The Fastest Horse

Horses are marvelous animals. The more I am around them, the more I like them, and I confess that I have been around horses the better part of my life.

I took my first ride on a horse at Kennywood Park, an amusement park near Pittsburgh, PA. The occasion was our annual high school picnic at the park. Our parents would buy a certain amount of those orange tickets that were good for rides on the Jackrabbit, the fastest scariest ride at the park.

There were rides on the bumper cars, the auto racers, the ferris wheel, merry-go-round, the Leaping Frogs and my favorite -- the pony rides.

I would always save a certain number of my tickets for the pony rides. They were more expensive than the other rides, so I would usually wait until the end of the day to use them.

The smell of the leather. The smell of the horses. The shuffling feet. Climbing into the saddle. And for a moment pretending I was my favorite star of the Silver Screen in pursuit of a bad guy was the one thing I existed for. I was never disappointed.

When I traveled out West, I settled with my brother in Tucson, AZ. We lived at a boarding house owned by a widow who rented out rooms for a modest sum and who cooked for her tenants. The place was in the desert on Swan Road just a couple of miles from the city limits.

My brother and I Iiked the place. It was located just a half mile from a riding stable owned by a friend of mine named Doyle Williams. Doyle and his son, Eddie, were bull riders. They tolerated the bulls because of the money they could earn riding them. But their first love by far were the horses.

Doyle owned about 20 horses that he rented out to riders. He also took horses on consignment that he would offer for sale. One day he called me at the newspaper office.

'Hey, I've got a horse that you might want to ride,' he said. 'It's a race horse. Name is Rincon. The owner is leaving him here with me for a couple of weeks. He'll be training to run at the race track when he returns, Heck, you can ride the horse if you'd like. Rincon could use the exercise. I think you'll find him to be the most intelligent animal you have ever been on -- and the fastest.'

That was how I met Rincon. The horse was a red roan with a lighter colored mane. The moment I mounted the horse, I knew I was riding something special.

Rincon didn't run. He flew like a rocket. I would aim its head toward a mountain and Rincon would soar toward it like a jet plane and then just glide over the top of the mountain like it wasn't even there.

The horse was a pure pleasure to ride. When the owner returned from his trip, he said he was planning to enter the horse in a maiden race.

'He had a workout before I went on my vacation,' the owner said. 'Rincon ran three furlongs in something like 34 seconds. That's fast.'

Rincon went on its maiden race. Since the horse was a first-time starter and the .34 seconds workout wasn't reported, it went off at 11-1 odds. The beautiful red roan won the race by six lengths and paid $24.80 for each $2 invested. I'm glad to say I had some money bet on it.

Somebody once said that every person should own a boat and a horse before he gets the Golden Handshake. I'm still hoping that happens to me. I wish Rincon had been the horse.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).