Stevens was thinking about what he’d learned from Winning Colors’ two exercise riders that she hated the whip. They’d told him, “Don’t whip her. You don’t have to…she will give you everything she has. Don’t use the whip on her unless you absolutely have to…if you do, she may do something crazy. Gary, really be careful.”
Goodbye Halo was not done. She surged back to Winning Colors’ side, pinning her against the rail. Stevens reached down and cocked his whip, reached forward and showed it to her, then he reached back, and with some restraint, he used the whip on her for the first time in a race. The sting of Steven’s whip continued on his filly as Goodbye Halo was pulling herself forward, in a full-on gallop while inching closer, and closer, racing as a team in unison, side by side, just noses apart.
The wire was close.
Finally, the early demands of sprinting against the speedster Bolchina and fighting off the repeated challenges of Goodbye Halo took its toll on Winning Colors. She was pinned down against the inner rail as Goodbye Halo pulled even and then surged away to a tough, desperate, hard fought, half-length victory at the wire.
The fans were standing and cheering the two gutsy fillies like it was Derby day itself. But the big, gray, Amazon filly was no longer undefeated or invincible.
Miami looked at Dino. He was slumped down in his chair, speechless. His eyes were pointed down at his shoes. He believed in Winning Colors as a world champion and she had not lived up to his dream. He leaned forward to speak, but no words came out.
When Miami turned to look at Ava, he saw that under the brim of her hat, tears were streaming down her face.
Chapter 5
The Hotel Impala
Pari-mutuel tickets with zero value were scattered around the table. Dino raised his head, looked at Miami and Ava, and said, “Miami, you know we are the opposite of counterfeiters.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Think about it. What do counterfeiters do? They turn worthless paper into money,” said Dino as he picked up a stack of losing Winning Colors tickets and threw the stack high into the air like confetti. “What we do is take money and turn it into worthless paper.”
“You’re not helping,” Miami replied. He motioned to the waiter then ordered two Bacardi and Cokes for them and a glass of chardonnay for Ava. They were now officially on a major losing streak, and not just because of Winning Colors. The day before, they’d lost three consecutive race photo finishes. That same week, they’d accumulated over a dozen other losing race bets. They were down much more than the $5,000 bet they’d placed in Tijuana.
The question of whether Winning Colors would even be entered in the Derby came up in conversation. “Why would Lukas and Klein enter her against the boys if she can’t even beat the best of the girls?” Miami asked then added, “But the Derby’s not for another two months, so she still has time to regroup. Let’s hope she’ll rebound. Dino we need to rebound, too. We’re getting killed at the windows.”
Ava asked, “If she doesn’t run in the Derby, what happens to the money you bet on her?”
“They keep it, and we get second jobs at McDonalds,” said Dino.
The next morning, Miami called Dino early to say, “I’m thinking it’s time for a change of scenery, buddy. I hear the desert is nice this time of year. Where could we go to in the desert?”
“You thinking like the Hoover Dam? Or some museums? If we go, we need to make reservations.”
“Viva Las Vegas, baby! You worry too much, buddy. Vegas is just one giant hotel room. No problem ever getting a room. They have more rooms there than people to fill them, but I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about a thing except your liver.”
“OK. I can call in sick.”
“Yeah baby! Vegas. Ava’s traveling on business anyway. I’ve traded Ava for you… it’s not the best trade…but let’s do this!”
Later that afternoon, Dino picked up Miami in the Impala. Miami had the much nicer car, but it was not the best vehicle for the five-hour drive to Las Vegas from Los Angeles. The boys were far bigger bettors on horses than on the Las Vegas gaming tables, but still liked to take a flyer at the craps table with all the yelling and screaming of the hopeful bettors. Miami was doing the driving and had hit 96 mph though the desert, anxious to get a first cocktail under his belt.
Dino looked scared and his eyes looked like they were bulging because of the lenses of his wide glasses. “I don’t mind gambling, but is an older Chevy Impala supposed to go 100 miles an hour?”
“There’s nothing to worry about, as long as I keep my hands firmly on the wheel at all times.” Miami hit the gas harder, took his hands off the wheel…and showed them both to Dino.
Dino couldn’t see that Miami was steering with his knees on the wheel. He screamed, “You’re going to get us killed! Stop it. Goddamn it!”
Miami backed the speed back down to 90 mph, mostly because he was laughing too hard to drive properly. They got to the Strip in four hours and 30 minutes.
They arrived in Las Vegas, parked the car, and walked into The Mandalay Bay Hotel to go straight to the Sports and Race Book to see the odds offered on Winning Colors to win the Derby. They were surprised to see only 12-1 offered, after her loss the day before, but they also knew that futures book odds tend to only go down after good races and not up much in odds after poor prep races.
Next, they visited the craps tables. Miami bet far more than Dino, which
