A nice story

My friend Louie dropped by this evening. We talked a couple times over the holidays but never managed to get together. If you've been reading stuff here for a while you must know a little about Louie, but here's the latest installment. Louie learned about horse racing from his dad. His folks would take him to the track when he was a boy, partly I guess for their own convenience. But Louie liked it and now, 40 some years later he usually owns 3 or 4 thoroughbreds which race at Arlington and Sportsmen Parks.

This spring the trainer, Tommy called him about a horse running in a $10,000 claiming race at Arlington the next day. This horse had been purchased at auction as a colt for $350,000, but in 5 years had never raced. He was apparently training all that time, and Tommy's cousin who is his clocker at the track, saw this horse in daily workouts and reported the horse was apparently healthy and very fast.

Why would the owner's run him in a 10K claiming race, which allows others to claim the horse for that amount if they wish to? Seems that by running him in a low price claimer, they entitle the horse to run in allowance races against other horses who have run in similar low price claiming races. This would enable the horse to clean up against not the best talent as they brought him along this year. It was the first of the season and perhaps they thought nobody would notice, but Tommy did.

Louie got the horse for $10,000 and ran him on the turf at Arlington this summer because Louie likes to see horses run on grass, but more so because of good turf horses in his genealogy. Well, the horse ran a couple of thirds, a second and a fourth, paying his way but not scoring a big payday. When Arlington closed this fall they took the horse to Sportsmans park and tried him on the dirt.

He won three straight races this in November and December against good competition and for purses totalling maybe $50,000. Jockeys get to pick the horses they ride and the tracks winningest jockey chose to ride Hurta (for that is his name) in the last race and she told Louie he was the nicest horse she'd ever ridden. She never touched him with the whip and he won the race by 10 lengths.

So if you go to Arlington Park next summer keep an eye out for Hurta and be happy for Louie. It was going to be hard paying the kids' tuitions this winter, with the slow-down in the building industry this year, and being an electrical contractor, and then along came Tommy, the Trainer and Hurta the wonder horse.