A Day at the Races

I grew up reading the Thoroughbred series as a kid (as I’m sure many of us have) and loved reading about the races. I had never been as there wasn’t one near where I grew up. As an adult, it hadn’t come up. I don’t gamble so there wasn’t much of a reason for me to go.

Now that I’m in San Diego, I definitely wanted to go to Del Mar at least at some point. I’ve been to the fairgrounds for horse shows and have seen the track but its not the same as attending. My day came when my husband told me that his company’s summer bbq was going to be held at the race track. We were even going to be in the infield in some sort of plaza they have there.

To say I was excited is an understatement. He did warn me that some of his coworkers were probably going to ask me for betting advice since I was the only person they knew who rides. I laughed cause I don’t know anything about race betting. Surprisingly, no one ended up asking me for advice past explaining what the stats in the little booklet they hand out mean.

The best my hair was gonna get in the wind…

I’m a perpetually early person so we were some of the first there. I sat and nibbled at some food for a bit but when it was five minutes from the start of the first race I had to get to the track. It was a 6-furlong race so they started on the backside. Hardly anyone else was there so I had a delightful view. It was awesome.

I ended up watching about five races and managing to get right next to the finish line for the rest. There was a mile race on the turf as well and the thunder of hooves as they passed on the start was… emotional? Weirdly emotional. Its such a fascinating sound and hits all the love of horse buttons inside me. There was a maiden 2-year-old race that was the last one I saw for the night. The start from the gate was hilarious. All the babies were so confused and jumped out and then spooked sideways before realizing that they were running and settling down to business.

I definitely want to go back. I wouldn’t call myself a diehard fan but I enjoyed my day. I’d love to go back with people who love horses and know something about racing. The infield was an interesting view but I actually want to be up in the stands so I can see the action better.