Horse Racing - Take Two

I have several horsey people in my circle of friends, and one of them happens to absolutely love horse racing. And yet... *gasp*... she had never been to a track and never seen a day of live horse racing.

So.... last Monday, I took R from Beyond the Stretch to a day of live racing at Oaklawn Park!  :)

All photo credit goes to R.

I've been to Zia Park for a regular day of racing, but Oaklawn Park was just a tad fancier and more elaborate. ;)  I was so glad that the weather was good... we were able to spend the entire day enjoying ourselves and standing on the rail.

The worst best part of the day was the three and a half hour drive one way to get to the track. I actually drove 7 hours in one day. No desire to do that again any time soon.  ;)

Last Monday was January 19th, which also happened to be a stakes day - featuring the Smarty Jones, the first 3yo prep race for the Kentucky Derby. Pretty exciting to see!

Winner of the Smarty Jones - Far Right.

I only lost a little bit of money throughout the day, and my pick for the last race was a winner who also broke her maiden in the race.  That was fun :)

My horse in the last race - nice looking filly!

It was a fun day out! I enjoy watching horse racing live and it's always good to spend time with friends.  :)