9/6 - Horse Racing and Wine-Tasting

The Arlington Racetrack had a special event today -- the huge local wine seller, Binnie's, had 45 tables of 4-6 wines each for tasting plus a glass to keep and some snacks, all for $30 per person. Neither Kristen or I had been to Arlington in over 25 years and the draw of horse racing, which we both love, AND wine, which we also both love, was too good to resist.

We took the train down, sipped probably 20 wines over 3 hours, and placed $2 'Show' bets on 5 races. A 'Show' bet means if the horse cones in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, you win the amount for 3rd place. With the highest rated horses, the payout for a $2 bet is $2.20, the minimum winning amount allowed. Longshots pay better, but less often in theory. I was picking on name or color (I like grays), somewhat tempered by what we read in the racing program. Kristen was the first to have a winner, but all Jerry's and my picks were losing.

On the last race, I picked the pre-race favorite based on his name: Recount (for the connection to the election work we do). Kristen and Jerry placed Place and Win bets on the next two pre-race favorites. It was a really close race but my horse won, nosing out Jerry's horse. Kristen's came in 4th. Since Jerry's bet only paid for a win,he got nothing. If his horse had won, we both would have gotten a payout, but his would have been bigger than mine. I got a whopping $2.80, which almost offset the cost of the $3 racing program. It was a lot of fun, but reminded me of why I stopped going to the track!

After a long day in the sunshine, we headed back on the train to dinner and collapse once again.