Now Down the Stretch, Here She Comes-- Gamblin’ Rose!

For 105-year-old Gamblin’ Rose Hamburger, age is no handicap in picking the ponies.

The white-haired ex-railbird, who placed her first win bet in 1909, is a daily fixture touting horses in the New York Post. And she parlayed her new career into a recent television appearance on the David Letterman show.

“I love horses and, I guess, the drama of watching the race,” Hamburger said recently from her Greenwich Village apartment. “I saw the great Secretariat at the Preakness in 1973. And I saw Man O’ War there in 1920.”

In fact, Hamburger saw every Preakness from 1915 through 1988. Born Dec. 29, 1890, in Manhattan, she moved from New York to Baltimore at 25 and became a fixture at Pimlico. It remains her favorite track.

She moved back to New York in 1975 and made herself at home on the Aqueduct homestretch. There, she became such a revered figure that her birthday three years ago was honored with its own race: The Happy 102nd Rose.

At her age, Hamburger doesn’t have a lot of time to waste on her picks. “Five minutes,” she revealed. “I look at the owner, the jockey, the speed and the number of wins. That’s it.”

Hamburger phones her daily “best bet” directly to Post sports editor Greg Gallo, who recruited the centenarian in December 1995 and has since become a major fan.

“When she talks about Man O’ War, she was out there in Baltimore watching him run,” Gallo said. “It’s a history lesson every day.”

Her daily selections, accompanied by her photo, are succinct.

Here was her take on It’s Only A Dream, a recent entrant in the eighth race at Aqueduct: “Longshot with a big chance if she can revert to her form at Woodbine, where she won four straight in fall. Jockey switch to Velazquez won’t hurt.”

The result: It’s Only A Dream ran third, paying $4.70. It’s part of a recent Hamburger surge; after hitting three winners in her first week, she slumped before picking up the pace this month.

Gallo said a Post feature on Hamburger’s 105th birthday was the catalyst for bringing her aboard.

“She asked, ‘What do you want me to do?’ ” Gallo recalled. “I said, ‘Pick a winner and tell us why.’ We send her a copy of The Racing Form and the Post, and we throw in a few bucks.”

The extra cash comes in handy--Hamburger has an active phone account with Off-Track Betting, and religiously watches the races each day in her apartment. She’s a tennis fan, too, with one reservation: “No betting.”

Her job at the Post is Hamburger’s second career; she retired from selling real estate after turning 100. Hamburger said her daughters have no problem with her sudden re-emergence as a tout.

“They let me ride on my own,” Hamburger said.