A.C. Avila: A Horse Trainer Whose Dreams Predict Winners

Southern California Thoroughbred trainer A.C. Avila had a dream last year about a big win. In his dream, he saw racehorse owner Madeline Auerbach handing a huge check to her trainer, Barry Abrams, and insisting that Abrams cash it and bet on their horse. The next day, Avila asked Auerbach, "Do you have a horse in today?" "No," she answered. "Tomorrow?" he insisted. "No, but we have one in Saturday," she said, referring to Rushen Heat in an allowance feature at Hollywood Park.

"I had a dream," Avila told her. "She's going to win." Auerbach didn't pay much attention to his premonition, but Avila bet $2,000 to win on Rushen Heat, who paid nearly $10.00.

Avila tells another story of when he was training in Brazil. That time, he dreamed he was dressed entirely in blue. Several days after the dream, he was on the way to the track when he noticed that he was wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, and blue shoes. He made a wager they had at the time in which he had to select the winning exacta in each of four consecutive races. "I just made the bet, without really handicapping," he said. "And I won. It paid about $111,000 U.S."

He doesn't have these dreams very frequently, but swears that when he does he always knows that they will come true. My new greeting for A.C. will be, "Had any dreams lately?"