CHAPTER 26
(Kentucky Derby 2017)
I seriously contemplated submitting horsey tips to my dispatcher via Qualcomm like I had always used to do while working at PTL. I opted not to because I knew the likelihood of Kathy being a gambler was slim to none. She had once however sided with me when I was honest with her that in the event I hit the Power Ball jackpot those keys were getting hung up for good. Kathy seemed to agree with me on that and mentioned she too might retire after hitting the Power Ball.
When I knew the Kentucky Derby race was just ten days away I put my home time macro in requesting off for the Kentucky Derby. I have never played the stock market ever in my life. I'm known for playing a different kind of market. I play the pony market. I plan to go really BIG this year. I knew that the horsey facts for the KY Derby have been consistent since 2013. In 2013 Tom Brady wagered $4,000.00 on a favorite horse named "Orb" ridden by Joel Rosario. That $4,000.00 quickly turned into $28k. Ever since 2013 the "Last Minute" favorite horsey has ALWAYS won the Kentucky Derby. It's better than the stock market. It's a surefire way to triple your money if not quadruple it for sure.
2013 KY winner - Orb
2014 KY winner - California
Chrome 2015 KY winner - American
Pharoah 2016 KY winner - Nyquist
2017 KY winner - Always Dreaming
2018 KY winner - Justify
All of these winning ponies usually will triple your money and were nominated the favorite horse to win by post time. I was considering myself a "professional" pony player except I continued to encounter each year the same thing. Green eyed meddling monsters. Somehow these trucking companies know that the KY derby is my time to shine and every year faithfully they go to great lengths to meddle with my horsey stock market. I'll NEVER forget just how close California Chrome came to winning the entire triple crown in 2013 until things got incredibly weird. Incredibly weird of course because back then I was showing off my wagers to a lot of people. I had $1,000.00 wagered on that Belmont race only to see that horsey blow the entire race. What was really odd was knowing my brothers friend from LNP news take a sudden interest in that horsey race and head up to New York to watch it live. Did California Chrome have a bleeding foot due to natural issues or had someone purposely stepped on it prior to the race? Why did the owner Steve Coburn publicly cry out "Cowards!". Was there a possibility that "the peek-a-boos" had fixed the race?
Was maybe perhaps a green eyed monster jealous of my horsey skills out to get me? Weird.
May 5th, 2018 KY Derby Day
I don't know whether to be mad at Celadon or Wmart. I'm still trying to catch my breath from 12 straight days of dedicated runs for the Wmart account that pays $250 a day. The money I made in the last two weeks is great but I'm glad to be off the account as I had to deal with what I call "Harassment Innuendo". I knew from the door that the dedicated runs were only temporary but working with the permanent Wmart drivers and their office staff? PURE LIVING HELL. It had gotten so bad with the harassment I had to endure that one of the smart ass kids in the office played the "Nah-nah-nah-hey-yeh-hey- good-bye song" over the intercom as I accosted the glass window for paperwork. One of the witches in there even intentionally kept some of my bills from me. I was no sucker to these people that are out to get me. From the door I was smart enough to take photos of each and every bill prior to giving them my paperwork. But the fact that they would go to great lengths to keep me from my big annual horsey race? Just had me livid like nobody would believe. Not only had I given the company my home time request a good two weeks prior to the big race but I even reminded them yet another two times as the date drew closer.
As I took the last parking spot at the Pilot just outside of Ft.Wayne Indiana I let out a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. My brother had already set up plans for a KY derby party at his house and I was nearly 600 miles away with no hours left to drive. But was that going to quell my horsey plans altogether? Of course not. I had already lived in Ft.Wayne Indiana just a year ago! Penn National was NOT the only place that sold horsey tickets! I had a good enough memory to know that. I was even smart enough to already have my $400.00 Steampunk hat in my rig along with my "Talk Derby To Me" T- shirt that I had gotten from my sister. Celadon may have momentarily won the Derby battle but I would see to it personally that they not win the Derby war!
TWO HOURS TO POST TIME
The only cash I had on me was just a little under $400.00. Because it's too complicated to micromanage all the visa transactions I'm usually good for about $1,000.00 cash to cover my twenty one meals a week and scale tickets as well. My cash is running low but that's because I'm nearing my home time where I can replenish it without lofty ATM fees. I had initially planned to net $5,000.00 today but I am convinced the Celadon witches have intentionally thwarted my horsey plans out of pure envy. I just can't seem to stop thinking about last year's $1250.00 show bet I tried to place on Always Dreaming where I would have netted approximately $2,500.00. My gut had initially told me the authorities would meddle but in the end I chose family over my Hollywood Casino CONTIGENCY plan and my online wager was blocked for an entire twenty minutes prior to the race. Now a year later it is post time once again but Celadon has purposely caused me to miss being home so I can't get to a bank and a casino. But I have managed to conjure up an impromptu horsey plan to still land myself a good day. The Winners Circle Off-Track is just a mile down the road from the pilot I have parked at. I know this already because while I lived in Ft.Wayne last year I used to go in on occasion and play the ponies. But how many thousands can I expect to make today with only $350.00 Cizash?
