by Gordon Waterstone

Goodbye Helene. And good riddance.

It’s hard to believe that the Bluegrass felt the wrath of what was still Tropical Storm Helene on Friday (Sept. 27), forcing the cancellation of the races at The Red Mile. For those wondering, the purses will be divided equally and distributed to each of the entries.

The decision to cancel Friday’s card came shortly after 8 a.m. as the forecasters predicted heavy rain and strong winds all day. They were correct as Lexington received nearly three inches of rain and the area had steady 30-40 mph winds all day, with several gusts recorded at Bluegrass Airport of more than 60 mph. Probably a third of Lexington lost power — my power at home kept going off and on for a couple of hours Friday morning but finally stayed on — and trees were down throughout the city. Ex-boss Kathy told me a tree came down at her house, and there were several down in my community.

All in all, it was a day better suited for ducks. Still, I don’t think there was much quacking as the ducks probably were afraid of getting blown into the Ohio River with all the wind.

I occupied my time Friday watching TV, fully expecting to do the same on Saturday as while the winds were going to subside, the rain wasn’t. Another day of steady rain was predicted, but despite the forecast the call went out around 8:30 a.m. that the show would go on.

That said, I reached out to my agents Nick Salvi and Amy Hollar for help in securing me some extra hazard pay from Boss Dave. Nick was still sleeping so he didn’t answer nor return my call. Amy gave me hope as she said, “I’ll certainly show you the way!” Alas, she was wrong as Boss Dave wouldn’t budge in his resistance to help me out. In the old days, whenever I had to endure miserable conditions at The Red Mile, ex-boss Kathy always rewarded me by taking me to dinner at Tony’s or Jeff Ruby’s. Sigh, I guess those days are long gone.

I made my way to The Red Mile about noon on Saturday and when I arrived, I saw announcer Gabe Prewitt and Greg Gillman, who supplements his primary job as a bartender at Frank & Dino’s by working as a mutuel clerk in The Red Mile clubhouse. An important PSA; if you are in Lexington and planning on having dinner at Frank & Dino’s, the restaurant is closed until Tuesday after having some power problems after going dark during Friday’s storm.

I made my way up to the announcer’s booth with Gabe and first stopped to say hello to judges Jeff James and PJ Cooksey. When I got to Gabe’s booth, I could hear him muttering expletives and I saw the reason; the storm had blown his window out so things were a bit wet in there. I helped Gabe dry things off and move the window out of his way.

Gabe also noted the damaged jumbo screen and that it was inoperable for Saturday’s races. But he assured me that a replacement would be in place when the races resume for Week 2 of Grand Circuit action next Friday (Oct. 4). There were a couple of early non-betting races, which I think was a good thing because it gave starter Mike Moss a chance to test the starting gate and make sure it had firm footing on the “sloppy” surface.

When I came back downstairs, I saw Dr. Katie Flynn sitting underneath the grandstand awning. I asked her with a wink why she wasn’t sitting in her usual apron box, and she told me that if she was people would think she was crazy.

The rain had subsided into a light drizzle so I decided to take a walk back to the paddock. I asked a few drivers what they did yesterday to pass the time, and for my own safety I can’t divulge the answers. As the horses came onto the track for the first pari-mutuel race Keith Crawford, a Michigan Hall of Famer and a longtime friend who now works for Virgil Morgan, Jr., came over to say hello.

Brett Pelling came by so I asked how the track was and he said the footing was pretty good. When the horses and drivers came back to the paddock after the race, I asked a mud-covered Tim Tetrick how the track was and he said it was OK but that there was a small puddle on the inside down the backside that they had to be careful with.

Brian Brown came over so I shook his hand and wished him a happy 60th birthday, which he celebrated Friday. I saw Noel Daley and congratulated him on his Little Brown Jug victory with Captain Albano.

Some of the drivers — including Dexter Dunn, who will drive Twin B Joe Fresh and Jiggy Jog S, the top two horses in the weekly Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown poll — will need extra colors as they will later be heading two hours north on I75 to Hollywood Dayton for a quartet of open stakes for older horses.

One casualty as a result of the weather on Saturday was the charity relay race as the track was too messy to let the competitors on the track. One person MIA on Saturday was Tom Charters, the former chief of the Hambletonian Society.

