He took bettors for a ride

Broadcasting icon Gil Stratton, recently profiled in a two-part series by KFWB’s Bill Seward for laradio.com, talked about his 20 years as the host of a popular horse racing show.

Because of his diminutive size, some people thought Stratton had been a jockey. He hadn’t. In fact, he told Seward he really didn’t like horse racing and wasn’t a student of the sport.

But people at the track would see him and ask him for a tip.

Stratton told Seward he would ask the inquiring fan which race, and if they said the fourth race, he’d say the No. 4 horse looked good. If it was the sixth race, he would say the No. 6 horse.

Just another reason not to take seriously any race tips heard at the track.

Trivia time

Stratton, originally an actor who was also a minor league umpire for 10 years, became the sports anchor on the late news at Channel 2 in 1954. Who was the big-name sports star he replaced? (Hint: This person was a Heisman Trophy winner.)

Bonus prize

The first two people to have single Pick Six winning tickets during the upcoming winter meet at Santa Anita will also win a new Corvette, the track announced. “If someone has the Pick Six all alone, they’re going to be handed a set of keys,” said Allen Gutterman, Santa Anita’s marketing chief.

And this may be the best part: Gutterman says the car will come with a full tank of gas.

Movers and shakers

Comedian Lewis Black, appearing on HBO’s “Inside the NFL,” suggested moving the Arizona Cardinals to Los Angeles and calling them the Earthquakes or the Mudslides or the Implants.

“For the Cardinals, it would be a short drive, something they seem to be good at,” Black said.

Another thing the Cardinals are good at is moving from city to city. They’ve gone from Chicago to St. Louis to Phoenix.

Sign of the times

Grant Town, W.Va. (pop. 641) took down two signs saying “Home of WVU Head Football Coach Rich Rodriguez” because Rodriguez is leaving West Virginia for Michigan. The townspeople learned a lesson last year. While Alabama was attempting to lure Rodriguez, someone stole one of the signs.

The Associated Press reported that after Rodriguez signed a new contract with West Virginia, the sign was left across the street from the town hall with a note attached that said: “Since the coach is staying, here’s your sign back.”

Bad-luck charm

Jessica Simpson got a lot of airtime while sitting in a luxury suite at Texas Stadium and watching boyfriend Tony Romo perform on the field last Sunday. Simpson wore a pink No. 9 Romo jersey.

Meanwhile, the Dallas quarterback had a terrible day in a 10-6 loss to Philadelphia.

“Is Jessica Simpson the football version of Memo Paris, the blond bombshell who was kryptonite to Roy Hobbs’ Wonderboy in ‘The Natural’?” wrote Rafael Vela at TheBoysBlog.com. “Everybody’s due a bad day at the office, but if Romo plays like this next week, Jessica Simpson will become the most hated celebrity significant other since Yoko Ono.”

In fact, several sports talk radio hosts have been referring to Simpson as “Yoko Romo.”

And, said comedian Alex Kaseberg, “It was a little embarrassing when Jessica put on a No. 9 jersey, looked down at it and said, ‘So why am I wearing No. 6?’ ”

Trivia answer

Tom Harmon.

And finally

Reggie Hayes of the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel, on Dodgers Manager Joe Torre undergoing knee-replacement surgery Dec. 5: “It was his second procedure this off-season. Earlier, he had three Steinbrenners taken off his back.”

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larry.stewart@latimes.com