The year it all started is in dispute. I think it was 1978, the year Affirmed won the race..but it could have been 1979, Spectacular Bid's year or at the very latest 1980, the year Codex won The Preakness Stakes. Nonetheless, it has been at least 45 years ago.
In the year that is in dispute, he asked me and Abby and Roger (from New York) if we wanted to join him for Preakness weekend. A "Boy's Trip." A weekend of partying and gambling. A weekend without our wives and kids! His sister lent the 3 of us her apartment and Stan stayed at his Mom's. Needless to say, we had a great time. Friday at the track for The Black Eye Susan Stakes, partying all night and starting Saturday morning with brunch prepared by Stan's Mom...and like every Jewish Mom, she laid out an incredible spread of lox, whitefish and what she called "Revelation"...smoked sable! And it wasn't just the 4 of us as several of the Baltimore crew also showed up for Brunch. Of course, the "partying" had not stopped from the night before! And then, a day at The Preakness. Our seats have always been a box overlooking the finish line.
Connie asked me how we did at the track. Win or lose? My response, no matter the results, was always "We broke even!"
We had such a good time, that the next year we increased the size of the party to 6 or 8 of us and at one time during the early 1980's we had as many as 12 people to this "Boy's Weekend " that suddenly became a 4 or 5 day trip. And yes, we certainly partied non-stop. But the races were the central focus! Even after I moved to Boston in 1983, we kept the tradition going and brought new friends to the party. We saw the filly, Pleasant Colony, beat the boys in 1981, and couldn't believe (given all of the partying we did) that none of us bet on Snow Chief to win in 1986! And "Uncle Phil" would serve as our tout - Stan won't let me forget the year Uncle Phil touted all of us on a long shot and I was the only one NOT to bet on that horse. As the horse won easily and everybody was excitingly running to the windows to cash in, I sat glumly at my seat with my head in my hands.
In 1987, my family and I moved to Florida but the tradition continued and we continued the yearly trip with a core group of about 8 guys each year. Then in 1989, after a Friday night of frolicking, drinking, smoking and telling lies, I finally got to my hotel room about 2 AM when the phone rang and I found out that my Mom had suddenly passed away. I took a 5 AM flight to Atlanta and decided that, for me, the tradition was over. I just didn't have the heart to return for a number of years because that was where I was when the terrible news reached me. The big party weekend eventually fell apart, but Stan kept going and meeting up with his old Baltimore pals, but the others just quit going.
Meanwhile, my love of the Races simply shifted to South Florida and I would go to Gulfstream Park every so often and would take my son, Brad, with me. I would give him $2 a race to bet and he learned how to read the Racing Form and handicap races...frequently showing a bigger profit than me! We were lucky to be able to go to The Breeder's Cup in 1989, 1992 and 1999 - all at Gulfstream. I would tell him about our exploits in Baltimore and he knew how much I missed those Preakness weekends.
So, unbeknownst to me, he called Stan and told him that he wanted to get me back to The Preakness and in 2005, after a 15 year hiatus, we did a 2nd generation Preakness trip with Stan, his son Ricky, me and Brad. Arnie "Tank" Cohen, from Baltimore joined us and the tradition was revived.
I continued to meet Stan there for the next couple of years and then Brad moved to Baltimore in 2010, making it mandatory that we go to The Preakness every year from 2011 until Covid hit in 2020. But it was no longer a "Boy's Trip" and we were too "friggin" old to party the way we use to! Now we took our wives, our sons and daughters, Stan's nephew, and other invited guests like my brother and his wife. On Black Eye Susan Day I even took the 3rd generation, my grandson! It was around 2012 that I bought my Preakness Day sport coat. I found the ugliest Madras Coat and decided that would be my outfit for all subsequent big races. I even wore it to Saratoga when I met Stan there for the Traver's Stakes one year.
Some way or another, we missed last year's weekend although Stan, Ricky and Stan's nephew Brad were there but all 5 of us were there this past weekend and saw the most unbelievable race we had seen in a long time. It looked like Journalism was done for at the 16th pole when he was bumped by 2 other horses. But he found another gear and won the race! This time, we had the winner and didn't even need Uncle Phil to tell us who to bet on. Standing at the betting window, some guy came up to me and offered to buy my sport coat from me. I looked down and he was wearing a pair of pants with the same exact madras pattern. So, I offered to buy his pants, but neither of us relented!
However, Journalism was not the only winner. We all were winners in the sense that we got to spend a terrific weekend with Fathers and Sons (and Nephew). We ate at the same restaurants we always eat at - Koco's Pub for crab cakes on Friday night, and The Prime Rib (I keep reminding the boys that it is overrated and over priced!) We told a lot of stories, laughed a lot, won some and lost some. Unfortunately, Stan's Mom is no longer around to layout that brunch and some of the others that attended years ago have since passed (Uncle Phil included), but we decided that as long as we are able, this special weekend will continue. In fact, at dinner Saturday night, Ricky and Brad said that even after the old farts (me and Stan) are gone, they are going to continue the tradition!
Oh, and by the way, in case you are wondering how we did at the betting windows.....we broke even!
Rider's Up!
And The Journey Continues.....
