Wednesday, August 27, 2008

And They're Off!

Some of you know my amateur (and I mean very amateur) interest in horse-racing. Perhaps you followed the quest for the Triple Crown this year by Big Brown, only to have your dreams dashed in the Belmont Stakes. I've never been to the Kentucky Derby, but it remains a distant dream of mine to attend.

While I had heard tell that there was a horse-racing track just outside of Chicago, little did I know the thrills of actually attending. A hop, skip, and a jump out to Arlington Heights, IL stands a gem called Arlington Park.

For a the small price of $7 each, we spent all the live long day there, watching the races, enjoying one of these last summer days, and placing a few humble bets. For my first race, I put $2 on "Nine Patch" to place. Despite his odds of 30-1, I couldn't resist putting my hopes in a horse named after a quilting pattern. Needless to say, he lost. Throughout the day's eleven races, several in our party won big. I think I'll stick to $0.10 bets until I get the first clue about betting and reading the odds.

6 comments:

Amy and Andrew said...

As I've said before, win or lose, the thrill is priceless!

Jen (Devourer of Books) said...

I live about 5 minutes from there. Just an FYI if you're ever up there and want to hang out.

Melissa said...

FUN! Great shots, Sarah!

Anonymous said...

This gave me a chuckle. It brought back alot of memories of when I dated a gambler many years ago. We often went to the horse track. It was fun to watch the races, but he(BF) wasted a ton of money doing this and playing poker each week. I couldn't understand how these people live. Crazy!

Swedish Colombian said...

The things you find out about people when they tell on themselves online!! Hey, big spender, what were you going to do with all the loot if you won? :)

Anonymous said...

I know nothing about betting and odds and horses, but I feel fairly certain that I would have bet on 'Nine Patch' as well!