Playing the ponies

I love going to the racetrack. My dad, brother and I have gone to Monmouth Park at least once a summer since I was old enough to place $2 bets. We take our cooler of sandwiches and beer, set up lawn chairs along the track’s fence, work on our tans and pretend to know what we’re doing. Our betting isn’t sophisticated, though we go one step beyond banking on a horse’s name. My top three reasons to bet on a horse are: 1) if it has the biggest hind legs. 2) if jockey Edgar Prado is riding (he’s awesome). 3) if the odds are such that this horse’s victory will pay for parking for the day.

Strangely enough, I also love floppy hats, which is why I quickly agreed to go with Courtney and Joe to a Kentucky Derby Day charity outing organized by her Microsoft friends on Saturday. The last time I wore a floppy hat was in Melbourne (Australia) for Melbourne Cup Day, which is actually a public holiday. The city shuts down for the races and people start drinking champagne at 9am. Love Australia. Anyway, Greg – in his white linen suit, no less – and I met up with Courtney, Joe and a gaggle of twenty- and thirtysomethings at Post Bar in Post Alley at noon. The event organizers had spent the night creating (and taste-testing) gallons of mint juleps to bring on our (school bus!) ride to Seattle’s closest racetrack, Emerald Downs. Six gallons, actually. For a half-hour ride. We brought Post Bar’s bartender along for safety’s sake.

The mint juleps actually calmed some nerves when our bus, manned by “Dollar” Bill, got stuck in the alleyway. That was fun. The final destination was well worth it, though. Check out the outfits and the track [see pics below]. We didn’t win any money (Edgar Prado let me down), but the sun came out and we had a fun time playing the ponies. One guy in our group bet $10 on the 50-1 Kentucky Derby winner and left with $500 in his pocket. Not too shabby.