And They're Off!

We went to the Del Mar Fairgrounds ("Where the Surf Meets the Turf") today to watch the horse races with our friends Eric, Jenn, Paul, and Ann. This was the first time any of us had gone, even though the races are held here every summer. I was a little nervous that one of the horses or jockeys would get injured, because I've heard that they will euthanize a horse if the injury is bad enough. There was one moment when a nervous horse reared up inside the starting gate and got its front legs hooked over the top of the gate. Of course some of the other horses got upset and started getting crazy, too. They had to get all the horses out of the gates until everyone calmed down again. Two of them were either mildly injured or too skittish to run that race, and one of the jockeys came out limping, too. But everyone else was fine to run, and there were no incidents after that.

It was a gorgeous day, and we all enjoyed picking a horse to cheer for during each race. The names they come up with are pretty funny. One of our favorites was "Return of the King," who was 7 years old (I think he was the oldest horse we saw run all day) and he won his race! We didn't gamble any money, which was a good thing for me because I chose LOSERS every time! My strategy of picking the one with the craziest name didn't work out so well. Jenn, on the other hand, could've been a millionaire by the end of the day - so next time I'll stick with her!