Del Mar Weekend - Photos, Stories

[Ted Craven]

Well, we held our first gathering at Del Mar this past weekend and were visited by 16 people over the 2 days, some of whose photos grace the following posts.

Mariana Sartin, lovely as ever, joined us, bringing greetings from the Sartin family. She shamelessly bet the horses' names and jockey colours, now fearless that her Grandfather would change the bets behind her back. Many stories of Doc, great memories.

Bill V (trucker Bill) was initially stranded near LA without wheels but with the weekend free, and by various means worthy of an outtake from 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' made it down to Del Mar by Sunday to join us and cash several nice tickets (check out that Steve Martin hat ).

Bill Lyster flew in from Hawaii, ready to match'em up (and took me under his wing, showing me the local desert and mountain scenery and how to not get lost on the way back to the hotel - thanks Bill, though I did get lost on Sunday night and missed drinks at Hernando's Hideaway ).

Tim B (Capcondo) ended a several week walkabout of west coast racetracks at Del Mar and also showed us all a thing or two about the matchup, armed with nothing more than his trusty Racing Form.

Former teaching member Al B (SoCalAl) managed to drag himself off the golf links to win several actual Pick 3's and one 'hypothetical' Pick 6 on Sunday, while regaling us with tales of the early days of the Sartin Methodology.

Bud Jones, along with Al, really organized the whole thing for us, booking the tables, greasing palms where needed, and generally whisking me through Del Mar back doors and seemingly smiling and winking at all the pretty girls, personably greeting track personnel from the bosses on down to the security guards, all the while studiously avoiding most of the Del Mar races to concentrate on his beloved (and profitable) Woodbine and Arlington tracks - many thanks Bud!; his friend Tom R, represented the 'old school' pure DRF, 'Norman Ford' approach, and thinks one day he might possibly have to begin to commence to consider getting one of those computer thingamajigs.

Mark N joined us from Los Angeles and shared many stories of time spent with Guy Wadsworth and Doc, asked a thousand questions and made me feel most welcomed in Southern California.

Marty D (shipper) and his 2 sons Brett and Braeden staged a get together of their own in and around Del Mar and joined us both days; Dogfather Marty, showed us how it's done by appearing to cash in every other race and not a few pick 3's and generally seemed to be retaining his kids as runners cashing tickets for their old man.

Darryl J (DJofSD) dropped by and reminded us of times past when Doc, Jimmy and the rest held all those seminars (dancing bananas and all) and when the Thoromation horses danced across the screen (as they still do, profitably).

Special guest Jeff Platt joined us Sunday to share with us the goals and objectives of HANA, the Horse Players Association of North America, and urged us to take a stake in the future of our sport by lending our presence to the growing numbers of HANA members. Thanks Jeff for your hard work on behalf of horse-players: I encourage everyone to check out the HANA website and - if you love this sport - to please join (free). A genuinely nice guy, who shared some of his experiences as a horse-racing software developer (Jcapper) with me.

I would say that a good time was definitely had by all, and personally I felt warmly welcomed by each and every one and look forward to next year's gathering, perhaps in a new and improved location at old Del Mar.

Here are some photos and faces from our weekend.

Ted

[Ted Craven]

Al B and Marty D.

[Ted Craven]

Mariana, Mark N and Bill V

[Ted Craven]

Mark N and Bill L

[Ted Craven]

Tim B, Tom R, Bud J

[Ted Craven]

Jeff P (centre) explaining some of the goals of HANA

[barb craven]

I like your new yellow shirt lol.

It's good to see faces to all the names we've gotten to know. Mariana looks as beautiful as ever. I'm glad a good time was had by all. I can't wait to get to Saratoga. See you Wednesday evening. love Mum

[barb craven]

Pictures are fantastic!

[Grandpa's Girl]

AWWW!! I had such a great time! I love hearing everyones thoughts and memories of my Grandfather. He was such a beloved man. And it is always wonderful to hear how much he touched the lives of others. I thank each and everyone of you who came. It was nice to meet you all. And Ted and Bill. It is always nice to see both of you. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for my family. You both are much appreciated.

I really look forward to next year, and I am making a vow to myself to learn the methodology... because obviously my method no longer works for me... )

[Grandpa's Girl]

BARB!!! I missed you this year!!! With out you, Ester, and Alison there was no girl power! I hope you have a wonderful time in Saratoga!