Virginia Horse Racing / Colonial Downs/
When we first arrived I was wondering why we had to wait twenty minutes between races. I wasn’t interested in the giant sandbox with the tug of war and Hooters girls with four foot tall dice game. But after awhile it was clear that there is a lot happening and it takes time for everything to unfold for the next race.
There was the jockey they had to “scrape” off the track. The ambulance looked like it was pretty old and it took awhile to find him and bring him back. Some of the jockeys had to change uniforms to ride other horses (I’m not sure about this but someone suggested it was true). The track has to be fixed up in between races. Here’s a photo of this ritual in progress and some more NextGen photos of the racing excitement.
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And then you have to have an opportunity for the customers to go buy six ounce bottles of Coke for $1.60 and undercooked pizza slices for $5.00.
Plus there is the betting. You have to have time for that. I bet $2.00 on the first race and lost. This discouraged me from placing further bets. So your blogging reporter is not someone they hope to see at their track too often. And being a paranoid sort of person in general I did think once or twice that I might be arrested or briefly detained and squeezed for not spending enough money.
But then after the sixth race I almost threw up because of the sun, the humidity and the lack of food or drink. So I went inside and spent $6.50 on the aforementioned limp pizza and vial of Coke.
And a little later I felt much better knowing that I was not going to spew in front of all those people OR go to jail. Or both.
(You really are fortunate that you don’t live inside my chrome dome- eum. It can get pretty crazy in here sometimes.)
So here are some more photos brought to you by NextGen. Just pick and click. Enjoy. And remember to use sun block when you go to the races. Unless you go to an evening session. Although if the moon is bright you might want to use some anyway because of the reflected rays. And buy a hot dog or something.
You don’t want to end up in a cell next to an agitated stallion. Do you?
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