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Pure Luck and Some Horse Sense

© Greg Melikov

What are the odds of three retired media men dining at a restaurant in Central Texas? I'd guess at least 1000-1.

But that's what happened recently. All of us, including my wife, sat at three tables clustered together at the Stagecoach Inn in historic Salado south of Waco.

We exchanged business cards because we still keep busy. The food was great. So is the history of the establishment erected on the site of an old Tonkawa Indian village in the 1860s.

The inn stands at the crossroads of the famous Chisholm Trail and Old Military Road, which linked a chain of forts. The sweeping porch balconies, shaded by ancient trees (one inside separates the original building and two additions) that provided comfort for stagecoach travelers and countless others.

They included:

*Sam Houston, who slept there and made a major anti-secession speech from the balcony.

*Gen. George Custer, a guest shortly after the Civil War.

*Capt. Robert E. Lee, son of the general, who passed through town as the U.S. Army chased Pancho Villa.

*Outlaws Jesse and Frank James, and Sam Bass.

There were many names of famous people on the hotel guess register, but it was stolen in 1944.

Dick Glancey and his wife, also from Greater San Antonio, later dined with Anita and I in suburban Helotes. We've become friends.

Knowing I love horse racing, Dick supplied this funny story:

Mitch, a hard-shell Southern Baptist, loved to sneak away to the racetrack. One day he was betting and nearly losing his shirt when he noticed this priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one horse lining up for the fourth race. Lo and behold, this horse -- a very long shot -- won the race.

Mitch was most interested to see what the priest did for the fifth race. Sure enough, he watched the priest step out onto the track as the horses lined up, and placed this blessing on the forehead of one of the horses. Mitch made a beeline for the window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, even though another long shot, it won.

Mitch collected his winnings and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest was going to bless in the sixth race. The priest showed, blessed a horse, Mitch bet on it and it won!

As the day went on, the priest continued blessing one of the horses in each race and it always came in first. Mitch began to pull in some serious money, and by the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick stop at the ATM, withdrew big money and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him which horse to bet on.

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