An endearing venue

Where do I begin? I have been going to this storied racetrack for over 50 years. In keeping with the requested 300 word maximum, my highlights over the years are as follows:

May 11,1973 - I had my first date with my now wife of 44 years, Joanne, when I won over $500! I knew that she was a keeper.

June 30,1973 - I was in attendance along with 40,000 patrons to see the great Secretariat effortlessly win the Arlington Invitational by 9 lengths. As God is my witness and unlike anything I have ever seen before or after, "Big Red" had his head turned toward the adoring fans in the grandstand during his stretch run. He absolutely knew that he was a great racehorse.

That same day, the friend I was with, Butch, had a bet of $300 across (win, place and show) totaling $900, on a horse that went off at 7-1. It was a two-mile race, so the horses were really stretched out as they approached the top of the stretch. His horse had a lead of at least six lengths when the cinch broke on the saddle and the jockey fell off his mount in mid stretch. Butch handled this unbelievable misfortune much better than I would have.

July 31,1985 - This was day one of my sitting for the Illinois Bar examination. Mentally exhausted, the first thing I heard once completing the Illinois portion of the bar was that the racetrack was destroyed by fire. I thought to myself, this is not a good omen, as I still had the multistate portion of the exam left to take the next day. Fortunately, I was elated to learn that I passed the bar weeks later.

Suffice it to say, I will miss this endearing venue that meant so much to so many.

Steve Pliska

Rolling Meadows