BACK IN THE DAYS

I watch this program Pawn stars and they have this grandpa in there who talk about "back in the days" when ever peole brings their old stuff to sell, I then sometimes think about "back in the days" in racing.

How the off course closed at 1 o clock, and you had to rush to get your bets on, and when you placed your bets you got this different colour tickets,
the days of the dupla, gee my father loved his dupla, ( for those who do not know a dupla is a boxed exacta today)

How i used to bunk the last two periods of school on Wednesdays to get to the tote at Newmarket on time to play my PA and Jackpot.
back in the days of jockeys like Gerald " the godfather" Turner, Bennie Little, Marty Schoeman, G Cave, Raymond Rhodes, Freddy mccaskill and a few more.
Also there were the legendary trainers who could pull coup's like you do not see anymore today like Syd laird etc

"back and the days" when Elavation won three Holidays in a row and Politician was King

My fav course was Gosforth Park made a lot off money there especially with front runners, that was the one course where front runners was the best horse to back,

I remember we went there one day and my late mother fancied a horse called Mogul, purely on his colour he was like a brown /orange colour and me and my dad laughed at her, she put R50 bucks for a win the horse jumped went to the front and never got caught, paid R100 for a win, I am now talking 1975 when a big house cost Like anything between R30 -40 000, to fill up your troleey at OK was under a R100, she collected R5000, we never heard the end of that story .

How things have changed.................

Uncle Albert from Only Fools and Horses "during the war"

james now you talk. the days when the horse was the center peice of racing and not some administrater who worry only of the share holder.

....corrections Blondie....Roy "the Godfather" Curling.....he even had a poster parody like the"Uncle Sam your country needs you" but with GOD FATHER needs you printed on it.....in the front hall entrance to his Alberante home.....and it was M Cave for Michael....

I often feel that the negative impact that inflation has had on racing is overlooked. I'll give you two examples :

1.) The 'average punter' played comparatively BIGGER in the old days without even knowing it. eg the example that James Blond gives of his mother placing R50 on her 'fancy' is a good example. The 2012 equivalent of a 1975 R50 is not far off R 6500 in today's purchasing power. Had this lady still been alive and at the racecourse last Saturday I very much doubt whether she would have wagered R 6500. My guess would be about R 500. So effectively her actual value adjusted spend would have reduced dramatically since 1975.

2.) With the tote being a pool system payouts have remained relatively stable as, barring exceptional days, even larger pools often throw up more winners; so payouts remain relatively level. Unfortunately this produces the following scenario : In 1975 a punter might have won R300 on a moderately tricky exacta ( known as the quinella in those days ). However - with this win he/she could have gone out on the following Monday a bought a perfectly serviceable second hand car for that kind of money ( eg a brand new VW Beetle cost just under R 2000 back then ). Today you would be fortunate to acquire a decent ( very modest ) second hand car for under R60,000.

Consequently the operators look for bets that approximate lottery payouts in order to create pools that one ticket might clean up on. In this respect the Pick 6 has probably been quite successful as it holds out the prospect of a really big payout for a small outlay.

Regrettably winning a 'couple of thousand' at the races is no longer even remotely life changing. So inflation has played no little part in destroying the punter's hope of riches from a big result. A big payout now requires a string of big results.

Have to agree with you Garrick. I caught a Trifecta way back in 1982 that paid about R750- [In Action beat Dow Jones].

With this princely sum, I was able to hire a car and drive to Cape Town, spend a week in various hotels, visit the mountain, Hout bay boat trip, Cango caves etc. all covered for inc. petrol expenses and a trip to Kenilworth racecourse with money to punt.

mikesack Wrote:

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> Have to agree with you Garrick. I caught a
> Trifecta way back in 1982 that paid about R750- .
>
> With this princely sum, I was able to hire a car
> and drive to Cape Town, spend a week in various
> hotels, visit the mountain, Hout bay boat trip,
> Cango caves etc. all covered for inc. petrol
> expenses and a trip to Kenilworth racecourse with
> money to punt.


How you got paid??

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/bidahorse/money.jpg?t=1347945427

1983 I went to Turffontein and caught a boxed trifecta Red Flag (methinks Danie Burger) / Black Bishop (Dj Barnard) / Market Trend (OA ferraris) ...the latter two being the favourites and Red Flag was 20/1... paid R3500. Hired a taxi, took friends for a night out at La Coimbra's in town.. ate seafood and danced until the wee wee hours, replaced our front door (major exercise) ... a dining room suite and a big bar for the spare room... and still had plenty change ( ... Did I mention that was my annual take home salary in those days ??

6K for a brand new V6 Cortina "bakkie" (tu)

http://i1007.photobucket.com/albums/af194/bidahorse/Ford-3000-Leisure-Bakkie-test.jpg?t=1347873078

when bookmakers were bookmakers and not bookkeepers

ballie Wrote:

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> when bookmakers were bookmakers and not
> bookkeepers


Ballie, i was just having this conversation about 2 weeks ago with a friend.....
who happened to be a bookmaker a few years ago. Very interesting....

Great thread this(tu)