The Racehorse Piledriver Matter: Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (October 8, 1949)

“The Racehorse Piledriver Matter” is an episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 8, 1949. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Johnny Dollar, an insurance investigator, is hired by Little Nettie Montana to protect the racehorse Pile Driver, who is heavily insured and no longer winning races. Nettie fears that the horse's owner, Colonel Faraday Bushnell, plans to have the horse killed to collect the insurance. Johnny travels to Hayawatha track near Chicago to investigate and meet the Colonel's daughter Lila, who shows him the horse and reveals her close attachment to him.

Hartford and Hayawatha racing track near Chicago, Michigan, in 1949

Characters: Johnny Dollar, Little Nettie Montana, Colonel Faraday Bushnell, Lila Bushnell, Leo, Mac

Listen for: Johnny's investigation into whether the racehorse Pile Driver is in genuine danger from his owner, and the complications arising from his attraction to Lila Bushnell and interference from the jealous Leo.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.