A Night With The Ponies
Last night, Jan and I headed out to the Hazel Park Raceway, a harness-racing park about half an hour from here. Neither of us had been out to Hazel Park since I was about eight years old, so I don't even remember going there the first time. It was a lot of fun. Of course, phenomenal people-watching, as you might imagine.
Harness racing is kind of an oddity, for those of you that have never seen it. There isn't really a starting gate... but instead, a pace-car carries a sort-of retractable grid on it's roof. The horses race behind the car until it's time for the race to start, then the car speeds off and retracts the grid. That's the official start of the race, even though some of the horses are already behind the others by that point.
The last time I went to a race track was Mt. Pleasant Meadows (near Central Michigan University). My friend Mike and I went out there a few times when we were both at CMU. Never won a lot of money but never lost a lot either. I bet far too conservatively to ever make or lose much.
Last night, I lost $9.20, but I consider that an acceptable loss. After all, I got three hours of entertainment. Pretty horsies, great people-watching. The guy behind us was hilarious. He was drunk, surly, loud, obnoxious, and about two hours into the night, pulled out a fattie and proceeded to toke up. He was also wearing a University of Michigan T-Shirt, though I doubt he'd made it past trade school. He regaled his friends with stories of the times he'd been barred from Hazel Park.
The best line of the night (I missed it, I was in the bathroom):
The guy had a teenage kid hanging around him much of the night. At one point, he said to the kid,
"You know, you look more like me than your dad. But don't tell your momma that, It'll just piss her off."
The kid replied:
"Nuh-uh! I seen a picture of my dad once."
Last night, Jan and I headed out to the Hazel Park Raceway, a harness-racing park about half an hour from here. Neither of us had been out to Hazel Park since I was about eight years old, so I don't even remember going there the first time. It was a lot of fun. Of course, phenomenal people-watching, as you might imagine.
Harness racing is kind of an oddity, for those of you that have never seen it. There isn't really a starting gate... but instead, a pace-car carries a sort-of retractable grid on it's roof. The horses race behind the car until it's time for the race to start, then the car speeds off and retracts the grid. That's the official start of the race, even though some of the horses are already behind the others by that point.
The last time I went to a race track was Mt. Pleasant Meadows (near Central Michigan University). My friend Mike and I went out there a few times when we were both at CMU. Never won a lot of money but never lost a lot either. I bet far too conservatively to ever make or lose much.
Last night, I lost $9.20, but I consider that an acceptable loss. After all, I got three hours of entertainment. Pretty horsies, great people-watching. The guy behind us was hilarious. He was drunk, surly, loud, obnoxious, and about two hours into the night, pulled out a fattie and proceeded to toke up. He was also wearing a University of Michigan T-Shirt, though I doubt he'd made it past trade school. He regaled his friends with stories of the times he'd been barred from Hazel Park.
The best line of the night (I missed it, I was in the bathroom):
The guy had a teenage kid hanging around him much of the night. At one point, he said to the kid,
"You know, you look more like me than your dad. But don't tell your momma that, It'll just piss her off."
The kid replied:
"Nuh-uh! I seen a picture of my dad once."
Stumble It!
<< Home