Bob Show Spurs
Bob Show Spurs
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Jingle Bob for Mens Western Show Spur Parts Horse Tack $3.99 |
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Jingle Bob for Mens Western Show Spur Parts Horse Tack $3.99 |
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Jingle Bob for Mens Western Show Spur Parts Horse Tack $5.99 |
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Mens Black Steel Western Jingle Bob Spurs Lots of Engraved Silver Show or Rodeo $28.99 |
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Abetta Jingle Bob Show Spurs – Blued Steel – Men’s $72.99 |
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Abetta Jingle Bob Show Spurs – Blued Steel – Ladies $50.95 |
ROSES AND THORNS by Phil Sharp
ROSES AND THORNS
(THE HIGHS AND LOWS OF WAGERING ON THE KENTUCKY DERBY)
BY BARRY DeMANN
I GUESS, I’VE LOVED “THE DERBY”, EVER SINCE I WAS A KID. THE NAME LUCKY DEBONAIR STUCK IN MY MIND AT AN EARLY AGE.
I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE CALLED THAT BY FRIENDS, BUT HAD TO SETTLE FOR “JACKASS”, INSTEAD.
FOR ME, THOUGH, IT WAS NEVER A TRIP TO CHURCHILL DOWNS TO FIGHT THROUGH THE INFIELD OR, TO CATCH A GLANCE OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS. THREE IN A ROOM IS A CROWD, TO ME. I SEE, BUT I DON’T WISH TO BE SEEN. THEREFORE, BARRY DeMANN WILL NEVER ENJOY A MINT JULEP AT THE “TWIN SPIRES” ON DERBY DAY. MY SANCTUARY WAS, AND IS, A SMALL DARKENED ROOM WITH A TELEVISION, A DAILY RACING FORM, AND A 12 PIECE BOX OF FRIED CHICKEN…FOR THE BIG ONE.
I WANTED TO SHARE SOME BRIEF MEMORIES OF “THE GREATEST TWO MINUTES IN SPORTS”. NOT JUST WHO FILLED THE WIN, PLACE AND SHOW SLOTS, BUT SOME OF THE JOY AND AGONY THAT CAME WITH THE ALL IMPORTANT DERBY WAGER. I’VE LIVED MANY UPS AND DOWNS, BUT HERE ARE SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE.
1979 DERBY – AS A TEENAGER, I GATHERED UP THE NERVE TO VISIT THE LOCAL “BOOK”. “BIG HAL” CALLED THE SHOTS, THERE. HE WAS AT FIRST RELUCTANT TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE UNKNOWN KID, BUT EVENTUALLY TOOK MY $50 WAGER ON A HORSE CALLED SHAMGO. SHAMGO WAS THE SON OF SHAM, THE SAME SHAM WHO HAD GAMELY BATTLED SECRETARIAT IN THE TRIPLE CROWN SERIES OF 1973, BUT HAD COME UP SHORT EACH TIME. MY SOURCES HAD TOLD ME THAT SHAM’S REVENGE WAS IN ORDER. SHAMGO TOYED WITH MY NAIVE NATURE BY CHARGING TO AN EARLY LEAD AND HOLDING IT FOR MUCH OF THE RACE. THAT’S WHEN SPECTACULAR BID QUIT FOOLING AROUND. “THE BID” BLEW PAST THE FIELD AND SENT SHAMGO TO THE BACK OF THE PACK. A CHUCKLING, BIG HAL, SENT ME TO THE EXIT.
I SPENT THE EVENING DETERMINING WHICH OF MY EIGHT TRACK TAPES WOULD HAVE TO BE SOLD TO RECOUP, MY LOSSES. THE DERBY DIDN’T SEEM SO GLAMOUROUS WHEN I HAD TO PART WITH FIREFALL’S ELAN, STEVE MILLER’S GREATEST HITS, AND ZEPPELIN’S PHYSICAL GRAFFITI.
YEAH, BARRY DeMANN WAS DOWN….BUT NOT OUT.
