University of Virginia Library

Lines Never Ceased

From Wednesday afternoon to
Saturday afternoon, the lines at the
windows never ceased (except for
the few night hours when the
windows were closed), forcing
police barricades to be set up and
enthusiastic bettors to weave their
way up and down stairways and out
on to the street before even getting
into the betting area. On Friday
night, some of the locations (all of
which were supposed to close at
midnight) stayed open until nearly
2 a.m., when they had to close up
because they ran out of tickets to
sell. The tidal wave of business was
almost 100% greater than Samuels
had predicted-and Derby Fever
was rampant.

The town was on a betting
spree. After all, solid handicapping
and scientific thinking had made
its people confident. For example,
the elevator operator in the
building where I was staying (he
had the fever bad, as you shall see)
put $30 on Jim French because a
nice man named French had once
lived in the building. Now that's
reason to believe!! A sure sign from
heaven that Jim French would win
the roses!!

Others took the scientific
approach as well. The friend with
whom I was staying put two dollars
on a longshot named Canonero II
because he had ridden in a Camaro
car earlier in the day, and any fool
can see the mystical connection
between Camaro and Canonero. His
wife bet on Impetuosity because
people had told her she was an
impetuous person. My mother even
phoned me long distance to ask if
I'd put two on Impetuosity for her
based simply on the notion that it
was time for a horse with a long
name to win the Derby.

If there had been a horse named
Insanity running, he would have
gotten my money, for it was all
around me. Since there wasn't, I
put my ten on Eastern Fleet, based
on such trivial and foolish
considerations as past performance,
owner's reputation, breeding, and
favorable 8-1 odds in N.Y. when he
was 7-2 in Louisville. But keep in
mind, I've spend much of my life in
Kentucky and therefore wasn't up
on the sophisticated ways of
choosing a horse, the way most
New Yorkers were.