View from the Cheap Seats

April 25 - May 1, 2016

Derby Day Redux

By William O. "Bill" James

I went to the Arkansas Derby for the first time in about 10 years. I have trouble remembering why it was I had failed to go for that extended period of time. I am sure it was kids and work and whatever else life had thrown at me in the April of each of the years in the last decade, which kept me from making the annual trip to Hot Springs. I went one time earlier this year and had a great time.

I don’t really like betting on horses. Frankly, I find the “sport” a little cumbersome, and the last thing I want to do when I am trying to relax is study a racing form. I do dig the “people watching.” The crowd comes in all shapes, forms, and origins. It is an Arkansas potpourri that is matched nowhere. It is even richer than a Razorback Football game.

I downloaded an application on my phone on my first visit that allowed me to bet with my phone. I put a hundred on the “app” and I was rewarded with another hundred dollars because I made bets over a total of one hundred dollars. I was down to just over my original deposit when I got to the track on Derby Day. After hitting a long shot in the third race and a few other decent hits along the way, I ended up with over two hundred dollars in my account. That means I won over a hundred dollars for the season if you don’t count the free money I received for my early betting. If I do count the windfall, I still won about five dollars for the season. Either way, I am pretty sure that the 2016 racing season qualifies as the most successful of my life. That is pretty sad if you think about it.

By the time the Derby came around I was pretty tired and had become bored with the betting even though I was winning more than usual. The favorite horse was a sure thing. The bet was so sure that the majority of the people bet on the horse, which had already reserved a place at the Kentucky Derby. We all lost our money. I think it was the only horse I bet on in that race. There was a lot of distance between the favorite and the winner. Saying it was a football field between them may be an exaggeration, but not by very much. Truth is, I did not win anything the last two bets. I ended ahead for the day, but simultaneously went down in flames with loser bets on the last two races of the day.

We made late dinner reservations so we would not have to hurry after the races. It seemed like a good plan until we came in contact with a restaurant staff that was obviously worn out and ready to go home when we arrived. The irony was that, even though they seemed ready to leave, they moved like they had all the time in the world. The service was slow, the dinner was too long and the hotel room was pulling hard by the time the check was paid. I was so tired that I left my card with the ticket and had to walk back the next day to retrieve it.

We stayed at the Arlington, and I got up the next morning and did some serious hot tub sitting. For the most part, it was quiet with the exception of a lady from some other state babbling on about politics to some other woman she met in the hot tub from another state. It did not take them long to tire of each other and get up and return to the hotel. Quiet remained and I got the rest I was looking for before having to check out. It was good to be back at Derby Day and I vowed to never miss it again. It is a promise I am sure I can keep as long as the world does not intervene with other plans. Either way, I will be fine because that is just the way we roll in the CHEAP SEATS!

William O. “Bill” James, Jr. is a criminal defense lawyer and co founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. He once bit the head off a fish at the lake but denies it every time his children bring it up. He may be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com.