by Mark Paul
Dino called Miami. “I admit it. I’m too damn scared to go back to Agua Caliente. Especially if we are going back there to pick up $250,000 in cash. I’m afraid of the track’s owner, and his friends, the guards, everyone. Who can we trust there, man? They are shooting their machine guns out in the open. Maybe they pay us, and then five minutes later have someone rob us in the parking lot, or they kidnap us.”
Ever the optimist, Miami said, “I hope we have that problem to face, buddy.”
Chapter 7
Heaven
All racetracks are unusual places. On any given day, the turf club could be filled with some of the wealthiest people in the country watching their own personal horses compete. At England’s top track, Royal Ascot Racecourse, the Queen of England frequently attends to view her own horses run. English gentlemen will be found wearing top hats and tuxedoes, while the ladies sport elegant dresses, custom hats, and fine jewelry.
However, at the same tracks, on the same days, the grandstand is filled with people from all walks of life, some at the lowest economic levels, who survive on welfare and other forms of government assistance. In between the exclusive private spaces and the open-air seating is the clubhouse, filled with middle-class fans. It’s a truth that diverse groups love the sport of horse racing.
Miami understood it. He believed that to buy a betting ticket on a horse, for the minutes of that race, the gambler owns that horse’s performance as well as a potential to gain the joy of a profit or experience the sting of a loss. “Greatest game in the world!” he always said about it. Someday I’ll bring my sons here, he often thought. “Other dads will take their kids to the playground, but I’ll bring mine to Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita Park!”
All racetrack venues are not equal. Most tracks today show the evidence that they were built in a bygone era. In the late 1930s, over 40,000 fans would attend Seabiscuit’s workouts, and for his great match race against War Admiral, over 40 million people listened on the radio. The great tracks of Saratoga Race Course in New York, and Churchill Downs in Kentucky, were built in 1863 and 1875. A bit later, Belmont Park in New York was built in 1905, and Santa Anita Park, in Southern California, was constructed in 1934. These places were built in the era before televised Super Bowls, or March Madness college basketball playoffs. They were built when the two most popular US spectator sports were boxing and horseracing. These magnificent tracks were built when land was plentiful, and the track grounds could accommodate over 100,000 fans during the top races. Walking through these old racetracks is like walking through history, and, except for the fashions of the men and women in attendance, the grounds are not much different today than they were 100 years ago.
Miami believed that the track, Las Vegas casinos, and other forms of gambling were not intrinsically evil. Nor was drinking alcohol intrinsically evil...in his view. People go to a two-day Las Vegas getaway, lose their allocated $500 bankroll, and then go back to be a teacher, realtor, or an accountant the next Monday morning. In the same way, most people can drink a couple of beers or glasses of wine at happy hour, and report back to work the next day without any issues. For about five percent of the population, moderation is impossible and they drink or gamble to excess. Yet, there’s a perception that if you like to hang out at the track and take chances on a bet or two (or three), you’re seen as a social deviant. Some people talk about baseball’s Wrigley Field like it was a shrine or a museum, but they think of racetracks as one step above brothels.
For decades, horseracing and movie stars seem to have been attracted to one another on the big weekend stakes days. In contrast, the only celebrities that Miami and Dino saw with some regularity on weekdays at the track were Farah Fawcett, Walter Matthau, Don Adams, and comedian Tim Conway. Matthau basically lived at the track when not filming and often said, “The best thing in the world is winning at the racetrack. The second greatest thing in the world…is losing at the racetrack.” Fawcett loved riding horses and was a real race fan. Adams and Conway hung out at the track all the time and to Miami they were a real life “odd couple.”
Most horseplayers lose money at the track, but Conway found the humor in it. On one occasion, Miami, Dino, and Conway rode down the turf club elevator that was full of losing horseplayers at the end of the gambling day. Everyone was silent until Conway said, “Anyone want to buy a rental car?”
Once asked how he did at the track that day. Conway quipped, “I had a $300 hot dog.”
