Hollister and asked some girl for some jeans that are:

1. Slim
2. Straight and
3. Not wrecked..

She then proceeds to hand me a pair of Slim (yes fine!), Bootcut (were you listening to me!) and wrecked (no you weren't!) jeans. I told her that's not at all what I wanted but she replied "Well my brother has a pair and he likes them". For her sake, thank god, she was good looking. Anyway finally got my jeans and went to sleep for the night..

Friday 12noon - got to the track, not really making any plans, just hoping I would bump into someone I knew. I got there very early to have a look and bet on Saratoga but that got rained off so I took a few walks of the racetrack. It's a proper proper place - very nice. After the 1st race, I did eventually bump into Bob, Chuck and Paula. Hung around with them for a while, met Brian Spencer later on, chatted about the next days racing (some of my more memerable quotes were " Spirit One is an awful awful horse" and "Winchester just isn't that good")

Found some more of the gang that kidnapped me for a Breeders Cup weekend as the day progressed. John Marzec in particular wanted to use me as bait to chat to 3 lovely women. didnt do much except hang out at the tent for the rest of the day, listening to a not so good U2 tribute band Elevation.

Scavs got to the course later on and took me on a grander tour, going upstairs to the really nice rooms. Met Mr Scavs. Jesus, you would never think they are father and son!!

I said "Hi" and got a thumbs up from some guy named Kirk Hinrich who I had never heard about. He apparantly plays Ball...

Had to get a few photos of myself and Jessica, I dont know what you would call her, but she's on the screen before every race giving her thoughts and usually backing the fav or 2nd fav. Anyway, myself and Scavs are chatting away to her for ages about the big races tomorrow ("I think Einstein in the Million because I want an American to win" - not the best angle!), we asked if she was up for heading out with us that night, she paused for ages then said she couldn't, I then went up and gave her a big hug. I think she liked it.

Myself and Scavs went on the streets of Arlington Heights that night for their festival - twas great fun, though I did feel like a bit of a circus act with people coming up for a chance to talk to a "Genuine Irishman". Got an obligatory photo of me drinking on the street with a Cop. We ended up meeting the "Bono" who played earlier on at Arlington Park and he gave me his business card. I remember thinking when I woke up - "I havent a clue where my phone or sunglasses are, but thank god I have Daniel Burrow's business card"

I'm still trying to remember what happened on Saturday...