Magic and Lace

1970

MONDAY MARCH 3, 1970

SANTA ANITA RACE TRACK LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA

The track attendance was unusually high for a cloudy wet day, but twenty-one thousand one hundred and ninety-seven people turned out to test their luck. Lyndon Walker was one of the twenty-one thousand one hundred and ninety-seven people and after eighth races he was convinced that lady luck wasn't with him today, but there was one more race so there was still one more chance to win. Lyndon waited by the rail to get a look at the horses. This time he was going to just bet on the one he got the best feeling from, since reading the form and the statistics weren't doing him any good, maybe intuition would.

Lyndon was desperate, he needed the money today, his wife Nora was in the hospital giving birth to their first baby. The money was to pay for her doctor visits and hospital stay. She had made him promise that he would save the money that they would need to have the baby in a hospital.

Lyndon didn't have the heart to tell her that he had used the money in the bank when Tommy called with a hot tip on a sure thing. The sure thing lost, and Lyndon had spent the last two weeks trying to win back his losses.

When the horses were brought out on the track Lyndon took a close look at each one of them. The first horse they brought out was Maggie's Choice. He would have bet on this one normally because Shoe was on her, but he didn't get the feeling that Shoemaker was going to see the winner circle that race. Three more horses came out but still the feeling that he was looking for had not emerged. Jenny's way came out, this was another horse he knew he should bet on, but he went on waiting and hoping for that special feeling that came over him. Sea Life, Sweetums and Unreachable Star were led out on the track, but still it hadn't come to him. As the last horse entered the track the speaker crackled and it was announced that "Galineta would not be running, but in her place number five Magic and Lace ridden by Jeremy Craddock"

It was the blackest horse that Lyndon had ever seen. That familiar feeling was coming over him in waves. He was sure this was the horse when the horse and rider passed. As the Jockey was passing Lyndon he tipped his hat and gave Lyndon a wink. Lyndon rushed up to the win window and placed his last hundred on the number five horse and went back to the railing to wait. As they were settling the horses into the gate, Lyndon was once again drawn to the black horse but this time his mind wandered back to the last time, he had seen a horse as black as "Magic and Lace".

The horse's name was Magic. It was the first time that he had laid eyes on his beloved Nora, she was sitting astride the massive, but sculptured stallion. The wind caught her golden wheat hair, her blue eyes shining like sapphires full of the joy of life. Her frame was delicate and fragile as a new born colt taking his first few unsteady steps but like a new colt she was determined to stand and be noticed. Nora was wearing a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a t-shirt that proclaimed that she was born to be free.

Lyndon decided to stick around and see how free she really was. After he met her, he learned that the ranch he stumbled upon was her father's. Andrew DeClue was a Thoroughbred horse breeder and one of the better-known ones in Kentucky. The more Lyndon hung around the ranch the more he upset Andrew, but what upset Andrew the most was the fact that Nora took a liking to the young man who seem to have no past.

Andrew had Lyndon checked out by investigators, all they had turned up was that he was a gambler, who traveled from track to track and that he lived off his winnings. Andrew was disheartened by this news so he decided to make an offer to Lyndon, one he thought Lyndon couldn't refuse. All he wanted was for Lyndon to leave his only child alone.

By the time Andrew made Lyndon the offer of his finest racehorse and $100,000 dollars; it was too late Lyndon and Nora, were in love. They decided to get married, so they approached Andrew and Marie to ask for their blessing, but instead they received their wrath. Andrew told Lyndon and Nora if they were to marry he would disinherit her, and they would get nothing. That night Nora and Lyndon left for California to start their new life together. Lyndon tried to give Nora a good life, but he hadn't succeeded in the two years that they had been together. Most of the time he could barely scrape enough money together to pay rent, and food each month.

When Nora found out she was pregnant she was overjoyed. She had never expected to have a baby since she had lost the first one. As soon as she found out she made Lyndon promise to put money away to cover the cost of the baby, and so they could supply the baby with a stable home. That was why Lyndon was at the track that day instead of being at the hospital with his beloved Nora, he didn't want to disappoint her by not having the money to pay for the medical expenses and provide a decent place for them to live.

With the sound of the bell and the announcement of "There off and running." Lyndon came back to the reality of the moment; he had everything riding on a feeling. Magic and Lace was in the fourth position, and he seemed to be holding. When they were in the final turn going into the final stretch Magic and Lace pulled ahead, and now was neck and neck with Jenny Way. Lyndon still had hope, when the board didn't light up right away after the race. Lyndon knew in his heart that God had granted him his one wish, not to disappoint Nora, but still luck hadn't been with him all day, so he held his breath waiting for the results.

He waited for what seemed to him like an eternity, but actually was only moments, and when he saw the results, it took a moment for it to register that Magic and Lace was the winner by a nose. Lyndon rushed to the win window to collect his cash so he could get to the hospital to be with his wife.

By the time Lyndon got to the hospital Nora had already given birth to a five-pound baby girl who was born at 5:00 p.m. He stood by the viewing window watching the tiny baby that he had helped create. It dawned on him how important the number five was to him today. He had won $50,000 dollars at the track, he won on the number five horse, and the baby was born at five O'clock and she only weighed five pounds. Lyndon was so excited with this realization that he rushed into Nora's room.

Lyndon woke Nora up to tell her that they were going to call the baby Lacy after the number five horse Magic and Lace. Nora was hesitant after all she didn't want to name her baby after a horse. Being shrewd Nora saw a prime opportunity to get Lyndon to do what she wanted. She didn't really care too much about what they named the baby just as long as they gave her a decent life. With that in mind Nora explained to Lyndon that she would agree to name the baby Lacey if he were willing to buy a house with some of the money that he had won, also he would have to agree that he couldn't touch assets in the house no matter how bad things got.

Lyndon agreed since all along he had planned on buying his sweet Nora a house with his winnings, so the baby was named Lacey Marie Walker.