I put on my fake Rolex and my push the Steampunk hat onto my head. We are not permitted to Bob tail but that is okay as I realize walking a mile isn't going to hurt me. I know today is going to be an interesting race because the Florida Derby winner "Audible" is not the favorite horse to win in this race. Instead they are predicting Bob Baffert's horsey "Justify" to win the race. I have done cloying amounts of research on my spare time to know all my pony stats. The majority of the time the winner of the Florida Derby goes on to win the Kentucky Derby so I am duped as to why Justify is nominated a slight favorite in this race? Should I just bet on BOTH horseys?
That's exactly what I do. As much as I'd like to place a win bet on Audible I don't feel comfortable betting against a very heavy pattern which shows Justify to win for sure. I realize the jockey Mike Smith looks close to retirement so I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to go Tom Brady on us and create some nice "Ending Note Stats".
My wagers look good.
$100 win bet Justify
$200 show bet Audible
If Audible ends up coming in third I still win my bet. I need Justify to win the race if I want to collect on my other bet. I purchase some long shot bets for my family with my last fifty bucks. I'm still ticked off to no end that I'm only spending $350 on a big horsey race that only comes once a year. If that doesn't really suck I'm getting mad at Celadon for creating a "stockpile" of accrued unpaid wages that they have a history of scamming their drivers. I know it's early yet and I usually try to stay with a trucking company for a year to keep my DAC record in good order but it's not looking good for Celadon with the unpaid wages piling up. And this intentional thwarting of "MY HORSEY TIME"? Has me super duper pissed off.
AND THEY'RE IN THE GATE
I receive several compliments about my steampunk hat from strangers milling about the Winners Circle. There's nowhere to sit in here so I'm standing among the crowd watching the big screen. There is no doubt in my mind that there most likely is other truckers in here spying on me. I am one of the few truckers that NEVER drinks while over the road but I've always noticed they always send other truckers to spy on me and try to catch me red handed. I've even noticed before times where there might be nowhere else to eat so I'm forced to eat bar food and a minute after I walk in the bar tender would be holding the phone while smiling right at me. I have came to the conclusion many times that I have MORE privacy in jail than I do as a truck driver. We have time stamped logs that make us accountable for EVERYWHERE we have been. Even when we are away from the truck our companies track our cellphones without our consent. It's probably illegal but then again most of the time we just don't care to grouse about it.
All twenty ponies are running on a sloppy track as it gets loud and rambunctious inside the winners circle. It's so loud in there that I'm not drawing any attention to myself by yelling among the crowd so that's just what I do. My little paws are flailing in the wind like the rest of them. "Come on Justify! Come on!"
I realize that even though Justify is winning the race I have to focus on not only one but TWO ponies. Because I purchased my Audible wager hours before the race I never told any family or friends about it as I'm worried these pony leaks could ensue and some Italian meddler could change the outcome of the race. Ever since the pony meddling of last year's race I'm usually reluctant to broadcast my sport wagers. I'm quite certain Floyd Mayweather has learned to do the same thing too. I'll never forget that first snap in that Broncos SuperBowl game where Floyd had Ten Million wagered (And Lost). It seemed to me like the QB knew he would be watching and was intentionally letting the snap fly way over his head.
Justify bolted past the finish line followed by Audible managing to come in third place which made my show bet be a winner as well. I was excited to win my bets but as a chronic gambler felt a loss as well as I had plans of bigger wagers.
Why would I not take a stab at trying to resuscitating my stockpile I had built up prior to leaving the Kochy Monster?
I tried not to gloat too much as I was already getting a few death stares from some female first time pony players pretending to be regulars. I see this stuff all the time where wealthy families go out to the big horse races and pretend to be know it ALLS but can't even print out their own horsey ticket from the machines. Women don't like to see me encounter money. If they did I wouldn't feel so obligated to change my name so I can hide from the payroll ladies that have an indelible history of butchering my weekly paychecks. They could fold up their cleavage all they wanted when they passed me but the truth of the matter was I had just taken New Haven by the horns this race and cashed out just a few dollars short of a grand.
I left a $20.00 tip to the little hussy that cashed out my winning horsey tickets then headed towards the door for the mile walk back to my rig.
I read a lot of James Patterson novels and find myself role playing once in a while. I knew there was some haters in there so just as I reached the threshold of the Winners Circle I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around to face the large crowd of pony players.
I smiled my big Uncle B smile and temporarily removed my expensive Steampunk hat I had won in Atlantic City and held it in front of my waist.
I knew their cameras at least were watching me so I bent over like a champ and took a bow.