Hot Springs: The Horse Races

Ha Ha Ha...I uploaded all the pictures last night with the intention of writing and publishing today, but accidentally published it last night.

All pictures, no talking. Ha! Okay now I'm ready to do this post.

Last weekend Tom and I went with another friend-couple of ours, Ched and Emily, to the horse races in Hot Springs, AR. Hot Springs is a popular weekend-vacation spot for people around here. We had never been so we figured why not give it a try?

Ched and Tom used to be roommates, and they were in each other's weddings. Emily and I have gotten to be great friends, too. We have never traveled together but we had a great time this weekend. We like doing the same things and all get along really well so it was an easy trip!

I might do another post on where we stayed and stuff, but this one mainly focuses on the horse race and all that jazz.

Tom has a friend in Tunica that is a member of the Jockey Club at the racetrack (Oak Lawn is the name of the track) so we had the hookup!

We got to sit inside at tables and had a waitress to bring us beer and food and everything! She was also super helpful because she basically taught us how to bet on the horses.

We were laughing because we were so excited to be there, we were like the first people in the place!

Here's me and Emily

We started the day with Bloody Mary's and getting ourselves accustomed to the horses and the logistics of everything.
At the hotel where we stayed, you can go down in the lobby, in the morning before the races and an expert will tell you all his secrets and his top picks and stuff. Tom went down and got educated and took notes.


Ched and Tom 'having class' before the first race starts. I sipped my bloody mary while they poured over their notes and programs.
Here's our fun group, ready to race!

Tom, deep in thought...hoping he doesn't lose our children's future college fund on the dang horses.

Just kidding about the college fund...Tom only gave himself $120 to bet throughout the day.

Here's how the races work:

The races begin at 11:00am. Each race is either 1 1/16 miles, or a little under a mile (I can't remember exactly). It only takes the horses a little under two minutes to run each race. Then there's a break for 30 minutes. And the next race begins. There are 10 races in all, 10 horses per race. So we wrapped it up at about 6pm.

Each race is 10 different horses, but not necessarily different jockeys. One jockey can race more than once throughout the day.

The food at the track was awesome! We got our energy up and running with a gigantic plate of nachos.

At our tables, they had little TVs with a bunch of numbers I didn't understand.

Our waitress taught us how to take our money to the little computer and bet on the horses we wanted. Each bet would come out on a little piece of paper like these:

I only allowed myself $20 to bet with so my bets were little. Only about $3-$10 per race.

I quickly got the hang of it. I felt like a hard-core Vegas bookie. Don't mess with me.

A kiss for luck! I specifically remember that this horse WON and made me like $21. His name was Time Sensitive.

The horses have such fun names. Sometimes I would bet on a horse based solely on the name. Like, 'Classic Crimson' because I went to Alabama, 'KissMeBamBam' because it's funny, or 'Delta Charlie' we live in the Delta!

I had to take a picture of this for my dad...see that #3 horse....

'Where's Winston' was his name! Winston is my dad's name so of course we put a few dollars on good ole #3. Where's Winston came in 3rd and won me $9.50!

This picture isn't great but I wanted yall to see how big and pretty the windows were up there in the Jockey Club. It was neat to be able to watch the races from a comfortable setting where you could see everything. Me and my handsome (beardless--thank God) date!

Here are the horses all lined up at the start line....

And they're off!

More pics of the track....

I believe that's Where's Winston down there! Blue #3.

I really enjoyed using my camera at the races...can you tell? I still have a lot to learn, and am in need a good editing program. Katie uses Picnik and her pictures are really good. Any suggestions for a good, cheap, beginners editing program?

And here are a few action shots of the finish line! So exciting! By this time everyone is on their feet and yelling out the names and numbers of their favorite horses.

I was a little worried about the treatment of the horses. For some reason it makes me sad to think that they are forced to race and do this, and I worry that they aren't treated well.

But Tom reminded me that their owners pay tens of thousands of dollars for these horses, and treat them very well! They are the animal equivalent of an Olympic athlete with the best nutrition, training, and accommodations.

That made me feel a little better.

All in all it was a fun weekend at the races and Tom and I only lost a combined $25. Well worth a fun new experience with friends.