1985 DERBY – BIG HAL HAD BEEN PUT OUT TO PASTURE. A CHARACTER SIMPLY KNOWN AS “FALSTAFF” HAD TAKEN OVER THE OPERATION. I COULD NEVER GET AN ANSWER AS TO WHETHER HE WAS NAMED FOR THE BEER OR THE HORSE, BUT I LIKED FALSTAFF…HE HAD A HEART. BUT, HE DIDN’T MIND TAKING YOUR MONEY. HE SCOFFED AS I LAID DOWN MY 50 AND 50 WAGER ON SPEND A BUCK, A HORSE I HAD SELECTED, NOT FOR HIS PEDIGREE, BUT BECAUSE HE SHARED THE NAME OF “BUCK” WITH MY BELOVED FATHER. FALSTAFF CAUTIONED ME THAT CHIEF’S CROWN WAS THE BEST HORSE TO ENTER THIS RACE SINCE SEATTLE SLEW…BUT I BARELY HEARD HIM. YES, THIS WAS GOING TO BE SPEND A BUCK’S DAY.
AND IT WAS.
SPEND A BUCK WIRED THE FIELD IN DOMINANT FASHION. MY $100 WAGER HAD TURNED INTO OVER $700. AS FALSTAFF COUNTED OUT MY WINNINGS, I FELT LIKE I HAD WON ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD….SPEND A BUCK HAD DONE IT, BUT EVENTUALLY, THE “BUCK” NAME WOULD TIME AND TIME AGAIN, SPOIL MY DAYS AT THE TRACK. WAGERS ON ANY OTHER HORSE WITH “BUCK” IN THE NAME ALWAYS LED TO HEARTACHE AND SORROW….MUCH AS I HAD PROBABLY DONE TO THE REAL “BUCK”…THROUGH THE YEARS.
1987 DERBY – DEMON’S BEGONE WAS THIS YEAR’S CAN’T MISS HORSE. AS FALSTAFF POINTED OUT…”PAT DAY’S BEEN GEARING UP FOR THIS ONE, BETTER GET YOUR MONEY ON HIM”. I PREFERRED ALYSHEBA, THE SON OF THE GREAT ALYDAR ON THIS DAY. ALYSHEBA DIDN’T DISAPPOINT. AFTER STUMBLING AT THE TURN, ALYSHEBA, HAD THE HEART TO RUN DOWN A GAME BET TWICE TO GET THE MONEY. MY WAGERS, EVER GRADUATING, HAD RISEN TO $100 ACROSS THE BOARD. THE $300 BET TURNED INTO $1600.
BUT IT DIDN’T MATTER. AFTER THE CELEBRATION AND A SPUR OF THE MOMENT FLIGHT TO THE BAHAMAS…THE MONEY WAS GONE AND THEN SOME. SURE I ENDED UP WITH ONE OF THE BIGGEST CONCH SHELLS IN NORTH AMERICA, AND AN UNBELIEVABLE BOUT OF DIARRHEA, BUT LITTLE ELSE.
1991 DERBY – THIS YEAR’S DERBY FOUND ME IN VEGAS. A BUSINESS DESTINATION 300 MILES AWAY PROVIDED ENOUGH RATIONALIZATION TO DETOUR TO “SIN CITY” FOR A 72 HOUR MARATHON. MY FOCUS WAS ON OTHER MATTERS LIKE WHAT A “LIVE DOG”, INDIANS PITCHER GREG SWINDELL WAS, OR WHAT KIND OF IDIOT BETS ON THE USFL’S ORLANDO THUNDER WHEN QUARTERBACK KERWIN BELL, SUCKED SO BADLY. DERBY DAY WAS A RELIEF. I WAS ABLE TO QUIT WORRYING THAT I HADN’T SLEPT FOR TWO DAYS AND GET FOCUSED. HANSEL AND BEST PAL DREW THE ATTENTION, BUT NICK ZITO’S STRIKE THE GOLD
CAUGHT MINE. A BRILLIANT RIDE BY THE LATE CHRIS ANTLEY, BROUGHT STRIKE THE GOLD FROM THE BACK OF THE PACK TO THE LEAD IN DEEP STRETCH. MY BELLOWING OF, “COME ON, STRIKE THE GOLD!!!” SEEMED TO SHAKE THE BARBARY COAST SPORTS BOOK. ALMOST AS MUCH AS WHEN I DASHED TO THE WINDOW TO COLLECT MY $2400, WITH THE WIN.
