Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire ” brought to you by your local Auto Logic…the Logical Choice.
I’m trying my best not to go overboard on the recent CFOS-YMT trip to Ireland… but it’s tough.
I was reminded of Ireland again last Saturday night at Hanover Raceway while watching the Dream of Glory Eliminations.
On our Ireland junket we spent two days in Killarney, coincidentally during the their 4 day racing festival.
Unlike Hanover, the Killarney race card featured thundering thoroughbreds rather than harness racing plus there were a number of steeplechase races as well which I’d never seen live.
Like the Salmon Spectacular, the 2 nights I was in Killarney was as much about the party as the event
And here’s the thing that floored me about Killarney…..
I placed my bets at the Totes window; Totes being the Irish equivalent of the OLG. Yet, along the track were at least 25 umbrellas and under each umbrella was the local bookmaker who would also give odds and take bets.
Astonished, I asked a local named Kevin, ‘ isn’t your government greedy like ours ? ‘.. and ‘ why does the state run gambling service permit face to face competition from the bookies ? ‘
Kevin looked at me like I was stoned, and simply shrugged his shoulders and stated, ” It’s part of our culture. “
What a great culture. I certainly don’t foresee anything similar coming to Ontario or Canada soon, if ever.
I’m Fred Wallace