By Scott Wells President & General Manager
Photo by Linda Earley
Wow! What a great day and what a crowd we had for Extreme Racing! Almost 16,000 people were treated to high-speed Quarter Horses, Appaloosas and Paints—plus wild and woolly camels and freakishly fast feathered ostriches. There were spills, thrills, falls, spins and even one hilarious escape when Big Bird decided to run over a wrangler and take off around the racetrack on his own!
As the winning jockey of the camel race, let me take you through the experience firsthand: First, I want to deny all allegations that I somehow “rigged” the race. Did I get the same camel as my winning mount from last year? Hmmmm. He did run in a remarkably similar style? My take on it is that the camel owner knew a good match when he saw one last year and didn’t want to break up a successful relationship.
Arriving fashionably late in the winner’s circle for the pre-race interview accompanied by my “entourage” of Remington Red Hot girls carrying last year’s trophy was a highlight. Actually my wife Mellyn thought of that. What a great wife! You should have seen the look on GR Carter’s face when we came in! And poor Lacey Lett, our great MC—she was a little taken aback but of course, handled it like the pro she is. Luis V. was laughing like crazy. Jennifer Schmidt was wrapped in beautiful fabric, so I wasn’t the only one to ride in (more or less) authentic garb.
One of the hardest things about riding the camel is getting into that darned contraption they use for a saddle. Especially when wearing a dress—I mean “robe.” Once I got up there, I was very comfortable because then it just seems like riding a big gangly horse. From that high vantage point, the view was fantastic. As I looked out over the huge crowd and saw all the smiles, all the kids, all the beautiful people, young and old, I was reminded of what our purpose is here at Remington Park—It’s to ENTERTAIN people and let them have FUN! So all the way to the gate, we riders kept hamming it up, talking trash and waving to fans.
Once behind the gate, the mood changed. Camels began surging forward, eager to get into the gate and get started running. Like racehorses, these animals love to run! My camel put her head over the front of the starting gate, as if to take a peek at the crowd. All the while, they’re making camel noises—throaty growls more appropriate for a carnivore than for an herbivore. Although I knew from last year’s race that I better be prepared for a sharp move to the right out of the gate (if this was, indeed the same mount as last year), I was still thrown a little off balance when Sandblaster bolted to the right. I’m afraid I didn’t score any style points those first half dozen strides. By the time I got ‘Blaster (I think that’s what I called out—sounded very similar) lined out, I could see my nemesis GR Carter in front in the middle of the racetrack. So I started yelling and pushing and urging “Sandy” (a safer nickname than “Blaster”—less likely to be misinterpreted) until I could see we were taking the lead. At that point I decided to toss my little whip into the crowd as a souvenir. I hope some future jockey caught it. In any case, it’ll be a good reminder to some fan of a day of fun at Remington Park.
As Sandblaster and I “humped” across the finish line in front, I could see all the fans cheering and laughing, but for just a moment after the finish there’s this immediate concern of slowing down. Believe me, if it hadn’t been for those brave souls holding the plastic fence, we’d have gone another full lap of the track for sure because these camels don’t have power brakes. In fact, they don’t have brakes at all! When they turned our camels aside, GR and I high-fived and he started doing his “I’m not worthy” bow, which was fine with me. We’re good friends but we really are competitive and besides, he’s got enough trophies! The winner’s circle was a blast, as we crowded all four camels in there together for a group photo. Then we dismounted and made the awards to the various charities involved. Then Sandblaster leaned her head down and rested it on my shoulder while I whispered in her ear. Seriously. Watch the video on YouTube if you don’t believe it. What did I tell her? C’mon, now. You don’t honestly expect me to reveal it here, do you? It’s between a camel and her rider. And beides, GR Carter might read this and I’m not revealing any trade secrets to him!
Everyone knows that the First Saturday in May is always the Kentucky Derby. That’s a big day for us here at Remington Park. But Sunday, May 8 is, in many ways, even more important. That’s the day we’ll celebrate Mothers Day and simultaneously contribute to cancer research with our “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” celebration. It’s a fun and colorful way to increase cancer awareness and to raise funds for fighting the most critical disease on the planet. Unfortunately, not one of us hasn’t been touched in some way by cancer, whether it be the loss of a family member or loved one, or even a personal struggle with this variety of frightening diseases. In my own case, Mothers Day will always be linked with cancer awareness as I lost my own mother to throat cancer 16 years ago this month.
