Damn The Turf

For those who don’t know, Saratoga Springs is home to a major horse track. My inlaws, who were nice enough to drive out car out to New York for us, took us to the track on the 6th so we could put some money on the ponies.

None of us are really gamblers, so $3 is a lot when it comes to betting on the races, but we wanted to get things off to a quick start, so I put $5 down on a horse to show and put another $2 down on a horse named True Crimson to win. I was a bit nervous as I approached the betting window. I told them I wanted $2 on True Crimson and the guy behind the counter scolded me for not using the horse’s program number. I apologized noting the formula posted on the front of the window. “Sorry, $2 to win on number 5.”

Finally, the horses trotted out onto the track for the first race when suddenly, we heard the announced call “and here comes a horse without a rider.” Somehow, we knew it was True Crimson before we even saw the number 5. At least you get your money back on a scratch.

Our other bet didn’t pan out, but the rest of the day went relatively well. We usually placed one bet on a horse to win and one to show. In a couple of the middle races, both bets paid off and we celebrated with some genuine Saratoga Potato Chips (if you don’t know Saratoga Springs is the home of the potato chip).

We did realize one thing, we suck when it comes to turf races. Out of the two races we saw ran on turf, we didn’t make a single dollar. We still managed to leave the track up by $12. Not bad for a couple of poor college students.