Horse racing or the Zenyatta statue

For those that know me, my love of horse racing is no surprise. I absolutely love it. I love the fact I can spend an entire day at a sports venue for a ticket price that is less than $12 (including parking fees and program, but I've managed free parking at all the tracks I've gone to). I like the craziness that is each race and the ebb and flow of the racetrack. I love how when you first arrive far before the races start you can see people mingling about with their Daily Racing Forms (another $7 or so) trying to pick their winners and the few horses still schooling at the paddock. I like how when the first race approaches and horses start arriving at the paddock that the paddock fills up with fans and handicappers. When the call to post happens and all the horses are either heading to the track or are on the track, it's amazing to see how mostly everyone in the paddock heads to the track to find a spot to watch the race. The whistling and shouting that starts when the gates clang open and the horses approach home is exhilarating and it's hard not to get excited for a horse to win and wanting to start cheering and yelling with the rest....

Awww....The racetrack. I suppose I don't need to keep going into details about how I can lose an entire day at the racetrack and be happy with it, but what I should really say is that I adore Santa Anita Racetrack. I've been to Hollywood and Del Mar and each are great racetracks in their own rights and brought a lot of fun, but Santa Anita brings itself to a whole different level. It's definitely special and amazing.

This weekend starts their fall meet and ends with the Breeders' Cup on the 2nd and 3rd of November. I was seriously thinking of attending the Breeders' Cup with a general ticket (no seat, basically) and you can get in for about $15, I think (less than $20 for sure). I'm not sure when the Breeders' Cup will be back in town after next year's and, more than that, who knows where I will be! But....with the expense of my last trip, I just can't justify the cost of getting down south and attending the races. A little piece of me mourns the lost opportunity because I really want to attend (it's like the All-Stars and Super Bowl all packed into one) and I have a friend I want to meet who will be there, but, more than that, I want to see the Zenyatta statue!

The Zenyatta statue has been 2 years in the making and will be revealed this Saturday. I wish I could be there for the big reveal, but at least the statue will be there for me to see some other day. It's sized to be an exact replica of her and even weighs roughly what she weighed during her racing days. How amazing is that?! Given how many statues Santa Anita has (and they're amazing), it'd be great to see. Oh, how I miss Santa Anita...It's been 1.5 years since I last visited and that's just too long!

On that (slightly sad) note, here's a fun video about Jay Cohen who is the bugler at Santa Anita. He's a fun guy for sure! I can't imagine having a recording of the bugler at the racetrack either. That's just...wrong. It's like having artificial grass at a baseball game or playing a video for halftime at the Super Bowl instead of live performances. It's just not right! I really enjoy the call to the post too. I always try to see it in person once when I visit the track because it is apart of the whole experience.

Anyway, with that...I'm off! Chris's birthday was today and we got cheesecake to eat. :) (And then it's bedtime since I have to open...close to open shifts are never exactly fun...)