Just to the right of the door is a vignette: a life-size statue of a horse standing inside a wooden stable. Sitting upright in a carriage is a hauntingly realistic mannequin. Its face has a waxy sheen and its mouth is a severe straight line. The scene is illuminated in red light behind the glass. Inside the heavy front doors of the Bayside bar and dance club, photos of racehorses line the wall, each labeled with the horse’s name. The bouncer – usually a guy named Kevin – will ask for $5 cash, then you’re in.
[snip]
Larkin bought his first racehorse sometime in the 1960s – he’s not sure of the exact year – after going to Scarborough Downs with a friend. Since then he’s had as many as 18 at a time. He built a stable for them in his Scarborough backyard and cared for them himself. They raced at the Downs for decades. He sold them a while back when he got too old to take care of them. But he still thinks about them. Sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere, he’ll shake his head and say, “I miss my horses.”
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