(A time to reflect…My place to pray)

Earlier this week, I found out that my great friend — Eric Halstrom, who is the amazing Vice President and General Manager at Caesar’s Horseshoe Indianapolis racing facility — had announced that I would be the title sponsor of The Salute the Heroes Stakes this coming Tuesday.

It is the headliner of the Thoroughbred races carded on Veterans Day at the amazing little track that could in the middle of corn country and God’s amazing graceland.

But it is so much more than just that.

So much more.

You see…

It is a day set aside by the track and its’ leader to pay tribute to all those that have given so much to protect our way of life and have sacrificed all to ensure that we here on this promised land can live free and prosperous.

It is the moment in time that Eric has chosen to raise money and awareness for Helpless Veterans and Families of Indiana, an organization that works tirelessly to assist those military folks who have returned home without a home.

It is set out to assist those who have come back and have found their own backs to the wall.

It is intended to help those who have given so much of their hearts and souls that they don’t have anything left for themselves.

It is an act of amazing grace, thought up by Eric Halstrom — himself a son of a military man; himself a son of a man Eric watched and loved and witnessed; a man he honored and respected for all his father had done in quiet and willing sacrifice.

For several years now, Eric has invited a group of handicappers to come to Horseshoe Indianapolis and wager on the Late Pick 5. The track would give us all $250 to place the bet. The track would match each of them. If those picks won, then the track would donate their selections to the HVAF in Indianapolis.

Every year would come. Every day would happen. Sometimes we would get lucky enough to donate a few hundred dollars apiece and add to the fund raiser. Our hope was always to land the “big one,” and give the organization a marlin-size donation. But every year would come and go and our donations seemed to pale in comparison to the dream of assisting so many in a more meaningful way.

When Horseshoe’s 2025 racing season approached this year, I approached my great friend Eric with an offer. I asked if it would be OK to start a “Donation Play of the Day” throughout the entire meet. I couldn’t do every single day of the longest meet in the country. But I would try to do several per week, if I could.

Eric gave me his permission and grace.

I tried to give Horseshoe Indianapolis my best.

I started my “Donation Play” on April 15. I won with my first wager. I bet $5 across the board on Mondavila that day and we earned $21.75 in return.

I knew right then and there that I was hooked. I promised that every dollar that we earned would go to the HVAF organization that Eric has helped so faithfully. And, when I lost, I would never deduct a single penny from what we had earned. My money in. All gross profits to go to HVAP. It was the least I could do to help those who needed helping the most.

I have now made 48 bets throughout the meet. Of those 48, I have picked 15 winners; 10 seconds; and 5 thirds. That’s a win percentage of 31.25. The picks have hit the board 62.50% of the time.

I am so sorry I didn’t do better. I feel like I should have done better. I always tried to do better. And, I felt a little loss with every loss. And, to be very honest, I took every loss a little harder along the way. I didn’t want to disappoint. I didn’t want to fail. All I wanted to do was help those that needed helping. I am so very sorry.

As I struggled to find the right picks to make, I realized one day that part of the journey of doing this was a walk that some of the veterans we are attempting to help probably experience every single day in a much more pronounced and depressing way. Never to compare my internal struggle with their daily grind, mind you. But it brought me awareness that struggles of life are true and real and that we all need help along life’s journey.

I am sure these heroes awake every single day wanting to win; wanting to make people happy again; wanting to not disappoint; wanting not to fail; wanting to help others like they were instructed to do so faithfully and honestly. I am sure they go to bed every night — somewhere in the cold and perhaps, if lucky, on a cot — with saying they were sorry and a promise they would do better tomorrow. It is in their hearts. It is in their souls. It is what inspired them all to give so much.

This year has been an education for me.

It has taught me humility in a way I have never experienced before. It has taught me to make my tithe directly to those that need it the most, and to make it faithfully, graciously, humbly. It has taught me to give to those I have never met, in person; never had the honor to shake their hands or break bread with them together. It has taught me it is OK to love one another without knowing the color of skin, or religious choice, or any other bias or prejudice. It has taught me to respect those that work directly to help others, without knowing their names. It has taught me to love — unconditionally.

After this week, we have now earned $1,255.70 through our “Donation of the Day” plays.

It is not much. It is not nearly enough. It is embarrassingly inadequate. I know.

But I try to convince myself that every little bit helps. Even my “little bit.”

I hope that it does. I hope it helps someone who needs it far more than I do.

On Tuesday, I will go to Horseshoe Indianapolis and visit with my friends there and hug my buddy Eric and his lovely wife Kris. They are truly the modern day “Good Samaritans.” I could tell you so much more about how much they give without public recognition and consumption. So much more.

On Tuesday, I will bring my check to donate to the HVAF organization. I will surrender all.

On Tuesday, I will join with some of my other public handicappers and we will try our best to make that $250 wager work and turn a single loaf of bread into enough to feed the multitudes.

And, on Tuesday, I will make a $500 win wager on some horse on the card, as well. I don’t know yet which one. If it wins, all of it will go to the HVAF, as well. I promise.

On Tuesday, I will walk to the winner’s circle with Eric and give away a trophy to the winning connections of Race 8 — the Salute the Heroes Stakes. In that presentation, I will take a glimpse of the surroundings and look to the heavens. I will give thanks for being in a position where I can help a little. I will give prayers to people like Eric and Kris Halstrom, who make everyone’s life a little better.

I will give. And, that’s exactly what this day was planned to do.

Give.