A day at the Races

Saturday was my GFs birthday. She wanted to go 'to the races'. I'm not entirely sure why but its something her family goes to do now and then. So we went with them. I have only one regret from that day. deciding to take the 24 - 105mm lens instead of my 70 - 200mm lens. You may think, 'what's the big f****ing deal fifty?'. Well I didn't realise the distances (you see I have never been to the races myself) between the spectators and the racers was as much as it is. A longer lens could have given me some better, closer shots.

Never mind.

So off we went to the Scottish Borders to a town called Kelso where the race course is. There is a certain structure to these events.. allow me to share what I have learned with you about how these days work. You arrive, pay entry, get your pint (beer) from the bar, check out the horses, place your bets and then watch the races. You place new bets between each race. And if you are me, you place one bet, lose and spend the rest of the afternoon taking pictures in the rain.

When you get into the complex, race course .. whatever there are a few different areas. This is where they parade the horses for the next race. It would seem that its important to check out the horses before the race. This gives the people who know what they're doing a better idea of who to bet on.

They can tell from the horse's walk, eyes, ears, general disposition etc how well they will perform and what kind of shape they are in.

Then you head over to the stands where the bookies are where you can place your bets. Every watch peaky blinders on netflix? See that episode of them on the racecourse where all the bookies are just sitting on stools taking bets.. it seems its always been like that.

There's also a building you can go in where there are more windows that you can bet at. Bt that wasn't as interesting.

Shortly before we arrived some big shots apparently arrived in their helicopter to watch the races. I suspect it was one or two owners. A race horse is a significant investment.. what the returns are on that I have no idea.. but the helicopter suggests its decent?

If you are a member of the race course you get to use the fancy indoor facilities as pictured below.. as well as the prime seats at the finish line. The finish line being those two signs with the red circle and white dot. We were not members so we had to go to a stand to the side of those buildings.

The members area is also where they have some sweet balconies with prime viewing spots, you can tell because that's where they tv channels put their cameras.

Here's another shot of the finish line area and the members area.

Its interesting to watch the horses go by. The course is about a mile long and they do two to three laps for each race.

It's really hard work for the horses. It looks easy on tv and it looks really fast...

.. but in reality horses can only go so fast and they only have so much stamina.

Some don't finish.. some actually end up walking or cantering over the finish line. I was surprised.

At the start of the race they are always packed tightly together.. but as the race progresses they tend to spread..

..as the stronger horses move ahead of the pack. Its at that point where you start to realise whether or not your bet is going to win or lose.

This becomes more apparent on the races with jumps.

That burst of exertion to get over the hurdles is exhausting.

But it looks majestic as fuck.

Lets face it.. horses are noble creatures with a lot a grace in their movements..

But they're not cars.

Imagine its you running a mile long lap .. and then at the end you have to sprint up a hill and jump two fences..

Its not easy.

I know they are bred and trained for this, but still.. I feel a bit of sympathy with the horses.

I've always thought it looked funny how the jockeys sit on the horses..

but of course there is logic to it.. reduce the weight and height of the jockey and the horse has less of a burden to carry and can go faster. Its a bit of a specialised sport in that way.

Once the race is over the winning horse is presented to the 'winning circle' ...

And the owners are presented with their trophy.. I have no idea if this was the helicopter group. But the helo left shortly after this. so maybe?

So that's horse racing. It was an interesting experience.. I won nothing on these races... but my GF won on several of them. Not a huge amount of money .. but enough to buy us lunch which was nice.

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