Sunday was a DAY AT THE RACES!!! ...Courtesy of one of the 'Meetup' groups I joined that is for Thoroughbred Racing enthusiasts.
The morning started at about 9:30am, after I braved three different freeways to get to Arcadia where the Santa Anita Racetrack is located and the location of today's adventure. Once I arrived, I met the group and we had breakfast at the 'Clockers Corner' where we watched several riders exercise their horses.
I finished breakfast pretty quickly and then went inside to sign up with the HBO's new series, LUCK, as an extra. I figured since I was already out there, why not give it a go. The open auditions just happened to fall on the same day as our meetup. I'll find out later if they'll want me, but it didn't cost me anything, since I was already there.
Soon after I returned from my 'audition' (which was really filling out some very brief paper work and taking a couple of photos) I joined the group for the barn tour, where we got the low down from one of the trainers, met some horses, and found out a little bit about getting into the racing business. One of the ladies in the group was a friend of the Meetup organizer, and she was a loud, 'know it all' who didn't know as much as she tried to seem like she did...so that was the only distraction...and by the looks on the faces of the other 14 or so people, I wasn't the only one.
After the barn tour we got our tickets and went into the actual stadium and it was really pretty. We immediately went to a betting seminar where we were given some brief lessons on having fun and 'investing' in the sport as a opposed to gambling and perhaps loosing our homes. The betting seminar took place in the middle of the track (not sure what it's properly called) but it was there I was able to meet and briefly talk with some of the riders and horses from LUCK...they were getting their daily workout.
The end of the betting seminar led us into the next part of our day, which was watching the races from our box seats, and it was fun. I only stayed for four of the nine races, but it was definitely something great to experience and I hope to do it again soon.
The best part of the day was that all this was FREE...that's right, I paid, nada, zilch, nothing...well, except for the gas to get there (which wasn't too bad) and the two bucks I lost on a race (I had to put my newly acquired betting skills to use...) In any event it was still a Free day of fun.
Parking: Free, Tour: Free, Seminar:Free, Track:Admittance:Free, Box seats:Free...Day at the Races:Priceless.
Such a gorgeous track! Your day sounded AMAZING! Thanks for sharing. I think I need to check out LUCK!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was amazing...and much needed. Yeah, check out Luck...it's an interesting show., Some people LOVE it, and some people hate it...I enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited that you signed up for meetup! I haven't done anything with my groups in a couple weeks, but I love that the opportunities are always there when I want to tag along. What do you think so far?
ReplyDeleteI think it's really neat...and a good way to meet like minded people. Thanks for telling me about it.
ReplyDeleteI just got kicked out of my Yorkie group. :( They expect you to pay dues, but I hadn't even gone to a meetup yet!
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll start my own....?
I think that sounds like a plan! What were they going to do with the dues anyway? Buy treats?
ReplyDelete