You know how you see all of those signs around Wisconsin for Ho Chunk Casino? Everyone in the picture is usually holding onto a fistful of hundred dollar bills. Winning is easy, right? I remember in college I took my friend Jack up to Ho Chunk for a little blackjack. He had never played before and after splitting a bunch of tens, hitting on 17s and so on, you would think he would be down for the count. Instead, he was up nearly $300 in about 15 minutes (keep in mind this is $300 when in college, which equals about $3,000 in post college money). His comment on the way home was, ‘it really is as easy to win money as those billboards say it is!” He was obviously kidding, but we did take a trip back a few weeks later and he gave it all back and then some. “They don’t build those big fancy casinos because the owners are losing money,” my Dad would always tell me. Well, once and awhile, you can pull one over on the big casino owners. Laura and I did just that last Friday.
In Over My Head entered into the Open at Maywood Park last Friday following his horrible race out in Pittsburgh on Tuesday the 6th of October. Like past races after making breaks, we were all extra nervous. We had to see a clean trip. He drew poorly (post position #7), which can really kill your chances on a half mile track. This is especially true when a 3 year old like Mo is going up against a group of tough older race horses. Luckily, no one told Mo he wasn’t supposed to do well that night. After a nice dinner up in Wisconsin Dells, Laura and I drove to Ho Chunk. We had a little time to kill so we headed over to the slot area where Laura proceeded to rake in the cash ($25 on a $10 ‘investment’…a real nice return on your money). We headed back to the horse betting area after a couple of complimentary sodas and settled in for the race.
For the first time in awhile, I was in charge of placing a bet for my Dad. We had talked that week and both felt that win or lose In Over My Head would be a good value bet. He was 8-1 in the program and had a couple of things that would really scare off potential bettors: his post position and the fact he shows two recent breaks on his card. Now, making a break is never a good thing, but we knew that one was a flukish, tight quarter, flying whip scenario and the other was when another horse pretty much ran into him. Laura joined in the betting fun and as the horses went to the gate, Mo was at about 10-1 odds. A nice chance to get paid.
This was the first time that Greg, Danny and I were all in different places to watch. Greg was at home (and unfortunately got shut out as TVG or HRTV didn’t show the race), Danny was at the track and I was at Ho Chunk. Danny actually warmed Mo up that night and texted me that he felt great. We had old reliable, Marcus Miller driving him (I guess Marcus should really be considered young reliable since he’s about 21 years old). Marcus knows him well and that always is a calming thought as an owner. It is nice when the same person drives your horse week in and week out. The plan was for Marcus to try and get to the front, but when the horses left, that really wasn’t an option. The group took off like a pack of dogs chasing a chuck wagon and Mo had to work hard just to get into 5th coming out of the turn. The first quarter went a very snappy 26.4. Going into the 2nd turn, there was a horse behind Mo already angling out, which forced Marcus to take Mo off the rail and go first over. We were barley past the first quarter and In Over My Head was going to attempt to go first over against a bunch of open pacers. A tall task, especially on the half mile track.
He began to simply grind away. Slowly moving past the horse in 4th, then 3rd, into another turn and onto the backstretch. At that point, Mo had worked his way into 2nd place, while the favorite, Kansas Wildcat, continued to lead. It was a lead we knew would be tough to get. Kansas Wildcat was on a four race win streak. As they headed into the last turn, Marcus let In Over My Head know it was time to stop the grind and turn on the speed. As they came out of the final turn, he had pulled ahead by nearly a full length on the leader and was a short stretch drive away from a win. That’s when a horse who had been patiently sitting 2nd all race behind Kansas Wildcat shot up on the inside, quickly gaining ground on In Over My Head. When he got in Mo’s line of site, things changed once again. When he saw this new challenger come up on him, Mo found another gear and quickly dashed his hopes of a victory. As they crossed the wire, In Over My Head was clear by nearly a full length and on his way back to the winners circle.
In the end, it wasn’t a huge race for us (the purse was $12,000), but it was a very impressive race. He had overcome a bad post position against a good group of horses and did it off a bad trip. He had erased the thought of the bad race before (his card now reads: 1st, 8th, 1st, 8th, 1st…quite unique). And, he provided us gambling up at Ho Chunk a nice little surprise win. $30 across paid Dad and I about $145 and Laura’s $5 win and place bets returned $60….even more profitable than slot machines.
We are off this week and will return to the track next week as we continue to hope Mo will make the American National and Windy City Pace in mid November. He is literally in the best form of his life right now and if he makes it in, we believe we won’t just be racing for a 5th place check. Only time will tell.
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