Saratoga racing

Last weekend we stayed closer to home (for once!) and took the opportunity to finally visit the horse races in Saratoga while we still can.  It was a fun afternoon and of course the horses are beautiful to watch.

Heading in the front gates right before the start of the first race:

We saw the first set of horses run and began to get a feel for various places to watch the excitement and where/how to place bets on them.  It was fun to be in the big crowd as the horses rounded the last turn and people were cheering louder and louder for their horse to keep or take the lead.

Standing at the fence we had close-up views of horses being hosed down after their fast effort:

Another type of hosing down:

We entertained ourselves studying the program and musing about the odds and what might make a decent bet.  John and I had differing strategies, this should not be a surprise to anyone that knows us.  John picked a horse with long odds that we learned was named "The Best Glacier" - I don't know John, you can be a really good glacier but still not move very fast?

My "strategies" didn't work much better but I did enjoy reading the names of the horses and trying to figure out what would cause someone to call them "Sliver and Onions" or "Livingston Street".  Some that I liked were "Saguaro Blossom", "Midnight Taboo", and "Dark Roast".

Watching the horses warm up and then load up for the start:

It was a beautiful day to hang around outside:

One of the winning jockeys:

It is the 150th year of racing here!

We found where the horses entered the track and stayed to watch before one of the races.  Seeing them up close did not particularly help my ability to pick which one would win...

One last race before we needed to leave (we were visiting friends for supper) and I saw that the #12 horse was named "Tater Downs".  How could you not like a horse with that name?  I wonder what the announcer thinks of things like that.

Anyway, that was the best bet we made all day  :)