The hat joke

One very windy day, a rabbi is on his way to the temple. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blows his streimel (fur hat) off his head. The rabbi runs after his hat but the wind is so strong it blows his hat farther and farther away. He just can't catch up with it.

A young man, a gentile, witnesses this event and being more fit than the rabbi, runs after the hat, catches it and hands it over to the rabbi. The rabbi is so happy and grateful that he gives the young man a five dollar reward and lays his hand on the man's head and blesses him.

The young man is very excited about the tip and the blessing and decides to go to the racetrack and bet his 5 unexpected dollars. After the races the young man returns home and recounts his very exciting day at the races to his father.

'I arrived at the fifth race,' says the young man, 'looked at the racing program and saw a horse by the name of 'Top Hat' running. The odds on the horse were 100 to 1 ... the longest shot in the field. Having received the rabbi's blessing and the 5 dollars and thinking of the rabbi's hat and the horse's name being 'Top Hat', I thought this was a message from the Almighty, so I bet the entire 5 dollars on this horse.

An amazing thing happened. The horse that was the long shot in the field and who didn't have the slightest chance to even show, came in first by 5 lengths!'

'You must have made a fortune,' smiles the father.

'Yes Pop, $500, but wait, it gets better,' continues the son.

'On the following race, I looked at the program. A horse by the name of 'Stetson' was running. The odds on Stetson horse were 30 to 1! But Stetson being some kind of hat and again thinking of the rabbi's blessing and his hat, I decided to bet all my winnings on this horse.'

'What happened?' asks his excited father.

'Stetson won big and I collected a fortune.'

'You mean you brought home all this money?' asks his father.

'No,' says the son, 'I lost it all on the next race. There was a horse in this race named 'Chateau' so I bet all the money on it because the horse was the heavy favorite and the name also means 'hat' in French and remember it all started with the rabbi's hat. But the stupid horse broke down and came in last! It wiped me out.'

His father wails, 'Hat in French is 'Chapeau' not 'Chateau', you idiot! You lost all that money because of your ignorance. Tell me, who won the race anyway?'

'A Japanese horse named 'Yamaka ! '