A Day at The Races

We have a 'Things We Want To Do While Living In California List' and we are able to check going to a racetrack off now.  Santa Anita Racetrack has been around for decades and is noted for its history and architecture.  We were intrigued to experience the art deco building for ourselves and invited our good friends Al & Leah Newman.  We didn't realize what a good choice that was, Al was familiar with the track, having visited often with his father and Leah's sister lives nearby and she knew how to get there.

When we arrived, we drank in the ambiance and then tried to figure out what we were supposed to do.  We explored the grounds and Al explained the racing forms so that we could select horses to watch in each of the ten races that day. 

It's really interesting to watch the horses as they come into the jockey area and get prepared to parade around the grounds and then enter the arena.  The stalls are numbered sequentially but skip the unlucky number thirteen, proceeding from 11, 12, 12a, 14...

Between races sometimes we would return to the parade area to check out the next group of horses and make choices about Win-Place-Show for the next race. 

Al insisted on upgrading to box seats which was a great way to get the full racetrack experience.  Within each box there was a TV so that you could watch other races and sporting events between races.

Local Flavor - the bugler not only added an air of excitement, he also took requests and visited people in their seats to celebrate special occasions.  I'm sure this had a price, but he was very nice when I took his picture;)  Another specialty at the track is this corned beef sandwich with enough meat to feed our family for a week!  Wish we had known how big they were before we each ordered our own, we could have easily shared and been satisfied.

My artistic eye was drawn to the many interesting details from the art deco era.  Don't you love the elephant head faucet in the wash room and the wooden benches bathed in light?

On the day we attended there was a special presentation at the park with the owner of Secretariat, Penny Chenery and the owners of Zenyatta in attendance.  You can see them on the jumbotron that sits in the center of the field.  We wandered around the park and found a childrens playground, picnic areas and plenty of seating for a minimal price-of-admission investment.  Obviously the majority of money is made through gambling and it is common to see the losing tickets littered throughout the park.  Al said that when he was little he would gather them at the end of the day and study them to see if perchance there was a winner among the inadvertently discarded.  There never was...

Our day at the races was very enjoyable!  Thanks Al & Leah!