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This time capsule’s right on track!
A park builder found a half-century-old note in London urging its future finder to bet on a racehorse with a Christmas-themed name — and there’s one competing in England’s biggest derby this weekend.
Craciun Marius Dorin was doing construction at Crystal Palace Park on April 15 when he said he stumbled onto four gold coins and the note hidden under a statue, according to Jam Press.
The mystery message, penned in 1964, declared that coins were winning cash from a bet the author had placed on an Irish-trained colt named Santa Claus, who raced in the Epsom Derby in June 1964.
It urged the finder of the message to go all-in on a horse “associated with Santa Claus” — and Dorin soon learned a 3-year-old thoroughbred named Christmas Day will race in the same derby this Saturday.
“It was very exciting,” said Josh Smalls, the project’s site manager. “To find a piece of history like that – and for it to link up so well with the horse this year – it was kind of spooky.”
He said he pored through past racing rosters and found no others linked to Kris Kringle.
“I looked through the rosters of the last few years and couldn’t find any other horse with a Christmassy name,” Smalls said.
He now plans to pony up $25 to bet on the horse, whose name has sparked other uncanny coincidences.
“After going down a bit of a research rabbit hole, I found out that the trainer of Santa Claus was a fellow called Vincent O’Brien, and it turned out the trainer of this horse, Christmas Day, is actually called Aidan O’Brien,” Smalls said.
Dorin, meanwhile, said his first name also happens to be related to the holly jolly holiday.
“I’m Romanian, and Craciun in Romanian actually means Christmas – isn’t that crazy?” Dorin said.
Bromley Mayor Christine Harris has also placed a $20 bet on Christmas Day, saying her winnings will go to charities, according to the outlet.
The capsule contained shillings and half crowns worth around $13 today.
They were found wrapped in plastic beneath the bust of Sir Joseph Paxton, the Victorian garden designer who built the Crystal Palace, which is undergoing a revamp.
The statue was being removed to be relocated as part of a revamp of Crystal Palace Park.
English (US)