SC6 Takes You Inside the Belmont Stakes .... Where The House Doesn't Always Win.

Look at That .... Got 'Em Right On the Finish Line !!



Ever try to take a picture of a thoroughbred going full tilt with a cheap Kodak camera that takes 2 full seconds to click? Suffice to say, this shot I got of the winner of the first race was a miracle... Anyway, we skipped our normal day of blogging on Saturday to hop in the car, and take you to the 142nd Belmont Stakes. While it was not a race with the Triple Crown hanging in the balance, the outstanding (if not slightly muggy) weather made it a great day to catch a race - and do some gambling as well...




Some of you know, my Dad worked at Belmont for 34 years, so I'm a bit of a horse racing nut, although this was the first Belmont I had caught since 1982... The good news today is that none of Pops' skill at picking winners was lost on me, as I picked 4 winners and 2 exactas, and walked home with about $125 more than when I got there - despite the $10 parking, $10 admission, and $4 sodas, water and slices of pizza - or the $7 smoothie...

A couple things struck me today: there were a lot of young people there . Yeah, they had on their Jason Mraz hats and were smoking cigars like they were in the friggin' Rat Pack with Frank and Dino - but at least they were there, getting into the races. Not to mention the copius amounts of Top Shelf babes at every turn! I'm still icing down my neck to relieve the whiplash today....

Another oddity was the 8 million Indian-Americans , or as Jakie Knotts calls them, 'Ragheads'... Yeah, alot of Nikki Haley's distant relatives were there, and they take their horseracing seriously.One guy next to me won $2500 on an $100 exacta bet on a 39-1 shot - DAMN.... It used to be old white and black guys, but just like New York is, it was a melting pot of people there - and most weren't speaking English...

The sad part is, there almost wasn't a Belmont Stakes, due to the New York State budget crisis. Luckily, that was averted, so we all had the opportunity to be attacked by swooping Terns nesting in the rafters, which flew just slightly lower than the airplanes landing at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports every four seconds.... Shoot, I had so much fun, I even called Pops to tell him I was at the track. Of course he told me to visit the Jockey's lounge and say hi, but I don't think anyone from the 1960's is there anymore... Here's some pics:





The August Belmont Memorial Trophy, and other hardware. I tried to do a 'Stanley Cup' in it, but security took me away.....







The Secretariat Monument in the paddock area. In 1973, he ran the 1 1/2 mile a full 7 seconds faster than Drosselmeyer did today...








..... and a slightly less thorough Thoroughbred. Must have been hot in that thing.









This was all the way by the quarter-mile pole, next to the ESPN booth. Wall to wall people, which is why I have so few race shots....

After the fair weather crowd left (and dumped their trash), the buglers would take requests between races... Anything to make 'em happy, right?




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