The Kentucky Derby, referred to as “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports”, a race between 3-year-old horses, is one of the most celebrated sports events of all time. It is always run on the first Saturday in May and has been since 1875. In the 113 Derbies between 1875 and 1987, only two female horses won the race. The odds of a filly winning this race are astronomical. The Kentucky Derby is truly a once-in-a-lifetime shot for any 3-year-old horse with ability.
Now the 3-year-old filly Winning Colors was about to tackle the colts in one of the top qualifying races, the $500,000 purse Santa Anita Derby.
Because the backstretch at the track is a bastion of employment of males (95 percent of all trainers and jockeys are men), Winning Colors was being belittled for being female. The field of sports is a wonderful meritocracy, and gamblers and odds makers are the best evaluators of talent.
The day of the Santa Anita Derby, the track’s morning line odds maker had the gray Amazon filly not even listed as the favorite, but rather the second betting choice at 2.5-1. She was in a tough field of nine horses for the prestigious California version of the Kentucky Derby.
Part of this chauvinism was driven by the economics of racing. The winner of a Grade 1 stakes race such as the Santa Anita Derby, and especially the Kentucky Derby, increases the breeding price of the winning stallion by tens of thousands of dollars per mare. With a top stallion able to be bred 200 or more times per year at a fee sometimes exceeding $100,000 per breeding, many trainers and owners felt it was a waste to have a filly win such a race. She could produce only one foal per year verses a male who could produce up to 200 new runners per year.
Eugene Klein opened up to his wife about a specific concern: “Joyce, I never won a Super Bowl. Will I live to win a Derby?”
“Honey, I want you to lose a few pounds, and stop drinking. That would be a start.” Joyce Klein was concerned about her husband’s poor health and heart condition. She was also worried about who besides Gene could handle the businesses (and especially the costs) of running the large number of horses they now owned together. “I wanted you to sell the football team so you could relax and go to the races with me on the weekends. I never dreamed you would buy hundreds of racehorses…and your own private training facility. Who would buy 250 acres of the most expensive San Diego real estate and then put horses on it? I should have known…you will never slow down.”
“I play to win. You know that.”
“But what if you can’t run this? I don’t know how to run a horse farm. How many horses do you have? Tell me the truth, Gene.”
Klein paused. He knew that he had perhaps gone off the deep end into the horse business. With the cost of keeping a horse in training at $25,000 per year, he had not expected to get the bills he was now paying. He owned over 150 racehorses. They were not all in full training at the same time, but his training bills were over $300,000 per month, plus the real estate expenses on his Del Rayo Racing Stables farm, near his Rancho Santa Fe estate.
“We have like 100 horses,” Eugene said to Joyce. “Did you see the one I just named after the Raiders’ owner, Al Davis…Contempt? That’s worth the cost! Joyce...you’re not so good at saving money either I’ve noticed. How many people did you invite to the party last year in the back yard?”
“Five hundred.”
“Did that include the 16-piece full orchestra? Oh, what the hell…we can afford it!”
Joyce told him, “I think we should sell the ranch, and most of the horses. Gene, think about me, and the kids. What are we going to do with over 100 horses if yo
u’re gone?”
“Let me think about it, Joyce. I don’t want you to be stressed if anything happens to me.”
For about six weeks, the relationship between Ava and Miami had been silent. She kept leaving voice mail on his home machine, and several messages through the receptionist at his office.
He didn’t answer but suspected that she wanted to explain.
They both belonged to the same health club, but he knew she could only work out after work and on weekends, so he played basketball on weekday mornings to avoid seeing her. The facts were that the relationship was only a few months old, and they had never said they were exclusive…but to him it had been exclusive…because after meeting her, he didn’t want to see anyone else.
Miami re-focused on his work; he was now calling on banks to learn about and purchase foreclosure properties. He had two big offers in on large buildings already and felt like he was turning a corner. He thought, Perhaps I won’t have to be lonely and broke. So, he decided to call her and act like nothing had happened. If she was involved with someone else, what could he do? Hell, it would be better to know if she was involved, and then move on, rather than just keep avoiding her. He knew he had never met a woman like Ava and didn’t want to shut her out of his life. He wasn’t ready to give up on the date they’d made before his trip to Las Vegas and her trip to San Francisco.
