Awhile back in USA Today, horseplayer MIke Maloney said there are "about 10,000 factors" that go into handicapping a horse race. I think we all agree that's about right. Analyzing these factors, beating a crazy rake, losing photos, losing streaks and the general hard work that goes into it can take a toll. One of the people - Barry Meadow - who lived and breathed that type of existence for 23 years has called it quits.
Via an email, posted at Pace:
I am retiring effective immediately.
Partly I am retiring for health reasons, to withdraw from the daily stresses of long hours, deadline pressures, and millimeter $8,000 photos. These pressures, I reluctantly admit, have taken some toll on my body. My doctors tell me that I’ll be better off not to be spending late nights reviewing the final turn of a Hollywood Park turf race
several times to see exactly who was wide (and how wide), or agonizing over whether a horse should be a 14 or a 15, or pounding my desk when I’ve just lost a photo at Santa Anita.
Barry is pretty much an icon in horseplayer circles. Many horseplayers on chat boards, on TV giving out picks, or writing how to handicap, have never been able to do what Barry did. That is, make a living at betting horse racing. It probably is the most singular toughest pursuit to excel at in the skill game gambling genre, and very few in this world can do it. Barry was one of the best.
Everyone deserves a retirement, whether you work for years at a mine, or a mill, behind a desk, or betting the fifth at Santa Anita. I wish Barry well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Similar
Carryovers Provide Big Reach and an Immediate Return
Sinking marketing money directly into the horseplayer by seeding pools is effective, in both theory and practice In Ontario and elsewher...
Popular
-
One of life's many mysteries on gambling twitter is the Jackpot Bet. Oftentimes people like @shottakingtime, echoed by others, will pos...
-
Our wagering game is an incredible mental exercise for many reasons. And one of its characteristics I like best is the variety of thought wh...
-
There's something going on in horse racing today , but I have not really followed it. Instead, I've been thinking about two words we...
-
At Northlands Park Wednesday several rabbits were in the infield. This spooked one of the horses, and he took a tumble, sending driver Debbi...
-
Unless you are off the twitter grid (God bless you), you've no doubt witnessed the feud of the month(s) between ITP and some public raci...
3 comments:
I might be the only one that doesn't believe him. A True gambler know what the other reasons might be. He says "partly because of health issues. What's the other part. I have a Uncle that has fought CANCER HIS ENTIRE LIFE. He is now 70 (fighting cancer) and still finds a way. The game has changed dramatically in the past 4 0r 5 years. More and more 30% trainers. Just look at the overall handle numbers. I don't believe him.
I might be the only one that doesn't believe him. A True gambler know what the other reasons might be. He says "partly because of health issues. What's the other part. I have a Uncle that has fought CANCER HIS ENTIRE LIFE. He is now 70 (fighting cancer) and still finds a way. The game has changed dramatically in the past 4 0r 5 years. More and more 30% trainers. Just look at the overall handle numbers. I don't believe him.
Horse racing is not what it once was...
Post a Comment