By: Grandma Horse Racing
By: Thomas Deimel
Twitter: @tjdhorseplayer
I have a small collection of old pari-mutuel tickets from many different tracks. I didn’t go to all these tracks (many were closed before I was alive), but I remember the piles of losing tickets and think now they are worth something to somebody.
Harry Straus installed the first system at Pimlico. The system was built because of an incident at Pimlico of a horse listed at 12-1 and won but paid off at 4-1, so Straus thought a “tote board” was needed. The first complete Totalisator board was installed in 1933 at Arlington Park by American Totalisator. Some of my reading says that Hialeah was the first. The first entirely electric board was developed in 1966.
With limited ways to bet back in the day, the tickets win, place, show, and maybe a daily double. Then the exacta and trifecta with the big deal for some tracks, the pick 6. And remember, this required the machines to change for that type of bet at all tracks. The old tickets must reflect that with the color and coding on the ticket. Forges happen many, many times.
My favorite type of ticket to collect is cardboard tickets. A few of those tracks are still around, but they closed and, in some cases, forgotten tracks. Empire City (now Yonkers), Jamaica, Marlboro, Lincoln Downs, Hagerstown, and Bowie, are some tracks that come to mind as ones to collect.
I have a collection of all tracks that I have visited that I have framed up and continue to add to. I have one winning ticket in my display, the 1979 Kentucky Derby winner Spectacular Bid. It was worth $3.20. A few are fading, but I still like to remember my trips to racetracks. My framed collection reflects the changing of the type of tickets and betting options.
Old Pari-Mutual Horse Racing Tickets
Or if you are more interested in famous horses, there are plenty of totes at crazy prices. Secretariat is at the top of the list, pricing from $100 to $2,500. I have winning tickets from the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont for Seattle Slew in my collection. I also have a few of my just-missed totes. These are generally trifecta tickets in the wrong order. We all have more than a few of those.
Finally, the last race day tickets are interesting too—the last race at Arlington Park or Longacres—the final ride of their career, Bill Shoemaker or Laffit Pincay, Jr. I have a last ride ticket signed by Bill Shoemaker. For me, these are bittersweet memories of places and people.
Tickets/Totes of the bygone era are more colorful than today’s betting tickets. If you bet on the iPhone, then they are downright boring. But if you want a small piece of horse racing history, then totes are nice reminders.
