Afternoon at the Races

Way back on Monday when Joe & I had the day off together we spent some time at the Atlantic City Race Course.  The venue isn't open all year round, in fact they only hold races like one week a year so there's always a lot of talk around town about going over when it opens.  Joe really wanted to make another trip before they closed up again so after doing a bunch of "my" stuff I gave in and agreed to go.  I'm not really into gambling but it is fun to go experience the track, if only I had a big fancy hat.

They only run a few races a day so we went in to see what exactly was going on then.  There was a new race about to start so we watched it then made our way back out front to see the parade of horses (total technical term).

I think this it supposed to let everyone betting see the animals in case that will make a difference in who you pick.  Joe occasionally made notes in his program like a pro.

After a few times around the circle the jockeys came out and hopped on their horses.  They really are super tiny people.

When Joe was sure of his selections we went inside to place our bets.

I'm not really sure how all of it works but he let me know we needed 11, 10 and 1 to win.

Now it was time to sit around and wait.  We found a spot outside and I took a few pictures.  It's fun because you recognize people from all over the area.  We ran into a friend of Joe's there with his sons and a few girls I remembered from high school.  After a little while the horses were ready and it was time to race.  The mile race took what seemed like a minute or two and then it was over.  I was excited because 11 won, so we won, right!?  Then Joe explained to me that we needed all three horses to place in order to win...lame.

We decided to head home soon thereafter because the sun was going down and it was getting kind of cold out.  All in all it was a nice way to kill an hour or so.  I'm still not sold on gambling but it was definitely a different experience and I'm sure we'll be there again next year.