This year (I must have been gone when we voted) we planned our outing to Fairmont Park. This is a horse track - if that is even the correct terminology- on the East Side. Let that sink in. Gambling. East Side.
I forgot it was on our calendar until Monday when a reminder email went out. Having never been to this establishment I was foolishly excited & was planning my derby outfit when James busted my bubble.
James: "You know this is more the redneck casino crowd, not your equestrian crowd, right?"
Me: "WHAT? It's horse racing! Thoroughbreds! Like the derby???"
James: "It's on the East Side."
Me: "Noooooooooo" (collapses on floor) "I think I'm feeling feverish!"
Although it was nice to have an afternoon away from work and to visit with coworkers (my team is actually really awesome), that's about as far as my forced good attitude went.
Yes, it was just like a creepy casino... I always find it so sad to see the regulars who are cashing in social security checks to gamble... And the food there was absolutely disgusting. There were many jokes about the meat being horse meat. I was so scared. I covered my brat in 1/4 cup of mustard & Kobayashi-ed that thing down.
Luckily it wasn't too crowded & we were able to sit inside in the air conditioned stands. The races were fun to see & interesting to learn how to read the booklets/ stats on all the races.
Just when I was starting to slightly enjoy myself & not think of regretting to bring hand sanitizer there was a crash. Crash? Accident? One horse collapsed & the horse behind couldn't stop in time. Two horses & two jockeys were involved. One horse got up right away & sprinted to the barn. The other horse tried to get up several times but couldn't make it. The jockeys did not move. They were taken in an ambulance to the parking lot where a helicopter took the less seriously injured jockey to a nearby regional hospital & the more seriously injured jockey to STL. They euthanized the horse on the race track. It was incredibly sad. One minute you see a gorgeous thoroughbred galloping. The next it's gone. Such beauty lost.
"I had seen birth and death but thought that they were different."
~T.S. Eliot
