 The 1999 Kentucky Derby
Does anyone remeber the winner? That 35 to 1 long shot that kicked butt!
I was fortunate enough to benefit from Charismatic's good fortune. I selected this horse on the thursday before the Kentucky Derby was to happen. I was at work, sitting in my truck on break, reading the sports section of the StarTribune(Minneapolis newspaper) when something told me that this was the winning horse. I was scheduled to make a trip to St. Louis, Mo for that weekend to visit a lady friend of mine. I made it to St. Louis on friday night. I called my lady friend and let her know that I made it in town and I hoped that I would see her tomorrow. Just so happens that her car was in the shop and she needed a ride in to work and asked me if I could take her. I told her I would. She worked in the Fairview Heights mall in Illinois not to far from the Fairmount Horse track. As I took her to work and made kissyface with her before droppng her off, I was getting an uncontrollable urge to go the horse track. I had not thought about this horse that I was told of on thursday since thursday and didn't make a big deal of it. Im in Illinois, don't know my way around but this uncontrollable urge is driving me at this point. I find a gas station and get directions from the attendant and make my way to the track. I make it to the track, park, walk in and get in line. This is my first time at a real horse track and that part alone was exciting. But something inside me was going crazy. While waiting in line to place my bet, I felt as though I were going through an internal war. My spirit was relaying the message to "BET EVERYTHING YOU HAVE IN YOUR POCKET ON THIS HORSE!!"(which was about $350.00 enough to do a couple of things for my girl over the weekend) I had other thoughts as I waited to place my bet. At first I thought that I would bet $100.00 but then I reasoned my way out of that one thinking that would hurt my ability to provide a good time for my girl if I lost. My next thought was $50.00. I could place this bet and still have $300.00 leftover for the weekend in case I lose. As I wrestled with my thoughts, the woman on the other side of the glass window says "NEXT". It's my turn and my inner man is going crazy with this rant of go for broke and Im trying to be sensible about this whole thing, so what do I do ? I go into my pocket and pull out $40.00 dollars and say to the attendant "$40.00 on 13 for the Kentucky Derby to win". She gives me a crazy look and says "OKAY".
I leave and go back to My Aunt's house and wait for my lady's call to pick her up. During the day, I make it a point to avoid all talk about the Derby. I didn't even watch the race. My lady calls me, tells me that she ready and Im off to Illinois from Bridgeton, Mo at about 5:00pm. I get to Fairview Heights at about 5:40 pm. My lady gets in the car. I asked her how her day went and were off. Next, I ask her if she had heard anything about the race. She says "I think I heard that Charismatic won" I said, "WHAT? Are you sure?" She said "yep I think so I believe thats what I heard." I said, Ok, were going to the track to see." We get to the track. My lady stays in the car because her feet were hurting from being on them all day. I go in and stand in the short line and whadya know it's the same lady who helped me before. As I hand her the ticket she gives me a tired look as if she is ready to go home. As she zips the ticket through she livens up and looks at me and asks me, "What made you bet on that horse?" I reply, "I don't know?" As She starts counting out my winnings, I begin to think what would have happened If I had listened to that voice inside. I won $1,272.00 for a $40.00 dollar bet. Had I listened to my inner guide I would have won $12,250 for a bet of $350.
Dont get me wrong I am grateful for the win. But I kick myself everyday I think of it. My lady and I had a nice time after that. We made a spontaneous trip to Chicago and had a great time. I haven't been able to pick a winner since then but I try every year.
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05-23-2008, 01:03 PM
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