A Day at the Races with American Pharoah
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing the newly minted Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh in person at his home track, Santa Anita. They paraded him on the track between the 7th and 8th races, and the crowd ate it up. Now I’m not a racing aficionado, but I have seen races at Aqueduct, Belmont, Hipodromo Argentino (in Buenos Aires) and Hollywood Park over the years and in addition, have followed the Triple Crown races pretty closely as well (Highlight of my betting career? Hitting a $2 exacta in the 2002 Kentucky Derby for $1300). As a young man with a whole bunch of lint in my pocket, paying $2-$3 to walk in and hang on the rail while watching the races was a great deal. I could juice up outside the gates, bring in a bagel or a sandwich and save my money for the dart throwing practice of betting on the ponies. The price for admission has changed, but a day at the track is still a good value. Racetracks, like casinos, focus most of their efforts on getting you into the building. Once you’re in, they’re banking on the fact that you’re going to bet every race (a surprising amount of people do) which is where they make (along with concessions) their money. Nowadays, I like to be more comfortable, so instead of paying $5 to get in and mix it up with the masses, I pay $10 to hang in the clubhouse and deal with a little less traffic.
It’s like Jack Dawson’s experience on the Titanic, the higher up you are, the better dressed the patrons. Once you’ve had dinner with the swells in first class, the journey back down to steerage is pronounced. But the thing you miss when you're watching a race from the Turf Club is the excitement of the race itself. At the table next to ours was a family that owned a couple of horses racing that day. And while they were perfectly nice people, like everyone else in our section, they weren't exactly yelling their heads off (even when one of their horses won). Yeah, it's hotter and unshaded in the grandstands, and there's more cigarette smoke and fewer ladies in hats, but the genuine excitement that occurs when watching a race unfold is palpable. So instead of viewing the Triple Crown winner from a box seat through opera glasses, we went down to apron, caught a section of rail, and watched American Pharaoh dazzle the crowd up close.
We happen to know a couple of people who know a couple of people, so I’ve had the good fortune of viewing races at Santa Anita from the suites as well as spending time down in the winner’s circle post race. But you don’t have to know someone to get a table in a shaded area, with your own monitor to follow the races, order food and drink off a menu and have access to less congested betting areas. You can get all that by making a reservation and spending $10-$15 a head. Whether you bet $100 a race, $2 every 3rd race, or just show up to get some fresh air and watch the horses run around, go to the track. Once you pay to enter, you are free to bet as often or as little as you like. It’s a nice way to spend an afternoon and it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to do it. Most tracks will allow you to picnic in certain areas while still watching (and betting) the races, so it costs you even less to be there. And if you’re looking for a festive way to watch the Triple Crown, almost every track simulcasts the races with free admission, you can bet on them and hang out at the same time. So give it a shot if you’ve never been to a racetrack -- it’s definitely worth your while to swing by.
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