One day while he was at the track playing the ponies and all but losing
 his shirt, Mitch noticed a priest who stepped out onto the track and
 blessed the forehead of one of the horses lining up for the 4th race.

 Lo and behold, that horse - a very long shot - won the race.

 Before the next race, as the horses began lining up, Mitch watched with
 interest the old priest step onto the track. Sure enough, as the 5th race
 horses came to the starting gate the priest made a blessing on the
 forehead of one of the horses.

 Mitch made a beeline for a betting window and placed a small bet on the
 horse. Again, even though it was another long shot, the horse the priest
 had blessed won the race.

 Mitch collected his winnings, and anxiously waited to see which horse the
 priest would bless for the 6th race. The priest again blessed a horse.
 Mitch bet big on it, and it won. Mitch was elated.

 As the races continued the priest kept blessing long shot horses, and
 each  one ended up coming in first. Bye and bye, Mitch was pulling in some
 serious money. By the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to
 come true.

 He made a quick dash to the ATM, withdrew all his savings, and awaited
 the  priest's blessing that would tell him which horse to bet on.

 True to his pattern, the priest stepped onto the track for the last race
 and blessed the forehead of an old nag that was the longest shot of the day.
 Mitch also observed the priest blessing the eyes, ears and hooves of the
 old nag.

 Mitch knew he had a winner and bet every cent he owned on the old nag. He
 then watched dumbfounded as the old nag come in dead last. Mitch, in a
 state of shock, made his way down to the track area where the priest was.

 Confronting the old priest he demanded,  'Father! What happened?  All day
 long you blessed horses and they all won Then in the last race, the horse
 you blessed lost by a Kentucky mile. Now, thanks to you I've lost every cent
 of  my savings - all of it!'.

 The priest nodded wisely and with sympathy.  'Son,' he said, 'that's the
 problem  with you Protestants, you can't tell the difference between a simple
 blessing and last rites.