After the Little Brown Jug, Tom made the drive to his hometown of Springfield, OH — yes, that Springfield, OH that’s been in the news — and when he was getting ready to head to Lexington, he took a tumble and broke his left arm. So, instead of making it to Lexington, Tom was heading back home to New Jersey. I spoke to Tom on Friday night and he said this will be the first time since Nixon was president that he’d be missing out on Lexington.

The only thing that went right for me on Thursday is that I went into the Caesars sportsbook at The Red Mile — which just celebrated its first anniversary of operation — and made a couple of plays. I cashed my “no” bet on Friday’s racing, but I lost out on my “no” bet on Saturday and my parlay at nice odds that both programs would be canceled.

I made one other wager that I expect to cash next week. The sportsbook offered me odds of +350 that Garnet Barnsdale would post more than four winning first touchdown wagers on Sunday’s NFL slate of games. That’s absolutely a sure thing as Garnet always posts winning first touchdown bets, which I know is pretty easy since he bets on nearly every offensive player in every game. Just like the racetrack tout who gives out 10 horses in a race to 10 different people so he’s sure to have a winner. It’s such a sure bet on Garnet that when I was leaving, I ran into Mark Weaver and he took some of my action.

Thursday night I attended the Kentuckiana Farms pre-sale party at the Malone’s Banquet Center. When I arrived, I promptly thanked both Bob Brady and Ken Jackson — as well as Becky Brady and Lisa Jackson — for kindly inviting me. It’s a little bit hard for me to make an excuse to not go as I live directly across the street from the Banquet Center, which is located next to OBC Kitchen and the same strip mall as their sister properties Malone’s Steakhouse and Drakes. I certainly can’t say I got lost or stuck in traffic as it’s only a five-minute walk.

There was a great gathering for the party and I talked to many people. After I went through the buffet line and filled my plate with huge cocktail shrimp, beef sliders and crappies and bluegills (brought from the waters of Kentuckiana Farm), I found a spot at a table with Lexington Selected Yearling Sale co-manager Bruce Brinkerhoff and starter Mike Moss.

I also sat at last year’s party with Bruce and Mike and we all noted that. Shortly after, Tahnee Camilleri came over and asked to join us. Luc Blais then put his plate on the table, and Andy and Julie Miller did the same. Emily Ratcliff came by and said she’d be back to join us, but before she did, Joe Holloway and Karl Nagle took the last couple of seats.

One of the hot topics of discussion throughout the night was the earlier disqualification of Go Dog Go in a Bluegrass division for 2-year-old male trotters. Driven by Todd McCarthy, Go Dog Go made a break in front at the wire and was moved back to fifth by the track judges. All of the talk was centered on why Go Dog Go wasn’t moved back just one spot to second and not all the way to fifth.

As I was getting ready to leave, I stopped a second to talk to Emily, who was speaking to someone I did not know. They were talking about the DQ and then I learned that the gentleman was one of the colt’s owners, Jon Wiesman. What was best about meeting Jon was that he told me he’s enjoyed reading my stories and columns over the years. Thank you, Jon you made my day!

Before you think everybody’s miserable with the weather, I know one person who isn’t: Jeremy Wilson, who runs the gift shop at The Red Mile. With the rain and cooler temperatures — highs next week only in the high 60s-low 70s — Jeremy has plenty of attire to fill your needs. Stop in to see him at the gift shop located in the center of the main floor of the grandstand.

Congratulations to my hometown Detroit Tigers for their incredible run and clinching a spot in the playoffs. I have to give kudos to my longtime friend Ed Burke, a former mutuel clerk at Hazel Park and Northville Downs, as he predicted this last year. I doubted him then so I have already apologized to him. And congratulation to the UK football team who upset Ole Miss on Saturday. Remember, the team is on a bye next Saturday.

Also remember the Stable of Memories dinner and auction at 6 p.m. tonight (Sept. 29), and Monday’s opening night session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at Fasig-Tipton. A cocktail reception at 5 p.m. will include a celebration of the life of Randy Manges, with the sale getting underway at 7 p.m.

And in my travels Saturday I didn’t see a gas station with a price higher than $2.89.