Longacres Memories -- Sharing Dreams With Grampa; A Place Of Magic And Heros

EDITOR'S NOTE - One more day. After 59 years, one more day. Tomorrow is the final day at Longacres Park, as Boeing prepares to level the track to make way for its growing corporate needs. The last stakes race, the Belle Roberts Handicap, signals the end of an era. Admission is free on closing day, a final gesture to thank the fans. To enable our readers to bid farewell, we've asked them to write about that one special day at the track. Here are their memories. -------------------------------------------- GRAMPA'S DREAM FACTORY I came to the track honestly, having been introduced by my grandfather at the tender age of 8. The year was 1938. He had turned the operation of his 140-acre homesteaded farm near Lakewood over to my uncle and aunt. I think I may be excused for holding a rather different opinion of him than my aunt, who had to live with him and saw a disreputable, ancient, gambling, tobacco-chewing - and spitting - mess. We lived in Bremerton then, and my folks would put me on an early ferry to Seattle. Grampa would be waiting at the dock, eager to share a love of his life with his one hope for posterity. As a youngster I sensed the value of horses on the farm - after everyone had gone to mules and a few were beginning to get tractors. And I don't know where I first heard it but someplace it was imprinted that "ol' Hugh Personius knows everything there is to know about horses - from raisin' 'em to stealin' 'em." Anyway, off we would go for a day at Longacres. I remember the backstretch as it was to a growing boy, full of smells and adventures, and heroes, both human and equine. And the races themselves - high hopes, elation or dejection measured by lengths, necks or heads, and then hope again as the bugle called the next group to the field. Gramps died when I was 12, and then I guess football and girls and life got in the way. I didn't make it back to Longacres until 1972. After six kids and a divorce, I found myself at loose ends in Renton one Saturday and decided to visit the track. I bought my grandstand ticket and walked on in, and there they were. Yesterday's heroes still doing their thing. Deja vu all over again. I was hooked to a childhood memory and to the magic that happens at least 10 times daily. Over the years, I've won some and lost some, I've had my name on the tote board with a surprise 50th birthday message. I've been to breeding farms in Kentucky and have a picture with my arm around Secretariat. I've visited race tracks big and little, but I haven't topped that day in 1972 when I wandered back in and found Grampa's dream still weaving its spell. - Gordon Personius, Union, WA MY WIFE'S BLUE SHOES One memorable event is the running of the second Longacres Mile in 1936. On the morning of that day, my wife requested I collect some articles left at a former home, and in particular her blue shoes. As I delivered the shoes, it suddenly occurred to me that there was a 4-year-old filly named Blue Boots entered in The Mile. This had to be an omen! I hurried to the track and put a few hard-earned depression-year dollars on her nose. She won! "No," you say. "The history of the Longacres Mile lists the 1936 winner as Exotude." You are correct. After the race, it was discovered that Blue Boots was really a filly named Exotude. Joe Gottstein was found innocent of any duplicity in the matter. The switch had been made sometime before he had acquired the filly. -Barney Chichester, Seattle MOM LOVED TO GAMBLE Mom came out for a visit in 1979. She loved to gamble - you name it, she gambled on it, but she had never been to a horse race so we headed to Longacres. I explained the process and she headed for the tellers. After buying tickets for a couple of races, I felt she had the system down and I could relax and do my own thing. In the eighth race, seated near the finish line, she was up and down and started cheering for No. 11 right out of the gate. About 200 yards down the track, No. 5 took the lead and sure enough, Mom's standing, yelling and cheering for No. 5. About a quarter mile later, No. 2 took the lead, and there's Mom, cheering for No. 2. Well, Mom won the race. She had bet $5 on every horse in the race. I asked her why and she said she was not going back to Minnesota and tell her ladyfriends that she did not cash a ticket at her first horse race. Mom is gone now, but the memory of her winning day at Longacres is not. - Marion & John Wirtz, Kent BIG JOE AND ME My fondest memory of Longacres is of racing on the track in 1953 and 1954 in the once-a-year special event called "Run for the Carrots." This annual race was open only to Teamster members using pleasure horses. Being a city gal with limited opportunities to ride, I entered my newly purchased horse in the 1953 race and proceeded to come in dead last. The next year Big Joe and I fared better, leading the race at the first half and ending up in the middle. Great fun, and a thrill to ride on a top notch track in the days before women could be jockeys. I attended my first race in 1949. Not much of a bettor, I've enjoyed the horses, the excitement and the setting every year since. Alice Whitmore Winter, Auburn MY LAST $2 I've been coming out to Longacres since I was 13, back in 1968. Easily, my favorite day occurred on Mile day in 1973. By the time the ninth race rolled around, I was down to my last $2. Since I was losing all my money that day my face must have been so long it was touching the ground. Just as I looked up I caught the eyes of a rider aboard the milky white horse called Silver Mallet. He made a face at me that quickly turned my frown into a smile. I couldn't believe that with the biggest race of the year to begin that he could be so loose. It put things into perspective for me. It's history now, but to this day, I'll never forget the rider Larry Pierce aboard the 1973 Mile winner Silver Mallet for making my $2 wager pay off with more than just money. - Steve Doboszynski, Seattle POPCORN PATTI AND BILL My favorite day at Longacres was Oct. 4, 1987, the day of the Belle Roberts Handicap. My husband, Bill Delzer, a horse owner for more than 20 years, was in the hospital dying of cancer. Our horse, Popcorn Patti, was entered in that race. Bill didn't have much faith in Popcorn Patti because of the