Arlington Million

The Arlington Million
It has been a goal of mine to visit every MAJOR north american thoroughbred track before I died or got too old to appreciate it. I have done reasonably well in this noble quest. Gulfstream, Belmont, Chruchill Downs, Oaklawn, Keenland, Hialeah (when it was still operating as a major track)...and a spate of minor tracks like Calder, Remmington, Lone Star, Evageline Downs, Turf Paradise,River Downs, Beulah Park, Hawthorne and even...God forbid Fairmont Park. You might notice missing from the major track list is Pimlico, home of the Preakness because I do not view it as a “major” track but it was historically great and somehow the Preakness became a Triple Crown race. It does NOT make Pimlico a major track.

It has been an interesting tour of these places. From palaces to dumps. From super high priced luxury at Gulfstream to sitting at beulah Park south of Columbus in a lawn chair drinking a Busch tall boy. (I do not know which experience was better.) There is ALWAYS a dichotomy at a horse track. There are rich and mega rich and comfortable people walking around in the Club House...down to the poor people who are betting their government aid checks...down to the poor people who are taking care of the horses on the backside. And there are parts of every track where all three groups mingle and merge among racing forms and cigar smoke and...it is beautiful.

On Saturday August 11 I got to attend Arlington Race Track. I had only been there once before when I was just married and that was “old” Arlington...before they had a fire in 1985 which conveniently allowed them to rebuild it. It is now..frankly...one of the jewels of the midwest. Beautifully designed with two turf tracks and one “poly” (dirt) track. The poly track is all the rage now since Barbaro broke down...supposedly easier on a horses legs. Anyway... my brother in law and sister in law recently moved up there and we came to visit on the same weekend as one of the richest races of the year.... The Arlington Million.

My brother in law is a high functioning obsessive compulsive and he rarely does anything without thorough research. In this case he planned for us to have a nice day at the track and he planned it very well. he realized that the crowds would be VERY large. He realized that we did not want to spend a lot of money. He scoped it out and we brought four nice canvas folding chairs and parked close...and then came in and set up on the back side of the grand stand. They have a huge area where they bring the horses out and saddle them prior to every race...and the jockeys come out and mount them. We set up the chairs under s shade tree and went about betting. The girls got some bloody marys and we got some beers.

We had pre handicapped the races and we made our daily double bets. The daily double is picking the winner of two separate races. It is not too hard and...it is generally known as a “sucker bet” like a quinella, or exacta or a pick six. We lost but I bet the right horse to win and made a nice price...then I did it again in the second race. My brother in law was getting killed as is often the case. For me it created the always poor situation of “playing with their money.” This is always bad because it engenders a certain...lack of discipline.

Anyway...when a track is hosting a big race they end up running several big races as lead ups and this day was no exception. We say some of the best horse flesh in the world. We were also sitting right next to the Jockey’s locker room and before each race these guys would come out in their silks and sit and smoke and talk before they suited up. These jockeys are tiny, hard, athletic men. Some of them have very attractive women who occasionally come over to chat with them. The women tend to be tall and blond and thin. I believe only the very successful jocks have these type of women chatting them up. Anyway... it was a spectacle all by itself.

So...I held my own and had a few beers. I walked around and took in the people at the track and it was a very well heeled and well monied crowd. We were watching races on a jumbo tron TV with a nice picture outside and it was a sweet day. The Million had a large amount of drama around it this year. The Tin Man had won last year and he had an excellent chance to repeat. there was a european invader coming in who was the logical choice but Tin Man had the capability and was going to be a strong sentimental favorite. John Henry was the only other horse to win two Arlington Millions and he won them back to back in the first and second running of the race.


I handicapped the race very carefully as well as the other 40,000 people who were there and another million or so bettors betting at OTB’s and other tracks all over the world. It turns out...almost all of us were wrong and a horse named Jambalaya who went off at 12-1 and won the race going away. In any case that race wiped out my bank and left me...lets just say it left me somewhat lighter then when I arrived. It still was an awesome day. Arlington closed on September 16 this year ending a race season that started May 5. It is a beautiful place to visit in the summer. Even if you do not bet it provides something to see and a great place to people watch. This diner cannot recommend the food but the cocktails were awesome and the facility is beautiful and well...betting is always fun.