The Big M offered a sure thing in the Meadowlands Pace 41 years ago
by John Berry
Over the past 67 years, I have been told of many “sure things” on the racetracks of North America — probably more than 1,000.
The most lucrative one was the first time I ever attended the races, Aug. 22, 1959, when I was told that “Dr Hyslop couldn’t lose.”
He won, too, and I walked up to the window to get the tingling feeling of cashing a ticket — $8.80 — before being rudely intercepted by security telling me I was too young to cash the ticket. Luke, the gent who corralled me to the track, cashed it for me.
That was the night Su Mac Lad won the final race for John Peat, who escorted that one to one of the most storied careers in harness racing.
But, as the saying goes, “I was hooked!”
Over those 67 years since, I have been offered many sure things, but the vast majority of those have left me penniless at night’s end.
Fast forward to July 19, 1985 — the night of The Meadowlands Pace.
The Big M offered a sure thing — not only to me, but to every one of the 30,000 attendees.
They did have a free gift to all, a slim-lined, sturdy, multi-function calculator that I used for years, until I got my first PC.
But the sure thing came in the seventh race, the $1,018,000 Meadowlands Pace.
That was the event where the great Nihilator proved his superiority in grand style — and in a manner that cannot even be described in Roget’s Thesaurus.
Was Nihilator a sure thing?
Not really. Not 100 per cent.
But Nihilator had company in the form of entrymates Handsome Sum, Chairmanoftheboard, Pershing Square, and Primus, all part of the invincible Lou Guida entry.
I had never seen so many letters — 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d — instead of just numbers, on a racing program.
That, by itself — a five-horse entry — is a 99.99 per cent sure thing.
As the show pool vaulted upward to heights never seen before, it became evident that a sure thing was developing faster than the mile that was expected of Nihilator,
With the show pool over $700,000 with a couple of minutes to post, I did some quick figuring with my new, slick calculator and found that, if I could put $300 on the Nihilator team to show, I’d be guaranteed a $15 profit and, coupled with a $2 wager on the rest of the field, I’d have a guaranteed win.
So, I started figuring what the show payoffs would be — just like the Roosevelt Raceway tote board days — further guaranteeing my sure thing win.
Anxious Robby was second choice in the show pool with $3,730 bet on him, Marauder was next with $2,642, then Forrest Skipper ($1,147), followed by New Bret, Witsend’s Wizard, and Pinocchio, where the possibilities could have really been earth-shattering.
The way I figured it, if things went my way, the three lowest show payoffs would be a minimum total of $702, give or take a few bucks, plus breakage.
And, if we really got lucky, New Bret would pay around $585, himself with Witsend’s Wizard coming in at $405 and Pinocchio returning a tad over $400.
So, my buds and I put together the $300 plus the $12 for the others and, bingo, we were all set for a couple of minutes of thrills.
Nevertheless, we were guaranteed a profit of $3 up to, possibly, $1,400 and change.
But, if things only guaranteed our $3 profit, The Meadowlands would suffer a minus pool of over $171,433.85 on a final show pool of $841,157 — $829,604 wagered on the Nihilator gang of five.
As the wings folded, our dreams of grandeur dissipated with every step of the mile as Nihilator didn’t need much help from his alphabetic friends and cruised around the oval in 1:50.3.
Oh, how well I remember that mile with Nihilator leaving from post 1 along with Chairmanoftheboard (1b) and, then, Pershing Square (1c) taking the field to a :27.4 opener.
Just after that, the “Magic Man,” Bill O’Donnell, sent Nihilator on a binge that put him on top halfway through the mile in :56.1 and it was all over but the shouting from there.
Pacing a final half in :54 — pretty snappy back 40 years ago — Nihilator pushed through the wire equaling the world record for a mile in a competitive race.
But this was no “competitive” race as he cruised home some seven lengths the best with Chairmanoftheboard (1b) and Benny “The Whip” Webster next and Dignatarian (number 8, post position 12), getting a sharp steer from Buddy Gilmour, to overcome that second tier post to be third, the only one outside of the Guida gang to hit the board.
Next were 1d, 1a, and 1c — Primus, Handsome Sum, and Pershing Square.
Anxious Robby put in a bid from the second tier 11 post and reached second turning for home, but the only other sure thing this day was that we were only going to win a buck or two — not the grand for which we were praying.
Nihilator proved on this racing day, that he had nothing left to prove.
From there, all Nihilator had to do was prove he could conquer a half-mile track — like the fabled one in Delaware, OH, which he did in his two heats in the Little Brown Jug.
But we’re talking about a sure thing on this race day — Meadowlands Pace race day.
Yes, The Meadowlands provided one for their huge crowd.
It was a sharp calculator for most, but, for me and two of my buddies, our sure thing was betting our $300 on Nihilator and his gang of four more to show, and $2 to show on all the others in the race, with the hope that a miracle through the betting windows would happen.
We ended up with a profit of $1 apiece and we, too, were part of The Meadowlands historic racing program where they handled $4,612,013.
May The Horse Be With You!
