A Day at the Races

After a fairly uneventful holiday weekend (mostly due to illness), QB and I spent today over at Bay Meadows in San Mateo. QB had never been to a racetrack, and I believe this was only my third time, the last being some 5 or 6 years ago. The two of us knew going in that we were likely to be betting losers, since neither of us had even an inkling of a clue when it came to assessing a horse's chances.




We were pretty conservative with small bets ranging from $2 to $5 and the occasional Quinella bet (none came through, though there were a couple of close calls. So, anyway I started off in a positive manner after coming out net positive in 4 of the first 5 races. Unfortunately, my luck changed for the worse and I ended up a $25 loser on the day. QB fared a bit better as she gave up only $15. It was a lot of fun, and we each got a free duffel bag due to a promotion the track was having.

Maybe we'll go back some time. We both really enjoyed the day, and all in all the total amount we spent isn't much different than if we went to watch a baseball game. Also, something that I never realized before is that there is a lot of running around. You have to go check out the horses on display, place your bets, and then get back to the viewing area all in a span of about 25 minutes... over and over again. It probably resulted in a decent workout since we always sat up at the top level bleachers.

If you've never been to a race track, check one out. It's actually pretty fun.