August, 2018.

I arrived in upstate NY for Alabama weekend. I had hit the big time. My work schedule and my financial situation allowed me to spend an entire week from Alabama weekend all the way to Travers Day. Little did I know that I would hit a monster score that had nothing to do with cashing a ticket.

Alabama weekend had its own crowd. At that time, just a short six summers ago, they still raced on Monday. Tuesday was a Dark Day. And then Wednesday, the TG-ers and backyard folks who I only knew from a few days the two prior summers started trickling in for the big weekend.

The crescendo was pronounced as Saturday approached. I recall beyond vividly TGAB being present on Friday. We were in the backyard near the TG spot of the time. There was a large group that year. Probably a year that got me hooked. Alan's ability to find a horse at beyond long odds and absolutely botch the goal of extracting huge profits was uncanny. And he did that weekend and we all got a good laugh out of his misfortune.

I also recall vividly his foresight that racing was in real trouble moving ahead. I challenged him hard that how could racing fail. How could what I'm seeing in Saratoga on that Friday not survive forever. He made beyond brilliant handicapping points about where the game could be headed with comments about the next generation having no interest in the game, seeing it far differently than we do, and that you (ME/ALL OF US) better enjoy these days because they are not guaranteed either as a racing fan or as a friend of the folks in the backyard. He even specifically pointed out how the riding crop, horse deaths, etc could not go over well in the coming years. His words were somewhat prophetic with the challenges racing has faced the last few years.

Jerry had a few very nice seats up near the finish line for those few days that Alan had with him that weekend. Alan was kind enough to ask if I wanted to go watch a race with him up there on Friday. We did go watch at least one up there that day. Over the course of the next two days, he opened up about his mortality and what little time he thought he had left, likely as little as six months. He talked about people that loved him. I won't share everything that he told me but to call them life lessons doesn't do it justice. But I will share the following: That on Travers Day when the place was a madhouse to start the day, we eventually all settled in as part of the Backyard at the Spa. And again he was kind enough to ask if I wanted to watch a few races up in those seats. And the two of us did! And it was memorable.

Specifically, we saw the old warrior Whitmore get that first Grade 1 win. Then, a little later in the backyard, I asked him if we could go watch the Travers itself up in those seats overlooking the stretch drive. And we did. I bet on Mendelssohn that day. His 2nd place finish allowed me to cash some tickets with Catholic Boy winning that are all meaningless compared to what I cashed listening to Alan. I recall those two horses coming through the stretch right before our eyes. I recall sitting there after the finish line and Alan truly opening up about his life, about what time he had left, and other so-called life lessons that left me sitting there with real tears in my eyes. We walked back down to the backyard and enjoyed the final touches on a Travers week and weekend that I'll never forget. The 2018 Travers will always be Unforgettable for me thanks to Alan.

My condolences JB. I genuinely enjoyed my time with TGAB whether at a seminar at Siro's, in the backyard, or watching that Travers stretch drive that I'll never forget. It is why in the years since I've wondered how he is doing. And maybe those memories and life lessons are something I'm chasing with every return trip.

REST IN PEACE Alan.