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#1
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![]() I have attended races live many times and I really dont care for it but that is just me. Big days are even worse especially when you cant see the screen, people who dont know how to use the self betting machines and those that decide to handicap a race while in line. Not to mention overpriced food, drinks (cold hot dog and warm beer for 9 bucks).
With the price of admission, parking, racing form and premium seats, I am already down before I make my first bet. |
#2
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Paul |
#3
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![]() I have been to Santa Anita and Del Mar a few times and walked through the paddock. I agree its great to see the horses live. I would love to visit Saratoga and Keeneland but as far as regular visits to the track to wager regularly...I will not do it. The convienience of online wagering won me over.
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#4
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Paul I love the track but have a heart. Whats so special about see Scott Stevens riding a busted 3k claimer at Turf paradise.. remember they dont call it Paradise for nothing |
#5
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![]() Paddock.
Bet. Upstairs grandstand; watch race thru binos. Curse. Repeat. |
#6
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I bet from home all the time and I get the convenience side of the equation. But, to me, being there live is still something special every time. Paul |
#7
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#8
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__________________
All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries or credulities of mankind. ~ Joseph Conrad A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine Don't let anyone tell you that your dreams can't come true. They are only afraid that theirs won't and yours will. ~ Robert Evans The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. ~ George Orwell, 1984. |
#9
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![]() Three legends of the turf.
__________________
@BDiDonatoTDN |
#10
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![]() I love the three different variations of leg crossing in that pic!
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#11
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#12
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![]() This is exactly my point. Even at tracks that are a dump, the thrill of seeing live horses run is a different level of excitement that you can get watching at home.
If all one cares about is betting, I suppose it doesn't matter. I bet a lot. But I got hooked on the sport because I love the thrill and beauty of seeing the sport live. Paul |
#13
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![]() lil Pill....Still brings tears my eyes.Is she still hanging out in West Virginia? Is she the fastest DT horse ever?
Delaware Park is really nice track, in a beautiful setting. You can make it to Delaware Park in under 2.25 hours from NYC.. Belmont can take you an hour on a bad day. Delaware 3 days a week from April thru Oct could be a very decent meet. 27 races a week 7 months a year.. Might be work trip Paul. Philly Park? Not so much, unless its your BUSINESS but to come to experience the majesty of the Street Road? |
#14
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I am right with you coptor man....Also a veteran of SHRP for many years, i would rather stay right here and bet from home. Also went to Belmont Aquesduct and all the tracks alot of time over the years.......If i lived a couple of blocks away, that might be another story....But 30 minutes each way is a bit much, when betting almost everyday.... |
#15
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![]() I haven't been to the track since late June. I believe it was the last Friday night for Churchill...or the one before last. Who knows. There were some uh...ladies of questionable morality there.
So a typical night in Louisville. ![]() |
#16
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![]() The closest thouroughbred track to me is Mountaineer. I would rather play from home than attend except for a few big race days. My opinion is completely different when it comes to other tracks like Saratoga, Arlington or even smaller tracks like Tampa, I go out of my way to visit if I'm in the area.
Last edited by 3kings : 12-19-2011 at 12:55 PM. |
#17
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![]() I love going to the end of the Saratoga Grandstand. I ask for seats in a section that is near empty and ask for an isolated seat and if that isnt the case I buy three seats for the room.
Watching the turn into the stretch is an adreneline boost and with the recent bigscreen tvs you can pick up the rest of stretch run quite well. I bet through my phone so no lines. The bathrooms are right there and if desired you can bring a small cooler with you. Paradise |
#18
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![]() Some tracks do a great job of enhancing the on track experience, while other are still lost in the 80's and couldn't care less who shows up - if you're near one of the latter, then I would probably be echoing Helo's sentiment.
For example, I've had a blast at Arlington Park when visiting Chicago - beautiful facility, tons of fans, lots going on, etc. but something tells me (totally speculating based on what I've heard - I've never been there) that experience at Hawthorne in February might not exactly translate. |
#19
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Consider the sensory overload of the Hawthorne experience. First, the unparalleled skyline of Stickney, Illinois, resplendant in towering smokestacks, billowing mammouth clouds of industrial glory for all to inhale and savor. If not ingesting the rich blends of sulphates and ores, it is hard to ignore the toe-tapping serenade abounding from the adjacent Stevenson Expressway or nearby Midway Airport. Be it the roar of a departing jet or the wafting aromas from the nearby filtration plant of the Chicago Sanitary District, the sights, smells and sounds of Hawthorne is like none other. Besides the idyllic, park-like conditions of the surrounding areas, one never tires of the interaction with those quaint railbirds one finds at HRC. Oh sure, on the walk from the parking lot to the grandstand, you may see the occasional wheel-chaired bound patron hopelessly stranded in a snow drift, but if you divert your eyes quickly enough, you're just as apt to see local legend Sun Tan Tommy, clad stylishly in a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, hustling to the front door from the Cicero Avenue bus stop, hoping to win enough to buy a seasonal windbreaker, though highly unlikely, since his last big score at the track went for a roll of duct tape used for flip-flop repairs. On those occasions when temperatures drop to single digits, and the street industrialists working the entrance to the expressway just can't seem to find enough consumers for their packages of white tube socks, they may switch products and hawk hand-packed bags of salted peanuts at the entrance to Hawthorne. Who can resist that heart-tugging sales pitch of that vendor holding a bag of peanuts in one fingerless gloved hand and that Turkish blend we commonly call a Lucky Strike in the other, which he inserts with morbid rapidity into that tracheal hole four inches south of his chin....But aside from the questionable sales presentation, who doesn't fondly link the purchase of a bag of peanuts with some irresistably memorable experience from one's youth? And who can resist tearing open the bag to bite open the crunchy shell.....to taste the peanuts themselves...........and that lingering taste of the salt...........which is an odd taste of salt............sea salt? Considering the purveyor, I'm going with either.....hand sweat......or, urine? But the best prize of all is the racing itself. Full fields or five, sometimes six, runners sporting as many as two, and sometimes three, good legs running in memorable four-figured, and on some rare days, five-figured purses! With such an enviable purse structure, it is no wonder that Hawthorne can attract "the best of the best" for their riding colony. And no truer is that fact demonstrated than when the likes of a racing stalwart like a 'SpongeBob' Eddie Perez heads up your racing colony. There is no bigger thrill in the game today that when seeing that dwarf, clad in a snowmobile suit instead of racing silks during the winter months, ride a 3-to-5 favorite down the stretch for a hard fought fourth place finish. Many are the occasions when I have wondered how the Michelin Man secured a mount at Hawthorne only to be reminded that it was none other than E. Perez pulling the curtain down on yet another promising steed's racing career. So before one dismisses this treasure, one must ask himself "where will I be able to find so much amusement in one place if not here?" |
#20
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![]() the v.i.p table at byks bbq toga..you never know who will be sitting there
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