‘Railbird’ Roberts ready to report on MVRC

Are you ready?

I am. And I have been since seventh grade when I shocked my junior high principal by asking to be excused from school for opening day.

“Big Indians fan, are you?” he asked.

“It’s not for the ballgame,” I said. “I want the day off for the season opener at the Thistledown racetrack.”

“Young man,” said the principal, his eyebrows arched in horror, “I think you should return to your home room and open a book.”

I won’t need an excuse to be at Mahoning Valley Race Course tomorrow. I’m working it for The Vindicator. Take that, Principal Statler.

Some of you may know me. My name is Bob Roberts. I was the turf writer and handicapper for The Plain Dealer for 21 years. Before that, I did the same thing at the old Cleveland Press where a colleague nicknamed me “Railbird.” The moniker has stuck for decades.

Starting Monday, on these same pages, we’re going to have fun at the races. The Vindicator has signed me up to write a story each and every live racing day at Ohio’s newest racetrack. MVRC is Beulah Park, removed from suburban Columbus, renamed and reborn in Austintown.

My scribblings will be a mixed bag. They will include profiles of owners, trainers and jockeys, as well as barn area notes and reviews of races that I call “equine rewind.”

There will also be handicapping tips and a nod towards one or two on horses I think have the best shot of ending up in the winner’s circle. Wager with your head, not over it.

The Vindicator is allowing me to reprise a job that most horseplayers can only dream of enjoying.

I covered every Kentucky Derby from Secretariat in 1973 to Barbaro in 2006. I interviewed the greatest jockeys (Bill Shoemaker and Angel Cordero, to name just two), and rubbed shoulders with horse-loving movie and television stars like Bo Derek, Jack Klugman and Jaclyn Smith.

I was even lucky enough to interview royalty when Sheik Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai and owner of many Derby colts, walked out of a barn at Churchill Downs. He’s a regular guy, except for his golden spurs and billions in the bank.

Getting back to the ponies, there are few athletes as elegant as thoroughbred racehorses. It doesn’t matter if they are headed for the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby or a blue collar claiming race at Mahoning Valley, they are gorgeous beasts.

A saying attributed to Winston Churchill sums it up best: “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.”

Monday, we start feeling good about ourselves, inside and out.

See you at the races. Wear your lucky pants.

Bob Roberts is a veteran journalist covering Ohio horse racing. Watch for him in The Vindy each day there’s a horse race at Mahoning Valley Race Course. Email him BRand10118@aol.com.