Hello, neighbors, and welcome.

For this introductory column, I am going to give you a little insight on the world of horse racing. After that, who knows? Like a good race, anything may happen. For now, let’s stick to the basics and a backstory.

When I was four years old, My mother took me to her little hometown to visit my grandparents, uncles and aunts. While there, my uncle was riding a horse bareback (without saddle) when he reached down and pulled me up on the horse, placing me in front of him. We rode around the yard for about five minutes. That was a special moment for me. I knew then that there is no finer animal than a horse. As one who has studied horse racing for years, I have devised numerous racing methods. At last count, I imagine I had about 20, none of which were at least 65 percent of perfect (a margin of constant profit). But I will continue trying to reach that mark. Even with the loss-and-win conditions that exist in the game of horse racing, I have all ways enjoyed the entertainment value.

Having played the horses for years, I have considered it a little stock market as such: the instant you place your bet, you become your own stock broker. And not unlike the Wall Street game, there are the occasional signs of possible insider trading. Nevertheless, there is never a guaranteed win because there are more ways to lose a race than there is to win a race. The temperament of a horse is such that if they don’t want to run the race that day, or if they don’t want to load the gate (that’s the starting gate), you might as well lead that horse back to the barn. I have seen them kick, buck and even run off, just o keep from racing. To hedge my bets as best I can, I never take more money to the track than I can afford to lose. I have often enough left the track with only my salvage money: cash that I put away to fuel up my car and maybe buy a hamburger after the races. The excitement of the action makes it easy to forget to eat, and I may have forgotten to get a bite while rushing to the track to chase that elusive long shot that I previously handicapped before leaving home.

On the other hand, I have left the track with an amount of cash that made me nervous enough to forget that hamburger and go straight home.

My race track of choice is Hollywood Park. I first visited it as a teenager. I had begged some older relatives to take me along; they agreed, saying “OK, but you can’t bet because you are not old enough.”

Once at the track, I talked my aunt into letting me pick a horse with her so we could play it together.

We picked a horse, pooled our money and placed a bet. We each played $2.00; our horse won going away. We collected $32.00 for the win and about $6.00 to place. We split the money, from which I gained a $16.00 profit. I got to thinking, I spent two days passing out flyers to the neighborhood homes for a cleaning business for $8.00 and on today’s action I just made $16.00 in two minutes. I knew then that I would return to the track again when I got older. Of course, I never forgot that horse’s name: a filly named Glory Wine that had the #7 post position.

Hollywood Park is located in one of the best places in the world for horse racing. Inglewood is located in a place where the weather is cool in the summer, dry in the winter and has one of the safest track surfaces of any other track for the horses to run on. I look forward to watching them run here. For those new to this game, I suggest you spend time at the track, take the time to study the form and learn the game—unless you have a professional player who picks your winners for you. Otherwise, play with your head and not with your heart (unless you just love the name of that horse), and good luck to you.

As a side note: November is the month when the fastest, richest and most expensive horses in the world meet for two days to race against each other. It’s known as the Breeders’ Cup, and a close study of what happens at that race may help you understand how things work.