Their date was to watch Winning Colors run in the Santa Anita Derby. He decided to see if she still wanted to go to Santa Anita, and called her, agreeing to meet at Starbucks for coffee after work Wednesday.
He got there first, sat at a table, and waited for her entrance. She was wearing jeans with tennis shoes, and looked tired and thin. Her eyes were red. He didn’t get up to greet her.
She looked up at him and said, “Mark…I’ve been trying to talk with you for weeks. I’m so sorry for what happened, and the way it looks…it’s not that way….”
“Ava, we never agreed we were exclusive. You…we….”
“No…wait,” Ava interrupted him. Her eyes welled up with tears. She seemed to be having trouble getting a full breath. “I’m not seeing anyone. That night…I’m so sorry. I ran into an old boyfriend, I used to work with…and you were in Las Vegas having fun…. It just happened.” She looked down and said, “I broke it off that morning right after you called. I don’t care about him. I care about you.”
“I could see that….”
Ava reached out and touched his face. He pulled back and looked at her. She folded her hands in her lap. “I’d like to keep trying. You’re a different kind of man. I’ve never been with someone who is as much fun as you. Or, who has as much fun as you. Somehow…you just live…and find adventure. I want to be with you. Just you. Part of that. Please.” She leaned forward in her chair, with her arms crossed on the table, and kissed him.
“Ava, I could try to be cool…but…I’ve missed you. You make me want more out of my life. Yeah, I love the track…and hanging with Dino…but hell, I’m going to be 32. I want a bigger life than that. I just thought we could be…were…something new. Bigger. But if you want to just have....”
She stood up, took a few steps, and sat in his lap, putting her head on his neck.
After a minute, he pulled her head up. “Remember? We were going to go see Winning Colors race and beat the boys in the Santa Anita Derby. Let’s just see how it goes…OK? I’ll pick you up Saturday morning at 10:00.”
April 9, 1988, Santa Anita Racetrack, California
If Winning Colors were to have the opportunity to run in the Kentucky Derby, she would first have to prove herself in today’s Santa Anita Derby. She was to run against the best colts in California, at the distance of one-and-one-eighth miles, farther than she had ever run in a race. She always ran so fast early in her races that many top newspaper horse handicappers still believed she could not carry that blinding speed for the longer distances against males.
The day was clear and warm, the track packed with fans, and the ladies in attendance were especially passionate about the filly’s chances. Miami noticed the stands were packed with an unusually large number of women, and even young girls. The Los Angeles Times, and other local papers, were featuring the race as something of a re-match of the male vs. female tennis game played by Billie Jean King against Bobby Riggs.
Dino told Miami, “Bobby Riggs was an old man at age 55 in that match. Billie Jean King was age 29. This is different, Winning Colors has to beat the best males in California straight up.”
Miami and Dino invited Amalia also to see the race, and they left early, knowing the track would be overflowing today. Miami drove the Impala with Ava sitting in the front; Dino and Amalia were in the back seats. Ava surprised all of them with gifts: four blue baseball hats, embroidered with “Winning Colors” in yellow letters. They all donned the hats and smiled.
Miami was being quiet, a rare behavior for him.
Dino explained to Amalia how history proved it would be difficult for their favorite filly to win today. “Horseracing is the only sport in the world where females can compete and win against the men for a championship. How many female horses have won the Santa Anita Derby and then the Kentucky Derby?
Amalia knew the answer, but she had another question. “None…ever. How have the girls done when racing against the Derby males?”
Dino answered, “Since 1875, only two fillies have won the Derby. And there was one other time….”
Miami looked at Dino in the rear-view mirror…and frowned. Dino was shaking his head side to side.
Ava jumped in, “Tell us. What are you not telling us?”
