Buffalo raceway mid 80s

[Any1Left]

I remember going to this track often and the top drivers all were gangsters,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,PATSY RAPONE and PHILIPE Le FROMBOIS and GASTON GUINDON AND IT was all a guess on who is setting one up and the purses were to low to earn a living from 5 percent and i was kind of ok with it because i knew that most of these guys like PATSY had addictions that kept them broke and then came the BIG M and it was the greatest show on earth for me with horse like SONSAM AND NIATROSS, CAM FELLA AND MANY MORE and cheating never felt like a every race problem and this place was packed and in many cases a cash was a small lottery,,,,,,,,,,,Now today we have purses go to the moon and worse cheating than ever before as drivers are driving horses like JAMES HARDEN  plays defense and that is cheating me with them betting or not as today racing should be better than ever and in many sports guys are good friends but they will injure their friend to win and even fake a play for a flag and in harness racing they wont protect an owner if someone destroys them in a race as an inquiry is a sin,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Also on a funny note about Buffalo raceway when entering the dinning room they gave me a lottery type number and after race 8 the winner had a free meal and that night 5 of us went up and i was broke after race 7 and my table left the dinning room but i waited hoping to win the draw and then they announced the winner and it was this elderly couple that had dessert and a coffee next to mine and they said to me lets switch numbers so you get a free meal and i would pay for their meal so i went to the front and showed them the winning ticket and they asked me if this was my ticket as our bill was 15 times the amount of the winning bill and i asked them why would you ask that and they did not like it but accepted my bill and i was back in action and being in my mid 20s i felt rich,,,,,,,,, That was the last week of the lottery as the next week they announced a table number,,,,,,

[rainman2]

I remember going to this track often and the top drivers all were gangsters,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,PATSY RAPONE and PHILIPE Le FROMBOIS and GASTON GUINDON AND IT was all a guess on who is setting one up and the purses were to low to earn a living from 5 percent and i was kind of ok with it because i knew that most of these guys like PATSY had addictions that kept them broke and then came the BIG M and it was the greatest show on earth for me with horse like SONSAM AND NIATROSS, CAM FELLA AND MANY MORE and cheating never felt like a every race problem and this place was packed and in many cases a cash was a small lottery,,,,,,,,,,,Now today we have purses go to the moon and worse cheating than ever before as drivers are driving horses like JAMES HARDEN  plays defense and that is cheating me with them betting or not as today racing should be better than ever and in many sports guys are good friends but they will injure their friend to win and even fake a play for a flag and in harness racing they wont protect an owner if someone destroys them in a race as an inquiry is a sin,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Also on a funny note about Buffalo raceway when entering the dinning room they gave me a lottery type number and after race 8 the winner had a free meal and that night 5 of us went up and i was broke after race 7 and my table left the dinning room but i waited hoping to win the draw and then they announced the winner and it was this elderly couple that had dessert and a coffee next to mine and they said to me lets switch numbers so you get a free meal and i would pay for their meal so i went to the front and showed them the winning ticket and they asked me if this was my ticket as our bill was 15 times the amount of the winning bill and i asked them why would you ask that and they did not like it but accepted my bill and i was back in action and being in my mid 20s i felt rich,,,,,,,,, That was the last week of the lottery as the next week they announced a table number,,,,,,

You forgot a few names!  Sorry I probably missed a few important names. 

Fred Haslip
Phil Laspino
Jose Delgado
Al Mariacher
Dave Vance
Ray Schnittker
Jim Wetzel
Ken Ball
Chuck Crissman Jr.
Bob 'Mr. Cool' Altizer
Ron Hill Jr.


The previous generations--FYI, their bloodlines are still here in 2024:

John Cummings Sr.
Ed McNeight Jr.
Tom Swift

[Arnold Ziffel]

Ray and his Dad came out of there

[toothman]

Gerry Sarama?

[SwankToliverA]

Ray and his Dad came out of there

Yes they did

[SwankToliverA]

Gerry Sarama?

Yes Gerry as well.

