Traveling, the Race Track and Thanksgiving

[SentToStud]

Hi, my name's Sent to Stud and I'm a racetrack junkie.

That's the start of a longer story but the short version is that whenever I travel, I try to fit in a visit to a racetrack, especialy if I haven't been there before or if it's been several years. I try very hard.

Even after a lot of years of doing this, I still get the same great feeling walking into a track I've not seen and walking onto the apron and taking in the view. It's the same feeling as I remember having the first time I went to Tiger Stadium as a kid and saw the huge, green field.

This Saturday, I will be at Woodbine and I'm pretty excited. Haven't been there in 20+ years. Get there early, take a walk around the whole place and land somewhere for the races.

I really, really enjoy walking into a new race track. I'm thankful for that and much, much more.

Everyone travel safely and have a great Thanksgiving.

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Hi, my name's Sent to Stud and I'm a racetrack junkie.

That's the start of a longer story but the short version is that whenever I travel, I try to fit in a visit to a racetrack, especialy if I haven't been there before or if it's been several years. I try very hard.

Even after a lot of years of doing this, I still get the same great feeling walking into a track I've not seen and walking onto the apron and taking in the view. It's the same feeling as I remember having the first time I went to Tiger Stadium as a kid and saw the huge, green field.

This Saturday, I will be at Woodbine and I'm pretty excited. Haven't been there in 20+ years. Get there early, take a walk around the whole place and land somewhere for the races.

I really, really enjoy walking into a new race track. I'm thankful for that and much, much more.

Everyone travel safely and have a great Thanksgiving.

Stud,
I was gonna start a thread along similiar lines.
Horseplayers are a funny breed. Sometimes spend too much time agonizing over things that really don't mean **** when you come right down to it.
Everyone oughta stop and think about what they are thankful for tomorrow.
Lets hear it, what is everyone thankful for this year?

Thankful for tons of things but I will stick to horse related items

1) Thankful to have seen LITF race at Churchill this past summer.
2) Thankful to have seen Ouija Board race in person
3) Thankful for this message board
4) Thankful to have racing back at the Fairgrounds

I will just keep it at those 4. I could go on and on.

[moke0043]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

Thankful for tons of things but I will stick to horse related items

1) Thankful to have seen LITF race at Churchill this past summer.
2) Thankful to have seen Ouija Board race in person
3) Thankful for this message board
4) Thankful to have racing back at the Fairgrounds

I will just keep it at those 4. I could go on and on.

Euro,

I completely agree with #3..... Really helps my day pass.....

[Zaf]

Sent to Stud,

Woodbine has really changed in the last 20 years, I'll think you will really enjoy it. It has been completely renovated and it is a really nice plant ! Have a great trip to Woodbine !!!

[2MinsToPost]

Thankful that I am employed and making enough money to pay my bills, keep the roof over my head and still play the horses occasionally

Thankful that I am alive and healthy today

Thankful that there are some people in my life who provide me with what really matters, friendship when it counts. I can only hope I do the same for them

Thankful that I will be able to help some who are not as fortunate this Holiday Season and bring a smile, I hope, to their face and hearts and good memories that will last a lifetime

Thankful that over the past year and a half or so I have lived a lifetime but gained so much knowledge thru the hard times. As in what to do and not to do, life is all about decisions, you either make the right ones or the wrong ones. WEven if you make the wrong ones, the true test is did you learn anything? If you did, get up, dust yourself off and go on

Last but not least, I am thankful for the people of this board, starting with Steve, who expend much of their time and energy, not too mention money, so that we as Horse Racing Enthusiasts can have a place to gather and talk

[brianwspencer]

I'll just cross post from my blog on things I am thankful for:

Thanks for Fairgrounds opening tomorrow.

No thanks to Northville Downs for being closed for simulcasting tomorrow, so that I won't be able to thank Fairgrounds with my wallet.

Thanks for the Triple Crown trail being just two months away, and thanks that its arrival will mean the death of the neverending, and unwinnable (by anyone) bias debate throughout the entire racing community.

Thanks for people like Michael Matz and Roy and Gretchen Jackson.

Thanks for my favorite horses and their health: Gorella, Vacare, Dreaming of Anna, Original Spin, Malibu Mint, Courthouse, Maddy's Bobcat, Mystery Giver, Rapid Proof, Crimson Design, Silver Drummer, Moette, Atlantic Frost, Camptown King, Gravano and my first favorite horse after I became of gambling age, this blog's namesake, Mckinney.

Thanks to people who figured out how to make fake meat of every kind: fake sandwich salami, fake hamburgers, fake chicken.....even fake Thanksgiving turkey.

Thanks for Arlington live racing. There is no building more spectacular or well taken care of in American horse racing.

Thanks to Early Times Whiskey, for all you've done for me. Yes, both the good and the bad. I love you still.

Thanks to Chase Bank for the free $100.

Thanks to Phoenix Reach's connections for bringing him to the Million. Last place or not, I am a happier person having been able to see him up close and in person. He is a remarkable horse with a remarkable list of accomplishments. Likely the best horse I've ever seen in person, and I've wanted to see him for years.