Dino continued, “It’s the worst horse racing story ever. I don’t like to think about it or tell it…but, in 1975, there was the greatest filly of all time. Her name was Ruffian, and she was a lot like Winning Colors, with blazing early speed. Ruffian was undefeated in 10 starts with 10 wins. No other filly ever got her head in front of Ruffian ever. All the fans wanted her to run in the Derby, but her trainer and owner said ‘no.’”
“She broke the track record in a workout, when she was only 2-years-old!” added Miami.
“So what happened?” asked Amalia. “Tell us.”
“So after the Derby they set up a match race. Just her against the 3-year-old colt that won the Derby that year, Foolish Pleasure. They called it ‘The Battle of the Sexes’ and ran it in New York. It was a huge event, with 50,000 people in attendance and like 18 million watching on TV. Ruffian broke in front and was beating him for three-quarters-of-a-mile.”
Dino stopped. Tears came into his eyes. He couldn’t continue.
Everyone was silent. After thirty seconds, Miami finished the story. “She snapped her front leg in half…but she refused to stop running…she kept trying to beat him and they had to put her down.”
There was silence for the rest of the drive to the track.
“Well I can tell you one thing for sure,” Dino said. “I have never seen this many women and girls at the racetrack in my entire life. It’s because of our girl…they love her.”
Many girls and their mothers had posted painted banners and now held pink signs that read: “GIRL POWER!” and “BEAT the BOYS!” Dino and Miami saw the saddling area and paddock packed five persons deep. They were calling out to Winning Colors. She had clearly struck a nerve.
The huge gray filly was wearing the number five saddlecloth and her regular white bridle as she was led to the gate by the saddle pony. Several of the other jockeys were aware of the talents of the big gray filly and had learned of her penchant for getting easily upset. As she warmed up, Stevens noticed that they were using their whips, loudly snapping them against their colts and even their own boots to try to scare her. Stevens was angry about their behavior and steered his mount as far away as possible from the agitators, fearing she could lose her focus before the race even began.
Winning Colors paused and held her head still, as if to take in the beautiful day, with the San Gabriel Mountains standing out against the
backstretch. She stood calmly in the gate, waited for the eight males to load, and when the gates snapped open, she promptly raced ahead of the entire field, going straight to the lead. She was immediately challenged to her right and forced to accelerate into the first left turn to hold the lead, while skimming the rail in her usual fashion. This leading group of horses set very fast internal fractions for the distance as the filly exited the first turn, well in front. Stevens was aglow in his bright yellow silks and cap.
Lukas had another top colt also entered in the race named Tejano, ridden by elite jockey Laffit Pincay. It was Tejano and Pincay who took up the bid for the early lead, three paths outside of her.
“They are going quickly out front!” called the race announcer.
The difference in top-class horses verses average thoroughbreds is the ability to go faster early in the race and still persevere in the later stages of the race, when the lower-class horses cannot, or are unwilling, to fight on while nearing exhaustion. Jockey Bill Shoemaker rode the morning line betting favorite horse, Lively One. Seconds into the race, Shoemaker knew the leaders were going way too fast for the distance. He let Lively One wait over seven lengths back, saving energy for the stretch run.
From their vantage point, Dino and Miami waited to see the first two fractions be posted on the infield tote board as an indicator of the suicidal pace these animals were setting, and when it came up in the sprinters time of 22-and-one-fifth, and 45-and-three-fifths seconds, they were worried the colts were pushing Winning Colors too hard. She and the other leaders were bound to tire after this insane speed exhibition. After three-quarters-of-a-mile, she had run in 109-and-two-fifths seconds, it was obvious she was going way too fast and could not be rated to run the full Santa Anita Derby distance.
Stevens let her continue to accelerate, now opening further on the field by three lengths, and then he did something interesting. He bent his head down and took a peek under his right arm to see how far ahead he was, as if he was in control of her. She was not being headstrong and running away with him like some crazy filly! She was setting this fast pace easily. It was as if only she, unlike the others, could run at this incredible pace within herself. The big gray Amazon filly could simply run faster immediately out of the gate than other top stakes class horses could, and Stevens let her have her way.