Your Story?

Beach came onto the track a decided underdog. Then one of those movie moments happened, and Limelight Beach claimed the title of 69th winner of the Little Brown Jug. Tears of joy streamed down the faces of friends and family members as they ran from the backstretch to the winner’s circle. The traditional blanket of yellow roses that adorned the horse was passed from person to person and we held tight to the coveted jug trophy.

—Barb Wingfield, Kenton

Lessons From Dad

We grew up in Youngstown, and I have fond memories of going to the Northfield trotters with my dad. A hard worker, Dad traveled quite a bit for work, but truly enjoyed time with his family and friends on the weekends. He also loved games of chance and a good wager. Taking his kids to the horse track as they got old enough was a great Friday or Saturday adventure. We’d jump into the station wagon and make the one-hour drive to Northfield. When we got to the track, Dad would always take us to the paddock area and point out the muscles and strength of those “majestic animals” as he called them. We’d walk around, taking in the sights and sounds of the foreign world of horses, trainers and drivers. Dad would buy a couple of daily racing programs and start to teach us how to read the key components in the racing form to help educate us on some things to look for. Then, with some “math lessons” on how odds work, he’d let us give him a bet we wanted to make, and he would make it on our behalf. How exciting it was to win, and how disappointing to lose with our $2 bets! I wasn’t always the smartest in choosing the right horse—sometimes it was the one that sported the prettiest colors. There were a lot of lessons in heading to the track, from appreciation of the horses to the science of the wager and, finally, to accepting winning and losing in stride. Thank you for those fun lessons and memories, Dad!

—Patrick Reardon, Woodbury, MN

Fond Memories

Off To The Races

My best memories of harness racing in Ohio are of Toledo’s Raceway Park. When I first started attending in the early 1980s, the five-eighths of a mile track located only a few miles from the Michigan border hosted harness racing three days a week, eight to nine months a year. The facility was wonderful in its heyday, with a nice clubhouse, good food and a track kitchen that many still talk about to this day. In 1986, using money I received for my high school graduation, I bought my first horse. My parents weren’t exactly impressed with this decision. Despite that, I still don’t regret the decision to buy the horse, named Forceps. Raceway Park had some things other tracks in Ohio didn’t. One was its paddock, where horses were harnessed and prepared to race. Attached to the grandstand, it could be viewed through glass, offering an up-closeand-personal look at behind-the-scenes activities before the race. Another unique thing Raceway Park did was play the theme song from the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai just prior to the horses going to post, essentially giving bettors a two-minute warning. Sadly, Raceway Park closed in 2013. I sure miss that place.

—Steve Bateson, Rudolph (Bateson is president of the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association.)

Avocation To Vocation

I began a fascination with horse racing as a kid. Friends of ours had harness horses, and we’d follow their exploits at fair tracks in northwestern Ohio with an occasional trip to pari-mutuel tracks such as Lebanon or Scioto Downs. What I didn’t know then was that horse racing would become a huge part of my professional life. I covered both Thoroughbred and harness racing for more than 30 years. I had the good fortune of covering the Kentucky Derby for more than 20 years, several Breeders’ Cups, more than 30 Little Brown Jugs and numerous races at Beulah Park and Scioto Downs. I even learned how to drive harness horses and competed in five celebrity-media races with three wins, a second … and a last. I always relished my visits, whether to a dusty fair track or one of the pillars of the sport such as Churchill Downs. Throughout my career, I was impressed by the equine athletes and those who dedicated their lives to the sport.

—Brad Schmaltz, Kansas City, MO

A Day Out With Grandma

When I was a child, the main pari-mutuel harness track my family raced at was Raceway Park in Toledo. Before I was old enough to help in the barn area, I would sit in the grandstand with my Grandma Harvey and watch the races—some of the best memories I have with her. I can still taste the ice cream cones she got me. The theme music to the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai played between races. To this day, every member of my family can still whistle along to the tune. My husband and I were married in the winner’s circle at Raceway Park on Sept. 26, 1992, with 150 guests in attendance, and our reception during the races— wonderful memories I cherish.

—Amy Hollar, Cuyahoga Falls

WHAT’S YOUR STORY?

We want to know your stories, so in every issue of Echoes Magazine we ask you a question, then run selected answers in the following issue. Here’s the question for July & August:

You can’t tell Ohio’s story without acknowledging the stories of our state’s hardworking men and women. Did you, your parents or grandparents ever work in, say, a steel mill or some other tough job? What job and for how long? What was it like?

Email your story responses (50 to 150 words) by May 12 to echoes@ohiohistory.org or, if you follow us on Facebook, send us a Facebook message.