Thanks for Serene Teaz. I've only been waiting my whole life for a store like that to open.

Thanks for the fact that I've inherited a world in which people will actually pay money to see me play music. I've been nothing, if not lucky, in my life. This world is coincidentally the same world in which every year the President of the United States holds a ceremony in which he pardons a turkey and saves its life. The music thing is easier to understand once you remember that -- the lesson is that nothing in this world can truly be explained because the reasons we do certain things simply make no sense.

Thanks for Frank Calabrese and Wayne Catalano and Rene Douglas getting a Breeders' Cup win.

Thanks for the reintroduction of the word "peckerhead" to my vocabulary.

Thanks for the fact that Hawthorne's late pick-4 almost always pays more than the parlay. Way more. Way way way more. As in at least a thousand more. It makes losing late pick-4 tickets much more tolerable, knowing that you only need to hit one to make up for all the losers.

Thanks for Jazil's Derby and Belmont.

Thanks for homemade stuffing, 100% Gravenstein apple juice, and fake turkey that I'll be enjoying in the night-before-Thanksgiving feast after work.

[GPK]

Incredibly thankful and very blessed to be able to stand up straight and walk like a normal human being again, without a single ounce of pain. Been too long coming.

[Downthestretch55]

Curt and Kev,
Your words have spoken volumes. Not much more I can add.
Sometimes, I also forget to count my "blessings".
Have a great holiday.
Big Daddy Ray runs Friday at Finger Lakes. I'll be thankful if he hits the board.
DTS

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Hi, my name's Sent to Stud and I'm a racetrack junkie.

That's the start of a longer story but the short version is that whenever I travel, I try to fit in a visit to a racetrack, especialy if I haven't been there before or if it's been several years. I try very hard.

Even after a lot of years of doing this, I still get the same great feeling walking into a track I've not seen and walking onto the apron and taking in the view. It's the same feeling as I remember having the first time I went to Tiger Stadium as a kid and saw the huge, green field.

This Saturday, I will be at Woodbine and I'm pretty excited. Haven't been there in 20+ years. Get there early, take a walk around the whole place and land somewhere for the races.

I really, really enjoy walking into a new race track. I'm thankful for that and much, much more.

Everyone travel safely and have a great Thanksgiving.

STS, Thanks for the post...I thought I was the only one.. Going to Chicago in December, wife is making plans to see this and that...and I am emailing Mark Janickovic at Hawthorne, getting directions and reservations.. Question: For anybody here from Chicago...can you take a train to Hawthorne from downtown...or is it better just to take a taxi?

Ez

[2 Dollar Bill]

Just to keep it simple,
Thankful for a roof over my head, a warm fire on a cold nite, the men and women of our country protecting us, a dollar (or two) in my pocket,my health ( Im not keeping my Doctor in his BMW), and the WONDERFUL people on this site ! Thanks Steve for starting it and ALL the GREAT people who give their picks,rants, and everything else that makes this great country.
Have a wonderful thanksgiving everyone.!

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by ezrabrooks

STS, Thanks for the post...I thought I was the only one.. Going to Chicago in December, wife is making plans to see this and that...and I am emailing Mark Janickovic at Hawthorne, getting directions and reservations.. Question: For anybody here from Chicago...can you take a train to Hawthorne from downtown...or is it better just to take a taxi?

Ez

there's not a train that goes right to it that i've ever known of -- but there are trains that will go TOWARDS it which would make your cab ride cheaper. from downtown chicago, it wouldn't be too far at least. probably like 7-10 miles. Last time I went through the city and to Hawthorne, it took maybe 15-20 minutes by car. Wouldnt be TOO expensive.

[The Bid]

Late to Thanksgiving dinner every year because of the racetrack

[Sightseek]

I'm thankful for getting a raise yesterday

for having the greatest boyfriend a girl could ask for and

for being able to see so many of my favorite horses throughout the past few years.

[GPK]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I'm thankful for getting a raise yesterday

for having the greatest boyfriend a girl could ask for and

for being able to see so many of my favorite horses throughout the past few years.

um...when did we starting dating hun??? you really need to keep me more abreast of these types of things

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by GPK

um...when did we starting dating hun??? you really need to keep me more abreast of these types of things

ha, ha, ha!

[GPK]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

ha, ha, ha!

it was worth a shot anyways

[Suffolk Shippers]

alot to be thankful for this year, but I will throw out some highlights...

-greatest group of friends and family one could ask for
-great new friends from this here board!
-cashing more than i wagered (so far) in 2006
-democratic sweep in Congress
-meeting Alexandra this summer, whom I adore a little more every day. Feel like I should preface it by saying shes a Yankees fan while I'm a Red Sox boy, so we butt heads on that, but she grew up in Saratoga and her folks still live there, so thats a big score for me
-a well paying job where I can sneak on this board for a few minutes a day

I hope everyone here on DT has equal blessings to be thankful for, and God Bless you all this Thanksgiving.