5537 - Long joke Sunday

CATHOLIC  HORSES...

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, the 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

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 you Protestants, you can't tell the

difference between a simple blessing and last rites!"