Girls' Day at the Races

Saturday, I escaped from the bathroom remodel project after lunch, picked up my friend Sara, and headed for Mountaineer Racetrack for West Virginia Derby Day. Sara and I are kindred horse-crazy spirits, but she had never been to a Thoroughbred race before and I was looking forward to showing her around that world.

You can read her tale of the day here.

The weather was gorgeous, Jessi was able to score a barn pass for Sara, and Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was running in the West Virginia Derby. Sara and I arrived before Jessi and waited for her in her barn. Her horses kept us entertained.

This one expressed its opinion to Sara.


And this one was not cooperative about sharing a Kodak moment with me.



This was as good as it got.

Once Jessi arrived, we headed to the track. Had to park on the far turn. I knew the place would be a madhouse and wasn’t disappointed. Weaving our way through the hoards was a talent we’d pretty well perfected by day’s end. The lines for the food stretched back to the betting windows and the lines for the betting windows stretched back to the food. The only way to tell which was which was by the direction people were facing.

But I digress. We spent some time at the paddock, watching horses being saddled. Then we shuffled through the crowd to catch the race. Back and forth. Until the seventh race. At that point we planted ourselves at the paddock rail and skipped the race, because Mine That Bird was in the eighth race. I think it was a good choice.

Everyone wanted to see him.

And here he is.

Along with his entourage.

Made it back to our spot for the race. Did I mention the crowds?


Everything was perfect. Except that he finished third.

The place kind of got quiet after that. But it was a great day regardless. (Besides, I didn’t bet on the race.)

We headed back to the quiet of the barns afterwards and decided to wander down to where Mine That Bird was stalled. We not only got to watch him being cooled out…



…Jessi got to pet him…

…and got his owners to autograph her program…

…and I snapped a picture of her with them. Really, REALLY nice guys.

Back at Jessi’s barn, she promptly laid her hands on all her horses hoping to transfer some of that mojo to them.

A sunny day at the track surrounded by horses, good friends and a Kentucky Derby winner. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Comments

Sara said…
I'm still telling strangers about meeting Mine That Bird.
They're like "Who?"

Good pics! (Even though you're falling out of love with your camera a little) Good captured moments!
8/4/09, 2:31 PM
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