Horse Race at Ruidoso Downs

Friday, August 12 - I decided I was going to have to do laundry one more time before we get home, so this morning I took on that chore first thing.  Joe went to McDonald's and got us breakfast sandwiches and brought them back to the campground, so we sat at their outside tables and ate while my laundry dried.  After that, Mazie and I did a little shopping, then it was time to go to the horse race.  Although this was a first for us, we have been to lots of dog races, which are very similar, except the animals are bigger, and they have riders.  So they paraded out the horses in the first race, and we made our bets.  Someone at the casino had told me about a bet called the "10 cent superfecta box," where you pick 4 horses to come in first, in any order, but all four have to be the first four horses.  It's a $2.40 bet.  So that's what I did.  And I won the first race ($22.53).  Joe bet his 3-horse quinella box, where he picks 3 horses, 2 of which have to come in first and second.  He won the third race.

And here they come!  There were 9 races today, and between 6 and 9 horses in each race.

 We got the first two races in, and the clouds just kept building.  All of a sudden, it let loose, and just poured!  They delayed the next race for a while, and we took cover back inside.

It finally slacked off, and back to racing.  But the track was now considered "sloppy," and it was!  But they resumed, and now we got to watch them racing in the rain, on a very muddy track.

It rained off and on for most of the rest of the races.  We found some seats in the very back row that were not too wet, so we dried them off and sat down.  About the time the race was over, it cleared back off.  Overall, I came out 90 cents ahead, Joe cleared $6.00, and Dave thought he won $20+.  Mazie won a couple of races but I don't think she came out ahead overall, and I'm not sure how Jim's winnings stacked up.  I do know he won $3.00 on a $6.00 bet once.

So we went back to camp, and Rita and Catherine (who had gone shopping) came by to visit for a while and pick up Jim.  We had a quick sandwich, then Mazie and I went back, again, to the gambling hall.  But alas, her luck had run out, so she donated to the casino.  I came up a little bit short, but not too much. 

We are so enjoying this cool weather here -- what a nice respite before we hit the heat next week.  This is a very pretty little mountain town, one I hope we can come back to in future years.