Paul Hartwells excellent stories are triggering numerous thoughts about my cherished time in this business. In January, 1986, I took a leave of absence from my job at Southland to work for the wonderful Jennie Marriott as her trainer at St. Pete. The experience the next four months was indescribably fun, rewarding and oh so educational. The dog guys assembled nightly at the bar on the far end near the paddock on the ground floor. There was a tiled incline leading on to that ground floor which oddly is where we all stood. You were never level, Keefer, racing for Keith Dillon, won 14 in a row and the first of two Distance Classics that winter. The crowd that night over 11,000. The kennel lineup and the people congregated there were an extraordinary group. Sonny Alderson, Eddie Alderson, Otto Mamino, Tom LaRosa, Jack Kahn, Carroll Blaur, Darby Henry, M Trice, John Seastrom, Bob Thomas, Dillon, Wayne Strong and others. I allocated all the time I could to listen enthusiastically to everything the remarkable Don Cuddy had to say. What an experience that was and how thankful I was privileged to have experienced that magical time which was the next to the last of the great seasonal circuit meets. (Southland went year round in 1988.) I will never forget it.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 20:27:47 +0000
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