At rest
Always a date on the calendar for looking back.
Saint Anthony of Padua was Dad’s go-to saint. Anthony’s Feast Day was June 13, so, being a horseplayer, 0ur father was fond of trizactor-box combinations involving the numbers 1-3-6 or, even better to him for some reason, 3-6-10. Three-six-ten…yow! That doesn’t completely track; yea, verily, he must have been on the spectrum a little, so now you can kind of see where we get it! Three…six…ten? Ten!
Yup, he died on the day before he could reach one last Feast Day of Saint Anthony. The leukemia wouldn’t spare him that final bit of grace. But maybe even more fitting, he, a native of the Philippines, died on June 12, which, believe it or not, is the date the Philippine Islands declared their independence from their old protector, the good ol’ U.S. of America. Which would be like an American dying on July 4. Those two dates are unforgettable to us, then, June 12 & June 13. Death & remembrance.
The last horserace we saw together was in his hospital room, maybe he was in the last 36 hrs. of life by then. We wanted Sunday Silence to get the Triple Crown, but Easy Goer robbed us of it. Well, at least we had lived and screamed the previous Triple Crown winner home, Affirmed in 1978. That one was meant to be — yes.
But not even 24 hrs. after the 1989 Belmont Stakes, we were back for the end, the vigil anticipating the end, Sunday Silence had lost on Saturday, and this was another kind of Sunday silence, waiting for a different kind of loss.
We buried him with some of his favorite things inside the coffin. One of them was the official track program from the running of the 1988 United Nations Handicap at Atlantic City Race Course. That was our place, always; only fond memories from there. We rarely hit on the same wagers, but we had three winning exacta cashes in that race: mom, us & dad — each unbeknownst to the others before post time!
This poem did not go in the casket, having been composed way-after 1989, but it sums up things pretty good:
Of an evening to come
You shall ask me once more
Who do you like?
And together again
We will enjoy anew
The pastime that found us…
Inseparable
No more Atlantic City, but for us it will never go away. Rest easy, Dad.
BestLine Racing Society Recap:
Only The Thistle for The Members of The Society earlier.
In Race 2 there, #6 Turbo Power (.260 Win Prob / 2.85-1 Fair Odds / 3.62-1 Premium Odds) and #5 My Buddy Micah (.278 / 2.60 / 3.32) combined on your winning $32-even exacta whose premium price was $31.27. Next race there, #5 Talk Dirty (.243 / 3.12 / 4.76) scored at $16.20. And in the finale, #1 Emerson Jones (.181 / 4.52 / 6.73) made like Emerson Fittipaldi and ended-up in Victory Lane at $19.60.
BestLine Racing Society Nightcap:
Raining tonight at The Mountain, so we are forced to pull the ol’ the switcherooni over to the AssDowns, formally known as Assiniboia Downs. AssDowns.
Strongshots
Race 3
#3 Lipstick Lady (.345 / 1.90 / 2.48)
Race 5
#4 C C’s Kitten (.353 / 1.83 / 2.40)
Longshots
Race 1
#3 Goldeneyed (.232 / 3.31 / 5.03)
#1 Rollin Sevens (.202 / 3.95 / 5.93)
#6 Gold Special (.199 / 4.03 / 6.04)
#4 Gray Admiral (.187 / 4.35 / 6.49)
#5 Trump Um (.174 / 4.75 / 7.05)
Race 2
#6 Lucky Chuckee (.391 / 1.56 / 2.07)
#5 Private Frank (.234 / 3.27 / 4.98)
#1 Bearly Regal (.168 / 4.95 / 7.33)
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