Have you ever bet on horse racing? Are you a regular at the track? Or do terms like “win,” “place,” “show,” “across the board” and “exacta” leave you clueless?
I am in the latter. I am not opposed to horse racing; I just haven’t had enough of a burning desire to get involved. Although I have not been to the racetrack or bet online, I did participate in something that some of you may remember from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Hy-Vee food stores was part of a televised series at the time called “Let’s Go To The Races.” These horse races were shown each week on local TV stations as part of a 13-week series. Participants could pick up race cards at any of the 114 Hy-Vee food stores in the Midwest at the time and then view the five races that were in the 30-minute programs.
The game was simple. If your horse won, you won. This pre-teenage boy knew nothing of “win,” “place” or “show,” but I could follow my horse and eagerly see if I could collect anywhere from $2 to $500.
Horse racing probably wasn’t something a young boy should have been watching, but it seemed harmless. Based on the disappearance of these types of programs, others must not have thought so. Hy-Vee wasn’t the only grocery store chain that took part in these horse-racing programs, as they were popular across the country with a variety of versions. The one I recall seeing was produced by Telecom Productions, Inc. of Des Plaines, Illinois. Check out a sample here from 1981.
As a young boy, I would sit in front of the TV with the game cards that Mom gave me from her shopping to see if I would win. The program claimed 180,985 winning cards were “available” each week with a total of $1,066,000 in cash prizes. From week to week, about $82,000 in prizes were offered. How much was actually claimed is clearly another question.
The shows were pre-recorded, so the odds of winning were pre-determined — and the risks were minimal. It was kind of like the carnival game at the county fair where you pick a duck out of the circling water to see which prize you win. Of the 100 ducks, the grand prize was on one of them, the medium prize on four, and the small prize on the remaining 95. I know this because my buddy Dave and I once befriended a carnival worker and pulled each duck to count. I would guess that Telecom Productions wouldn’t have been as eager to share their odds. Even so, I was happy to win a $2 prize from time to time, and I still would be.
Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
