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Keeneland Racetrack
Lexington, Kentucky
October 16, 2004 |
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Welcome to a re-cap of Rebecca and my trip to Keeneland Racetrack for the Fall 2004 meet. We went on cold and windy Saturday. It was about 50 degrees with 20mph winds. We were a little chilly, but sunshine later in the day warmed us up.
Below I've included a picture tour of our trip to Keeneland. Technically speaking, the pictures below are not in chronological order, but I arranged them to give you a typical example of our routine at the racetrack. Unlike most professional sports, watching horse racing is very interactive and you spend most of the time on your feet walking around, checking out the horses, placing bets, etc. Our day began with lunch in the parking lot for a pseduo-tailgater. They were plenty of others guests enjoying all sorts of food and beverages in the parking lot as well. After lunch, it was time to head to the track! |
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Before each race, all the horses are saddled up in the paddock area, which is directly behind the grandstand. This is a good time to get a look at the horses before the race. |
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'Bold Move''s handlers adjust his saddle. Notice all defined muscles on the horses. The horse isn't even flexing! Or is he... |
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Here is 'Fighting Wolf' after his saddle was put on. That is all the saddle the jockeys use! Rebecca bet on him, but he ended up second to last. However, he was one of the best looking horses of the day. |
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After the jockeys are mounted on their horse, they ride through a tunnel and onto the track. I liked the 'horse crossing' sign. |
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Now is the time to place your bet before the race begins. After studying the betting pool boards, I noticed that over half of the money bet on each race is done within the last five minutes before the race. This was a typical puzzled look I had as I tried to make sense of the numbers in the program. |
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The horses walk and do a little bit of running to warm up before the race. Horse 5 in this picture was 'Ticker Tape', winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, the featured race of the day. She won $310,000. I won $8.10. My biggest win of the day! |
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And they're off! |
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This is my attempt to capture the crowds at the racetrack that day. There were 25,700 people attending this Saturday, a near-sellout crowd. |
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Yet another near-perfect self-photograph. |
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After the race, it is off to the paddock area to get a look at the horses for the next race, and the cycle continues. Overall, it was a great day at the track. Rebecca lost $10 on the day. I came out ahead by $3.90. Add in $1 for hot chocolate plus $3 each for admission, and it only cost us $13.10! A whole day of entertainment for cheaper than admission to the movie theatre. Stellar.
We invite anyone to come to Lexington and visit us in April or October to experience the fun and excitement of horse racing. We love to go!
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