Happy Turkey Day!

Grandpa sitting at the head of the table; the bird glistening and plated to perfection; and the kids all sitting at the little table. - I'm sure we all have our memories of the feast, but my favorite one goes back some years. When you worked in racing even if you didn't have live racing going to post. You were open for simulcast and the place would be packed all day long. I was working this day as always and waited till I could sit down with family and enjoy the goodies.

The track kitchen served many purposes. Hall for Mass, meeting place, and the building where all of the families who worked on the backside would gather and enjoy holiday gatherings. - At 2 pm in the afternoon, a truck hit a power pole and did plenty of damage. No one was hurt, but the turkey dinner was not going to be held in the dark. It was that time of the year when 4:30pm would have the backside dark. It was looking like turkey sandwiches the next day was going to be the fare.

The kitchen manager called me on the front side and was asking for the numbers of management and who to call for the power outage. - A few minutes talking about the bad luck, and a great idea came to mind. - "Hey, Tom. If everything is ready, why don't we bring it over to the plush clubhouse?" - The idea was born of ingenuity and necessity. I said start bringing the food over to the loading dock and bring it up the freight elevator to have it ready in a jiffy. - I'll grab a couple managers, and we'll serve behind the buffet line. One even dressed as "Turfway Tommy" our official mascot to greet the little ones. - Music was kicked up on the speakers on the 4th floor while bettors three floors below enjoyed playing the races.

Watching the families gather and enjoy a top-notch dinner was one of my favorites working the holiday. Going back for seconds, having games for kids to play, and just feeling the mood. - I remember the families enjoying the day as we helped clean up the party. This was one of my favorite turkey day celebrations by a mile.

From your friends at Winning Ponies, enjoy your holiday celebrations. - We'll serve up some winners for the day and weekend. All you have to do is pull up a chair and download the E-Z Win Forms. I'm sure you'll be grateful you did!