[Babinga]

Also on a funny note about Buffalo raceway when entering the dinning room they gave me a lottery type number and after race 8 the winner had a free meal and that night 5 of us went up and i was broke after race 7 and my table left the dinning room but i waited hoping to win the draw and then they announced the winner and it was this elderly couple that had dessert and a coffee next to mine and they said to me lets switch numbers so you get a free meal and i would pay for their meal so i went to the front and showed them the winning ticket and they asked me if this was my ticket as our bill was 15 times the amount of the winning bill and i asked them why would you ask that and they did not like it but accepted my bill and i was back in action and being in my mid 20s i felt rich,,,,,,,,, That was the last week of the lottery as the next week they announced a table number,,,,,,

The track was so crooked that they even fixed the dinner lottery!

Babi

[Grandstand Handicapper]

Gerry Sarama?

Sure did! Before Gerry came south to the big city, Gerry was doing very, very well in Western New York. He finally moved to Roosevelt in the late 70's. He was always one of the good guys. He gave up driving around 2007 or 2008 and stuck with training full-time.

[rainman2]

Anyone remember Hugh Stevens and what his legal issues were??

Also forgot about Richie Blaun as a name I missed earlier in this thread.

Can anyone add to this list?

[Any1Left]

A major point to my story was not the cheating back then but to me i fully understand someone with addiction or a big family and always being in trouble cheating and stealing while you are hungry is not even close to stealing while being rich and yes to many stealing is stealing but to me that is shallow thinking,,,,,,,,,, Today racing with purses being as high as they are means that all with ability are making a huge living and the bullshit we see around giving up holes and softball racing is pure lowlife racing and cheating at the highest level i have seen in this game,,,,,,,,,,, Today guys like Amac and his groupies that must be family are applauded for robbery and it is robbery nothing else,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Patsy and others at Buffalo raceway were always addicts with no money and yes they cheated but the system was also a contributing problem with them as purses were way to small and not always did they get paid,,,,,,,,,,,, This is how i see things and today it is not always about cheating at the windows that only bothers me as the lack of pride i feel some of these low life guys have really gets to me and at Mohawk tonight race 10 when MC NAIR played hard ball with a monster 2nd quarter we saw a rare last to first win that almost never happens,,,,,,,,,,,

[Raging pace]

Hugh stevens was involved with ken mego and Louie Russo. Russo was busted coming across the bridge from Canada with a horse trailer full of drugs for horses. The 3 were involved . Russo blew the whistle on the other 2 and got off . Not sure if mego spent anytime in prison but Hugh stevens did, a long time. Believe he was just released in the last 2 years. Russo can’t hold a trainers license in ny state so they use his wife rose as trainer on paper. Everyone knows Louie is training on a farm track and shipping in on race days.

[getreal]

A few more: rankin,Murphy,Gary Payne, Mike Schaefer, Hugh and Chris Maser/Faye Webster/john Glair/bruce Tubin/john Starkjr/ mark whitcroft/

[Horseradish]

Hugh stevens was involved with ken mego and Louie Russo. Russo was busted coming across the bridge from Canada with a horse trailer full of drugs for horses. The 3 were involved . Russo blew the whistle on the other 2 and got off . Not sure if mego spent anytime in prison but Hugh stevens did, a long time. Believe he was just released in the last 2 years. Russo can’t hold a trainers license in ny state so they use his wife rose as trainer on paper. Everyone knows Louie is training on a farm track and shipping in on race days.

If you can read and have 20 mins, here's the whole story:

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1948/a08.html

[rainman2]

A few more: rankin,Murphy,Gary Payne, Mike Schaefer, Hugh and Chris Maser/Faye Webster/john Glair/bruce Tubin/john Starkjr/ mark whitcroft/

thank you

Forgot about the canadian beer man, the maser's and gary payne.  stark began at buffalo but was more infamous at vernon.
 
how many races did tubin win as a driver?

jim ranking had many nice horses too.  had a nice open horse named jolly john john who won many opens in the late 70's!

We all forgot about clint galbraith too!
 

[drawbar]

Carmen hie, Ted Jacob's.  John and Jack kopas, Sam schillachi