Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 20)

          

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 20: The One-Eyed Man is King

McClelland closes his book with a summary of his takeaways from spending a year at Thoroughbred tracks in Chicago as a horseplayer, including these two takes:

The day I didn't bet was the day I truly stopped being a gambler and became a horseplayer. There it was: Learning the game had nothing to do with handicapping insights. It was all about licking the Fear of Regret, after you'd been beaten up and cleaned out by the pari-mutuel machine so many times that you finally arrived at an emotional place that allowed you to tell the track, "I don't need to bet. I've lost hundreds of races. I'm jaded. Give me a race I can get excited about, a race where the odds favor me, or the wallet stays shut." 

Now, at last, I'd discovered the dark heart and soul of the game: It wasn't about predicting the behavior of the horses. It was about predicting the behavior of the other gamblers and exploiting their mistakes.  

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 19)

         

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 19: Bob the Brain's Big Score

McLelland writes about a handicapping contest hosted by Hawthorne and the dramatic win by one of the track regulars Bob the Brain to qualify for that year's National Handicapping Championships (NHC) in Las Vegas. 

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 18)

        

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 18: True Adventures in Gambling

McLelland writes about his experiences gambling at Hawthorne during the fall of 2003, including that year's Breeders' Cup Pick 6. 

That prompts him to revisit the previous edition of the Breeders' Cup hosted at Arlington Park, which was the event that is best remembered for the "Pick Six Fix" scandal.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 17)

       

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 17: The Twenty-Five Dollar Horse

McLelland recounts when he experienced "The Tingle," a gut instinct for a particular horse in a particular race.

That horse was Beamer 'n Glick, who according to McClelland paid $25.80 to win at Hawthorne.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 16)

       

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 16: The Gold Club

McClelland sneaks into the Gold Club Room, a section of Arlington Park reserved for the track's whale horseplayers.

He meets Mike Melcher, who he profiles while the two hang out at the Jimmy D's bar across the street from the track. According to McClelland, Jimmy D.'s was the hangout spot for "gamblers, trainers, jockeys, owners, and other tight-mouthed horsy types who like to keep their words among themselves."

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 15)

      

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 15: "'Seabiscuit' Jockey Nearly Trampled"

McClelland recounts his experience attending the 2003 Arlington Million, which ended with a controversial win for Sulamani.

Storming Home was actually the first to cross the line, but he was disqualified when stewards determined the horse's jockey Gary Stevens fell off Storming Home right before the finish. 

Stevens spent three days in a Chicago hospital with a punctured lung and a broken vertebra.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 14)

     

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 14: Eureka?

McClelland writes about how he changes his handicapping approach during the summer by relying more on his observations and trip notes than speed figures and other statistical data points.

And he profiles "Bob the Brain," a professional gambler based in Chicago who saw his handicapping edges whittle away from the late 1970s to the 1990s, thanks to the popularization of Beyer Speed Figures and fewer casual bettors in the parimutuel pools. 

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 13)

    

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 13: Men Betting Badly

McClelland profiles a professional gambler, who insists on anonymity. This professional benefited from placing his bets with off-short phone betting services, which provided its customers with rebates and generally attracted "smarter, better financed, and better informed" bettors than the average bettor. 

These phone bettors were also blamed for caused last-second drops in winning odds, which was another source of frustration for everyday retail bettors.

It's a reminder that history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 11)

   

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 11: Omar and Lucky

McClelland profiles Omar Razvi, a taxi driver in Chicago who was also involved horse ownership in the claiming ranks.

According to Equibase, Razvi is still involved in ownership and is currently enjoying his best 3-year stretch as an owner. 

In his career, his horses have made 365 starts, earned thirty wins, finished in the Top 3 117 times, and earned $667,262 in purse money.

More recently, Razvi's horses have had 73 starts, earned three wins, twenty Top 3 finishes, and have earned $100,757 in 2025.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 10)

  

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 10: The Late Great Eight

McClelland recounts his experience at Arlington Park, when he's rooting home a 19-1 winner just as the horse breaks down and has to be euthanized. 

The horse's name was Great Eight, and he the trip notes on Equibase state that "GREAT EIGHT was leading when he broke down in the stretch." 

Great Eight was a 3-year-old son of Dance Brightly and Femmette, and he raced seven times with one win, one second place finish, and $19,640 in earnings.

This chapter and Great Eight's death is a reminder of the tragic side of our sport.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 9)

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 9: The Stat Man

McClelland profiles Steve Miller, a handicapper known at Chicago tracks as Stat Man. Miller became so serious about handicapping and becoming a professional horseplayer that he quit his corporate job and divorced his wife.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 8: The Rebel Enclave

McLelland profiles the posh Arlington Park (RIP) in general, but also specifically focuses on the area occupied by professional handicapper Scott McMannis and his acolytes.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 7: Travels with McChump

McLelland reflects on his 7-track, 9-day road trip with Terry Bjork--better known as McChump, the proprietor of mcchump.com.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 6: Derby Day

McLelland writes about his experiences handicapping and betting on the 2023 Kentucky Derby, including his winning bets on the longshot Funny Cide.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 5)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 5: 170 Large

McLelland profiles Matt Lovello, a gambling addict who accrued a $170,000 gambling debt before joining a 12-step gamblers' anonymous group and quitting his horse playing ways.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 4: First Your Money, Then Your Clothes

McClelland profiles Creighton R. Schoenfeldt, a racetrack regular who was identified by a racetrack executive as the "most cantankerous gambler in Chicago," and he writes about Rob Fasiang, a 39-year-old handicapper trying his hand as a professional gambler for the first time.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 3: Professor Speed

McClelland profiles Scott McMannis, an on-track handicapper for Hawthorne Race Course who had the reputation for his academic and logical approach to handicapping and wagering.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 2: If Wishes Were Horses

McClelland continues to paint the scene at Hawthorne Race Course in this chapter. He opens with stories of track regular Glenn "stooping," or searching for winning tickets erroneously tossed on the floor or in a trash can. He writes about hustler Eli, who's always looking for a loan or a deal to score his next bet. And McLelland closes the chapter on his experiences christening his $4,000 bankroll amid the track's cast of characters.

Bookshelf: Horseplayers (Chapter 1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseplayers: Life at the Track (Ted McClelland)

Chapter 1: The Blind Man and the Hustler

McClelland lives in Chicago throughout this book, and he describes his home track Hawthorne Race Course and a couple of its most notable characters in this opening chapter.

One character is Lewis, a blind panhandler who'd been posted outside the track's main entrance for decades. And the second character was a recovering addict named Glenn, who always seems to be looking for the next angle to score another $2 for the next wager.