field she was running with. Bill had been in and out of the hospital several times. No matter what, he refused to ring the nurse's bell for assistance. Mark Kaufman, from Longacres, had set it up so he could listen to the race from his hospital bed, but Bill said there was so much noise all he could hear was `Come on, Patti!' Mark told him Popcorn Patti had won the race. Bill then rang that bell for the first time and all the nurses came running. Bill said: "My horse won, pass the word!" It was probably the happiest day of his life. That day was both happy and sad for me. I was so happy she won, and very sad Bill couldn't be in the winner's circle with me. Popcorn Patti was the most successful horse Bill Delzer ever owned and it was his last. -Patti Delzer, Renton WHO'S BUYING NOW? I will miss: -- The round of drinks after someone hits a race. -- The round of drinks after someone loses a race. -- The old horseplayer, who asked me how I was doing. "You know," I said, "one day you win, one day you lose." "In that case," he said, "why don't you go out every other day?" - Sol Saporta, Seattle WHAT'S TO DO? I was a security officer at the oval course, beginning in 1961. My most enjoyable years were from that day on. I worked until January 1992 when I had a four-way bypass. I decided my time had come to stop smelling the roses (barnside) and take it easy because the doctors said I could go for 10 more years. What's an old-timer past 80 to do when the track is no longer at Renton? Go down to Elliott Bay and count the ships? They're gone, too. - Garth Hoffman, Seattle UNFORGETTABLE TIMES So many sad, funny, heartfelt times . . . I was awestruck by a first-time starter filly, the most beautiful gray horse I've ever seen. She didn't walk, she pranced. I bet a precious $6 on her and win she did. The unforgettable Belle of Rainier. I cried with pain when Eagle Crest broke down. I cried with joy when Chum Salmon showed the big guys what heart really meant. I stood alone watching dear Tavy Blue being saddled for her goodbye walk before the crowd and actually got silently angry at some passers by, who commented she was fat for a racehorse. After all, she was in foal. The excitement of The Shoe landing by helicopter in the infield and running across the track, for his mount in the Mile and then laughing with him when his mount actually stopped on the first turn. The patrons, some sporting minks and diamonds, some in tattered clothes, standing side by side. No class distinction, just people, together, appreciating the awesome beauty of "the Sport of Kings." Rest well, Joe and Luella G. You gave so much to so many generations. -Dee Hutchins, Everett HIS FINAL BET This happened to me about 40 years ago and has stuck with me ever since. The horses were just going into the starting gate for the second race. A short heavyset man was standing in front of us, and as the horses came down the stretch, this fellow started yelling for No. 5. As they crossed the finish line, you could see No. 5 had won by a head. At the same time, this fellow fell to the ground, clutching a ticket in his hand. A doctor came and pronounced him dead, but in his hand was the daily double ticket worth $85. -Ray Moellendorf, Seattle WHEN WINNING IS LOSING I wanted to make a good impression on my boss and her daughter. Not wanting to be outdone, I glanced at my brother-in-law's program and saw he had selected 10-4. Or so I thought. I didn't ask and later found out he had the 11-4. My boss and her daughter went down with me to bet. I looked at the board and the odds on the 10 horse were 99-1. I couldn't believe my brother-in-law would bet those odds, especially in a Daily Double. However, I said I'll put the 10 with the 4 - Vicky Aragon was on the 4 and she was the leading rider and I felt safe. They asked me if they should bet also and I said "NO WAY!" I didn't want them to lose on a flyer. Well, Cotton won on No. 10 in the first race by a nose. I felt good, but sad because I didn't let them bet on it. Then Vicky Aragon won the next race with the 4 and the Daily Double paid $775.20. I couldn't find a hole big enough to crawl into, so I just smiled and my boss said "That's horse racing." - David M. Parker, Tacoma A HORSE NAMED FRED Thanks to my dad's co-worker from Enumclaw, I joined the Enumclaw Rifle Racing Syndicate. Imagine me, owning a racehorse named Enumclaw Rifle or "Fred." On June 12, 1991, with my first birthday only a couple days away, we went to the place Mr. Gottstein built in 30 days. Gary Boulanger rode Fred from well off the pace to split horses in the deep stretch and win the race. All of us owners had our picture taken with Fred in the winner's circle. We were "walking on sunshine" and holding our heads high that day - my first day at the track. -Charles Joseph Cesmat, Age 2, Seattle, with writing help from my folks LABOR DAY In 1980, my friend's wife went into labor there after the eighth race. He was holding a $3.20 show ticket and no money for the day and was a little excited. He thought maybe he could rush the payline by telling the cashier his wife was about to have a baby, but it would have been patently unbelievable so he just rudely shoved his way into the head of the line, ignored the muttered threats behind him, got his money and took his wife to the hospital. Nice little story, eh? Everybody who goes to Longacres will come out with a story to tell. The point is, after tomorrow, there won't be anymore Longacres. No more stories to tell. I think it is unnecessary for Boeing to build on Longacres. If they do, neither I nor my friends will buy another Boeing airplane. -Tony Collins, Seattle PAYDAY I decided to go to Longacres after work, and got there 10 minutes before the sixth race. I didn't have time to read the racing form, and I had never played the daily triple before so I thought I would try. I didn't know what horses to play, so it being the 9th of the month I went to the window and played 11-1-6 that added up to 9. The No. 11 horse came in the sixth race; No. 1 came in the seventh, and I went home because I was too nervous. The next morning I got the newspaper and saw that No. 6 had come in a longshot - Vicky Aragon had won with the No. 6, and it paid $5,557. That was the most wonderful day I had at Longacres in the 20 years I've been going there. -Dewey Brown, Seattle