
One day while he was at the track playing the ponies and all but losing his shirt, Mitch noticed a priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of the
horses lining up for the 4th
race. Lo and behold, that
horse - a very long shot - won the
race!
Before the next
race, as the
horses began lining up, Mitch watched with interest the old priest step onto the track. Sure enough, as the 5th
race horses came to the starting gate the priest made a blessing on the forehead of one of the
horses.
Mitch made a beeline for a betting window and placed a small bet on the
horse. Again, even though it was another long shot, the
horse the priest had blessed won the
race. Mitch collected his winnings, and anxiously waited to see which
horse the priest would bless for the 6th
race. The priest again blessed a
horse. Mitch bet big on it, and it won. Mitch was elated.. As the
races continued the priest kept blessing long shot
horses, and each one ended up coming in first. By and by, Mitch was pulling in some serious money. By the last
race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick dash to the ATM, withdrew all his savings, and awaited the priest's blessing that would tell him which
horse to bet on.
True to his pattern, the priest stepped onto the track for the last
race and blessed the forehead of an old nag that was the longest shot of the day. Mitch also observed the priest blessing the eyes, ears, and hooves of the old nag.
Mitch knew he had a winner and bet every cent he owned on the old nag. He then watched dumbfounded as the old nag come in dead last. Mitch, in a state of shock, made his way down to the track area where the priest was.
Confronting the old priest he demanded, 'Father! What happened? All day long you blessed
horses and they all won. Then in the last
race, the
horse you blessed lost by a Kentucky mile. Now, thanks to you I've lost every cent of my savings -- all of it!'.
The priest nodded wisely and with sympathy. 'Son,' he said, 'that's the problem with most people, you can't tell the difference between a simple blessing and last rites.'