Horsing Around
May 16th 2011 06:53
Good Laughs at the Track
words and photography by Vicki L. Vinson
Cashing a winning ticket isn’t the only way to have fun at the race track. Even a losing day at the track can be an enjoyable experience if you had a good laugh. Here jockey Richard Migliore is bent over laughing; even his horse and the pony rider seem to be in on the joke. Maybe they just read the program and saw the owners’ name, Tons of Fun Stables.
You should always pay attention to what is going on around you in today’s world. You never know when a horse paparazzi like myself may be around taking photos. It appears the horse in this photo while just doing her normal thing, was giving her groom a hair raising experience.
Many jockeys enjoy playing practical jokes. It’s a big tradition when a jockey wins his first race that his fellow jockeys initiate him or her into the colony when they return to the jockey’s room, such as with a pail of ice cold water over their head. Santa Anita Park often celebrates special occasions for jockeys in the winner’s circle. Such was the occasion when Laffit Pincay Jr. turned 50 years old. It must have taken hours for the pastry chef to make this huge cake decorated with a large rocking horse to signify Laffit’s senior standing among the jockey colony. What ensued probably ruined Laffit’s diet for the day.
If you keep your ears open and pay attention to the call of a race, you may find yourself occasionally breaking into laughter too. I remember a mare named Nice Assay that use to run in Southern California and do quite well. So well in fact that several times she was in the thick of things coming down the stretch and it would crack me up to hear Trevor Denman say, Nice Assay ---- OK say it slowly in Trevor’s accent --- nice – ass – aye! In recent years with all the sound bytes and videos on the Internet we’ve been able to hear some amazingly hilarious calls over and over on our computers. Here are the links to some of my favorites:
Frank Miramadi at Turf Paradise, Frank is famous for his impressions often used in calling the last race of the day. This particular day the announcer’s booth was overflowing with guest callers.
Larry Colmus at Monmouth Park, kept his cool with this tongue twister race call.
Tom Durkin at Saratoga, must be a fan of the Pirates of the Carribean. I only wish I could have found a link to his singing rendition of Doremifasolatido.
While looking around at the race track don’t forget to look up. This particular day the track was having a beauty contest for their Sunshine Millions celebration. What the contestants didn’t know was they were being watched from the walking ring below. The one on the left is short, is she a jockey?
words and photography by Vicki L. Vinson
Jockey Richard Migliore on Gaddingabout
Cashing a winning ticket isn’t the only way to have fun at the race track. Even a losing day at the track can be an enjoyable experience if you had a good laugh. Here jockey Richard Migliore is bent over laughing; even his horse and the pony rider seem to be in on the joke. Maybe they just read the program and saw the owners’ name, Tons of Fun Stables.
Turbulent Descent
Santa Anita Oaks winner Turbulent Descent with her groom
Many jockeys enjoy playing practical jokes. It’s a big tradition when a jockey wins his first race that his fellow jockeys initiate him or her into the colony when they return to the jockey’s room, such as with a pail of ice cold water over their head. Santa Anita Park often celebrates special occasions for jockeys in the winner’s circle. Such was the occasion when Laffit Pincay Jr. turned 50 years old. It must have taken hours for the pastry chef to make this huge cake decorated with a large rocking horse to signify Laffit’s senior standing among the jockey colony. What ensued probably ruined Laffit’s diet for the day.
Fellow jockeys dump Laffit Pincay Jr. into his own cake
If you keep your ears open and pay attention to the call of a race, you may find yourself occasionally breaking into laughter too. I remember a mare named Nice Assay that use to run in Southern California and do quite well. So well in fact that several times she was in the thick of things coming down the stretch and it would crack me up to hear Trevor Denman say, Nice Assay ---- OK say it slowly in Trevor’s accent --- nice – ass – aye! In recent years with all the sound bytes and videos on the Internet we’ve been able to hear some amazingly hilarious calls over and over on our computers. Here are the links to some of my favorites:
Frank Miramadi at Turf Paradise, Frank is famous for his impressions often used in calling the last race of the day. This particular day the announcer’s booth was overflowing with guest callers.
Larry Colmus at Monmouth Park, kept his cool with this tongue twister race call.
Tom Durkin at Saratoga, must be a fan of the Pirates of the Carribean. I only wish I could have found a link to his singing rendition of Doremifasolatido.
While looking around at the race track don’t forget to look up. This particular day the track was having a beauty contest for their Sunshine Millions celebration. What the contestants didn’t know was they were being watched from the walking ring below. The one on the left is short, is she a jockey?
| 35 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
