A day at the races

For a 10-year period from 1977-86, my dad and I made regular visits to River Downs racetrack off U.S. 52 just east of Cincinnati.

Often, we were accompanied by friends such as Dick Stevens, John Fite, Joe Pfeffer, Clarence Brabson II and III and various others. Joe loved to bet on the long-shots. So did I.

Back in the 1970s, the racetrack still seemed to have some sort of unofficial dress code. As a 16-year-old handicapper, I recall wearing a dress shirt and dress pants to the track as a way to look older than my years. My high school pal, Clarence, did the same. We never had a problem placing our bets or cashing our winning tickets.

I remember one afternoon when I drove my dad and several friends to the track, we parked beside a van with Indiana license plates. John mentioned there was a horse named Indianaro in one of the races that day and it might be a good "hunch" bet. The horse went off at around 50 to 1. I did not bet on it. John did. The horse won.

This past Saturday, on Mother's Day weekend no less, Pam, Colin and I spent a fun day at River Downs. It was my first trip back to the place where I had so many good memories of my youth in at least 20 years.

After all these years, I must admit: I messed up my first wager. I walked up to the pari-mutuel window and said something like "Give me the 5 horse in the first race, doubled with the 3 and 7 in the second."

"Dollar amount, horse number and wager," the man insisted.

"Sorry, pal," I said. "It's been about 25 years since I've been here. I see you still have the same window that you had in 1979."

He excused my lack of protocol and accepted my cash. When I returned after the second race with three winning tickets, including the 5-3 daily double on Feisty Me and Costly, we were good.

I've always had a bit of success at the early races. Even though my dad referred to races 1-4 as "dog races," they've always been my preferences.

Saturday was no exception.

I won races 1 and 2, won the double, and placed in race 3. Didn't cash another ticket. It got so bad that I threatened to bet on every horse in the last race just to cash one more ticket.

Colin made his first wager on a horse in the second race that was scratched on the way to the post. It was an omen of more strange things to come.

Years ago, I bet on a filly named Rula Goy who held the lead at the top of the stretch at River Downs. Her left front leg buckled just before the finish line and they had to put her down right there on the home stretch.

Colin's horse, fortunately, will live to run another day. Watching Colin cheer his horse across the finish line is a memory that will last a lifetime. Betting on a winning horse brings a certain unforgettable smile.

Pam, who often makes her wager by the "cuteness" of the horse's name, was struggling. She put $5 on Boogie Woogie in the first race and no one has seen it since. It's still running. In the third race, she selected Boogie Red. The 6-year-old filly failed to win, place or show, too. Later, she tried Fluffy on the Inside, also to no avail – and no cash.

Meanwhile, Colin won the fourth race and a $7.60 return on two bucks, with Two Step Hero, an Ohio bred 6-year-old. I went with Stormin Hedges, a sharp-looking gray in the mile-and-a-16th on the turf. My horse broke last and seemed pretty comfortable watching the horses from that vantage point. Stormin Hedges won on April 27. But not on this day.

Perhaps the funniest episode of our Marx Brothers-esque "Day at the Races" came about in the fifth race.

Playing a pure hunch, I bet on the 7 horse, Antigua, a place I've long wanted to visit. Plus, Antigua won her last race at a mile and 70 at Beulah Park.

Pam chose Without a Dream. Her horse finished fifth the last time out.

On the back stretch, far from the River Downs grandstand, I noticed that my horse no longer had a jockey. Not good. Azael DeLeon had been aboard Antigua leaving the starting gate. But no longer.

As the track announcer informed all of us after the conclusion of the race, Pam's horse, the 8 horse – Without a Dream – had cut off and collided with my horse, Antigua.

Go figure.

I started sharing this story with a nice gentleman at the restaurant bar an hour or so later, but he interrupted and told me it was most likely my horse's fault. He's probably right.

One thing that did come to mind Saturday was the way professional jockeys, particularly Perry Wayne Ouzts, conduct themselves.

Ouzts was born in 1954 and is one of 21 professional riders to have won 5,000 races. Around horseracing tracks, he is nicknamed the “Workingman’s Hero.”

Ouzts’s first career victory came in March 1973 aboard Rablu at Beulah Park in Grove City, Ohio. Ouzts holds a record of 18 meet titles at River Downs and 11 meet titles at Beulah Park. At the time of his 5,000th win, Ouzts had raced in 39,429 races with total earnings of over $29 million. Out of the 39,429 races, he finished third 4,801 times and second 4,911 times.

Ouzts’s biggest accomplishment came on August 21, 2007. At River Downs, on a horse named Kandinsky, he won at a 3 ¾-lengths victory, giving him his 5,000th career win. That same day, he won two more races. In September 2007, Ouzts won his most profitable race in the $200,000 Miller Lite Cradle Stakes for two-year-olds, riding Old Man Buck.

Ouzts has suffered numerous broken bones. He has broken his jaw, his back, his arm, his nose and his shoulder. Recently, he was involved in a motorcycle accident and didn't miss a race.

When we saw Ouzts on Saturday, he was polite, friendly and appreciative to everyone around him.

River Downs opened in Cincinnati in 1925. The track sits right along the banks of the Ohio River, adjacent to Coney Island Amusement Park.

Seabiscuit made two appearances at River Downs in 1936, finishing third both times.

Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay, Jr. once said, "This is the best turf course I've ever ridden on," after he rode Highland Crystal to victory in the Budweiser Breeders' Cup there.

On May 17, 1976 an apprentice jockey won the eighth race at River Downs aboard Red Pipe. It was the race that would launch the career of one of the world's most renowned riders, Steve Cauthen.

During the 1980s, the Miller Genuine Draft Cradle Stakes grew to become the richest race for 2-year-olds in the state of Ohio. The 1983 winner, Coax Me Chad, went on to a second-place finish behind Swale in the Kentucky Derby the following year. The 1984 "Cradle" winner did his predecessor one better – he won the Kentucky Derby. Spend A Buck not only won the Derby, but went on to win 10 races and over $4.2 million, eventually being crowned Horse of the Year.

It was good to go back to River Downs. I've had my share of good memories from the track. It's time for other family members to make a few lasting memories, too.

Rory Ryan is publisher of The Highland County Press.