IT MATTERED LITTLE. A MERE TWO WEEKS LATER, STRIKE THE GOLD STUNK UP THE TRACK IN THE PREAKNESS. HANSEL SEEMED TO BE LAUGHING AT ME AS HE HIT THE WIRE…LEAVING ME WITH ONLY MY $800 DOLLARS WORTH OF TICKETS WADDED UP IN MY HAND, AND FEELING LIKE IT HAD BEEN TEN YEARS SINCE I HAD “STRUCK GOLD” IN VEGAS.
1996 DERBY – UNBRIDLED SONG WAS THE HORSE TO BEAT, BUT MY SELECTION WAS BOB BAFFERT’S CAVONNIER. MY CONFIDENCE WAS HIGH ENOUGH THAT I WOULD MAKE THE BIGGEST HORSE WAGER OF MY LIFE….PUTTING $1000 BUCKS ON CAVONNIER’S NOSE. MY ADRENALINE WAS PUMPING WHEN MIKE SMITH BLEW THE WAD OF UNBRIDLED SONG TOO EARLY. AS CAVONNIER PASSED HIM IN THE STRETCH, I WAS EUPHORIC! JUST LIKE RIDER CRAIG MCCARRON, THOUGH, I DIDN’T SEE JERRY BAILEY AND GRINDSTONE COMING. EVERYTHING WAS A BLUR AS BOTH HORSES HIT THE WIRE. A PHOTO REVIEW SEEMED LIKE IT LASTED FOR AN HOUR, BUT I DIDN’T NEED TO SEE THE PICTURE. CAVONNIER HAD BEEN CLIPPED, AND I KNEW IT.
THE RACE TOOK EVERYTHING OUT OF ME. FALSTAFF TRIED TO OFFER CONSOLATION…BUT ALL I ASKED FOR WAS PERMISSION TO GO TO SLEEP, RIGHT THERE IN THE CHAIR OF HIS BACK ROOM DIVE. I’D BEEN BEATEN DOWN LIKE ON OLD RUG ON A CLOTHES LINE.
THAT ’96 RACE CHANGED A LOT FOR ME.
NOW A FAMILY MAN, THE DAYS OF THE BIG DERBY BET SEEMED FOOLISH. HOWEVER, I CONTINUE TO BE ENJOY THE RACE EVERY YEAR WITH A SIMPLE $5 EXACTA BOX PLAY. (2003′S FUNNY CIDE/EMPIRE MAKER GOT ME BACK ALMOST $250).
I STILL LOVE THE RACE. BUT, I REALIZE IT’S NOT THE MONEY, IT’S THE THRILL OF THE ACTION.
I’VE WON AND LOST AT EVERY TYPE OF SPORTS ACTION. SUPER BOWLS, BOXING MATCHES, THE NBA FINALS…THEY ALL FALL SHORT OF HORSE RACING FOR EXCITEMENT. WHETHER IT’S WATCHING YOUR HORSE SPLIT THE FIELD, IN THE STRETCH TO GET THE WIN….. OR BEGGING FOR THE WIRE AS YOUR HORSE IS LEADING, BUT RUNNING OUT OF GAS…..THE ONE TO TWO MINUTES OF ACTION IN A RACE CAN’T BE BEAT.
FEEL THE RUSH IN SATURDAY’S 135TH RUNNING OF “THE RUN FOR THE ROSES”.
SATURDAY’S ABSOLUTELY FREE SELECTION: $2 BOXED EXACTA ON ADVICE AND FRIESAN FIRE SHOULD SET YOU FREE.
BARRY DeMANN
About the Author
SHARP IS A FEATURED WRITER FOR THE WEBSITE, http://WWW.TWOFATGUYSWITHNOTHINGTODO.COM
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