Vicki

Pennsylvania is a lush state of rolling valleys, green fields and farms covering the landscape. The state nicknamed 'Penn's Woods' after William Penn is also horse country and is the breeding ground of the harness racing industry.

I grew up less than a quarter-mile from a racing farm owned by Leroy Miller who bred and raised harness horses. Leroy attended our church and when he retired, he turned over the reins to the horse farm to his son, Kenny, who went to school with me and my siblings.

Those horses were beautiful to watch. My brothers and I hunted small game -- rabbits, ringneck pheasants and squirrels -- in the pastures and cornfields near where the horses grazed. The Miller family didn't mind our activities as long as we were careful not to injure any of the horses being trained to win races at The Meadowlands or Wheeling Downs.

I was a traveling journalist when my younger brother, John, whose nickname is Legs, decided to buy a harness horse. He and my former brother-in-law put up the money to buy a young filly at a horse auction. Kenny Miller agreed to train the horse.

The story of how they came to buy Victoria March bears re-telling. The three of them went to the auction on a Saturday morning. As the horses were trotted out in front of the buyers, a cluster of Amish farmers showed up to purchase horses to work their farms.

Kenny looked at the list of horses available and decided that the young black colt, Victoria March, had good bloodlines. But when the colt was paraded in front of the public, the horse was bleeding badly from a gash in one of her legs.

'Don't worry about the injury,' Kenny said. 'It's just superficial. It'll heal. That's a good horse and I recommend you make a bid for her.'

The Amish farmers turned their noses up at Victoria March, choosing to spend their money elsewhere, and my brother and brother-in-law found themselves in possession of a young filly for a small amount of money.

Legs kept me posted on the progress of Victoria March. He would take his grandchildren to the pastures and the stables to watch Vicki work out. She grew into a beautiful intelligent black filly that showed promise.

You can imagine the excitement that built up when Vicki ran her first race. All of the people on our hilltop knew about the horse and a considerable amount of money exchanged hands when Victoria March ran.

Vicki began winning races. She had good speed, didn't make mistakes and didn't break stride. Kenny placed her in races where she had a good chance and the money began rolling in.

The owners, of course, were responsible for the training costs and met the bills. They took great pride in their ownership of Vicki. After the horse had won several thousand dollars in purse money, the unthinkable happened.

Victoria March was claimed. My brother had lost his horse.

'It was sad,' he said. 'It felt like we had lost a member of the family. The new owner took her to another track and we never saw her again.'

Somebody once said that every man should own a horse and a boat sometime in his lifetime. Well, Legs owned the horse. Any boat sellers out there?

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 ).