Daiquiri Queen Wins by a Nose!

I suppose we all have something that really gets our blood pumping and make our lives worth living.  For you, perhaps it’s attending weekend scrapbooking symposiums in expensive hotels (oh, joy!).  Maybe you’re one of those people willing to sit motionless in a tropical forest somewhere to get a glimpse of a rare yellow-breasted crake (hapalocrex flaviventer, which translated from the Latin means “what are you looking at?”).

For me, it’s horse racing.  I’ve been a horse racing fan since the early 80’s when I spent the afternoon at a track in Del Mar, CA during their summer meet.  It was an enjoyable afternoon, like every summer afternoon in Del Mar before or since.  I was making little $2 win bets, but hadn’t really hit on anything.  I was completely fascinated by the spectacle…the gates flying open and those horses running as hard and fast as they could to the end of the course.  The friend who had invited me that day, patiently explained how to read the data on each horse and what it could mean for their performance: past performances, equipment or class changes, track conditions, etc. Then, in the last race of the day there was horse named Countess Cabrillo who actually went out of the gate at 99:1.  I was down to my last $4.00 so I decided to take a $4 win ticket on that horse.  Damned if she didn’t win that race.  Got out in front of the pack and ran like a jackrabbit being pursued by my dog, Sooner.  In fact, I believe it was the only race that Countess Cabrillo every won.  I was hooked after that. 

Although admittedly I’ve not physically set foot on the grounds of a racetrack in years (too busy with work stuff – being a mature adult sucks sometimes), I still get newsletters and updates daily via email.  I noted on Friday that the $1,000,000 Wood Memorial Stakes was running late Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct in Queens, New York.  The winner of the Wood Memorial generally gets a shot at a Kentucky Derby entry.  #4 Frosted won just in case you’re actually reading this and wondering, “Gee, I wonder which horse won the Wood Memorial?”

But I digress…

I get up on Sunday morning to find an article post on newsok.com regarding a melee that broke out around midnight the night before the Wood Memorial.  The fight started in the casino co-located at the Aqueduct racetrack when people who were standing in line waiting for a new daiquiri bar called Fat Tuesday’s to open up.

Various reports as to the cause of the slug fest seem to indicate that people were waiting in line far too long.  I saw one report that said some people were complaining that they had been in line for more than two hours.  Those must be some very special daiquiris! 

When the cops arrived, they found “dozens” of individuals fighting, throwing chairs, and some even swinging those metal stanchions to which one attaches the velvet rope-line if you’re having a classy event.  Wonder if anyone tried strangling a fellow melee-er with the velvet rope.  Now that’s class!

All told, only three people were arrested on disorderly conduct charges.  All that and these people weren’t even drunk…yet. 

The company that manages the resort complex issued a stern statement that said, “There is absolutely no room for this kind of behavior at our facility.”  Uh huh.  Seems to me the Aqueduct melee-ers found plenty of room to fight if they were even swinging rope-line stanchions. 

You know, in all the years I’ve been attending horseraces at various tracks around the world, this is the first time I recall ever hearing of a near riot…and over a friggin’ drink. 

I’m reminded of an anecdote about one of my favorite writers, Hunter S. Thompson.  Early in his career he was sent to cover the Kentucky Derby for a magazine known as Scanlan’s Monthly.  As I recall, he never actually saw the race, but under the duress of an editorial deadline threw together an article about people and sub-events on derby day, which was published as The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.  It was the first example of what would become known as Gonzo Journalism.  Perhaps someone should have covered the pre-race events of the Wood Memorial Stakes in the same manner.

Somehow, I think Dr. Thompson would have approved.