Winners and Losers

Ma is one of those people who loves to get up in the morning and go to work. She has what the fucking boss calls a good attitude. Her husband is much like her. He knows about as much English as it takes to play the horses so he does not say much but when he looks out into the coffee shop from his steamy kitchen he is always smiling like he hit a longshot and got laid the same afternoon. Morning people can fuck right off.

Ma sat down with me when she brought over the first of the thousand cups of coffee she would serve that day. "Today be busy like all Friday. White people like eat out Friday lunchtime. Make lot of money take old man to track Saturday. Any horse you like Saturday Beer?"

Ma knows I am on a hot streak. She wants money for a dress to impress her friends with at Chinese New Year.

"Don't bet the milk money on it but High Resolve looks good in the 6th at Santa Anita. She won the same stake last year and looked like dynamite in her race a few weeks back even though she didn't win. If she goes to post at 4-1 or so, a big play on her across the board might just make the sales lady in your favourite dress shop very happy."

Ma wrote it down on her order pad in Chinese and frowned. "4-1 no longshot. Anybody pick that. What else you pick?"

Ma was right. I do have a horse I like that will run at very long odds on Saturday. But I will be damned if I am going to send its name out on the Chinatown telegraph. I keep my bombs to myself. I do not need all Chinatown fucking up my odds. I did share the name of one more horse I like running on Saturday though.

"Ok. Ok. I will give you one that is a little riskier. First time runner by the name of Wheeling Wini entered in the 4th at Fairgrounds. Good breeding. Ran three furlongs on the Churchill Downs training track in 36.2 before being shipped to New Orleans. Gets the outside post where she can use her gate speed best from if she has any. She's 6-1 on the morning line but I think she might go off a little higher than that."

Now Ma was smiling. "That more like it. Bet her on nose?"

I know how Ma bets. One hundred, maybe two, on the nose.