Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Tough bet
Opening day at Del Mar racetrack
Two hours before the 2:00 p.m. post time, traffic for opening day at the Del Mar racetrack was jammed in every direction; southbound I-5 crept down from La Costa Avenue. Northbound I-5 was very slow. Trying to avoid the freeway by taking Coast Highway didn’t work either. Even traffic on nearby surface streets seemed not to move.
The 46th annual meeting of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on July 17 attracted over 45,000 spectators to the fairgrounds.
For the men, it was seersucker suits, pastel shirts, and bow ties; for the ladies, high heels with short, tight dresses that showed lots of cleavage. Almost every guy under 40 wore a fedora, as if a hat stand gave them away on the way in.
Rookie jockey Tiago Pereira won the first race, on a Brazilian horse named Hawk’s Eye. In the winner’s circle Pereria said, “I am very happy. It is my first time here.” The horse and stable were presented the winner’s rose wreath by San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer.
When first interviewed by a sportscaster from ABC News, Pereira was told he could speak in Spanish if he preferred. News-flash to the network-TV reporter: Pereira is from Brazil. He speaks Portuguese. However during my interview, Pereira and his wife spoke English well.
Two teenaged brothers, Colby, 17, and Julian, 13, just moved here from Virginia. The 4S Ranch residents said they had just won the first race, their dad placing the bet. Colby said he had never seen anything like opening day before and liked all the hats (he also noted “all the rich drunk people”). Colby got a boyish grin when I asked him if he noticed anything else in his people-watching. Julian indicated he was also old enough to notice the women.
Sharply dressed 23-year old Bree from Lakeside said she was jealous of all the other beautiful females. It was her second opening day and she was going to bet $25 at the most. She didn’t win any money in the first race.
For 2014, the track has a new, brightly colored scoreboard. Also over the winter break, as a requirement for hosting the 2017 Breeders Cup, the Thoroughbred Club widened the turf track to allow a larger field of 14 horses to run.
Also noticed by most were the exceptionally long betting lines. On the first several races, lines of bettors were left holding their money as the races started and betting windows automatically shut. It didn’t matter where you were; in-field, clubhouse, or off the paddock, lines seemed to never move. Numerous windows were not opened or staffed.
In the third race, I got in a line with seven minutes left to post, usually plenty of time to get to the window. As track announcer Trevor Denman said, “Away they go,” I missed placing my $4 show bet on “Kinz Funky Monkey” and missed a $10.40 payout.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Tough bet
Opening day at Del Mar racetrack
Tough bet
Opening day at Del Mar racetrack
Two hours before the 2:00 p.m. post time, traffic for opening day at the Del Mar racetrack was jammed in every direction; southbound I-5 crept down from La Costa Avenue. Northbound I-5 was very slow. Trying to avoid the freeway by taking Coast Highway didn’t work either. Even traffic on nearby surface streets seemed not to move.
The 46th annual meeting of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club on July 17 attracted over 45,000 spectators to the fairgrounds.
For the men, it was seersucker suits, pastel shirts, and bow ties; for the ladies, high heels with short, tight dresses that showed lots of cleavage. Almost every guy under 40 wore a fedora, as if a hat stand gave them away on the way in.
Rookie jockey Tiago Pereira won the first race, on a Brazilian horse named Hawk’s Eye. In the winner’s circle Pereria said, “I am very happy. It is my first time here.” The horse and stable were presented the winner’s rose wreath by San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer.
When first interviewed by a sportscaster from ABC News, Pereira was told he could speak in Spanish if he preferred. News-flash to the network-TV reporter: Pereira is from Brazil. He speaks Portuguese. However during my interview, Pereira and his wife spoke English well.
Two teenaged brothers, Colby, 17, and Julian, 13, just moved here from Virginia. The 4S Ranch residents said they had just won the first race, their dad placing the bet. Colby said he had never seen anything like opening day before and liked all the hats (he also noted “all the rich drunk people”). Colby got a boyish grin when I asked him if he noticed anything else in his people-watching. Julian indicated he was also old enough to notice the women.
Sharply dressed 23-year old Bree from Lakeside said she was jealous of all the other beautiful females. It was her second opening day and she was going to bet $25 at the most. She didn’t win any money in the first race.
For 2014, the track has a new, brightly colored scoreboard. Also over the winter break, as a requirement for hosting the 2017 Breeders Cup, the Thoroughbred Club widened the turf track to allow a larger field of 14 horses to run.
Also noticed by most were the exceptionally long betting lines. On the first several races, lines of bettors were left holding their money as the races started and betting windows automatically shut. It didn’t matter where you were; in-field, clubhouse, or off the paddock, lines seemed to never move. Numerous windows were not opened or staffed.
In the third race, I got in a line with seven minutes left to post, usually plenty of time to get to the window. As track announcer Trevor Denman said, “Away they go,” I missed placing my $4 show bet on “Kinz Funky Monkey” and missed a $10.40 payout.
Comments