My day at the horse races...... wow.....

Sat in the stands with my grandsons... 4 of them..... they had never been to the horse races. First race was exciting for them - watching the first call from the trumpet player and the horses coming out onto the track..... then parading in front of us..... "The Horses Are AT The Gate".... you could feel the excitement in the air. We had only a few small bets.... ummm, a win ticket and I think 1 Exacta. Coming into the stretch our horse was in the lead.... you could see $ bills in my grandson's eyes.... and then... our horse hit a wall.

From first to 2nd to last... in an eye blink. That was disappointing... but didn't deter us... race #2 we'd certainly get to visit the pay window.

And thus the day went.... "so close. Damn. Close again"..... 7 races of being "so close"..... the trumpet call came for race #8... last of the day... last for the horse races at the Fresno Fair this year.

My second oldest grandson is lucky. Always has been. Wins the "split the pot" at the youth football games 2 or 3 times every season. I've never won it in 15? years of trying. So which horse for the last race? So I decided, "Gavin (the lucky one) gets to pick the horses for this race guys. Here Gavin, $30, make us rich".... Gavin goes to the window and places our bet.

"The Horses are at the gate" - (the bell).... "They're off"... 6 Furlongs.

none of us can understand a word the announcer is calling out.... "Where's our horses?" "I think we're in 3rd and 5th" They're into the turn. "Too tight to see, we're in the mix"

"And they're into the stretch".... only words the announcer said that we understood.

"That's our horse in the lead. Can't see our 2nd horse.... ohhhh, there he is, OH MY GOD he's charging... he's charging....COME ON #2... COME ON #2"..... they pass our position in the stands, about 100yds from the finish line..... We've got the winner, #5, who has a 3 length lead... but #2, or 2nd horse on our exacta ticket, is head to head with #3...

"He GOT IT" -- "NO, I think he finished 3rd"... "NO I think he got 2nd"... "I don't know, I think he finished 3rd"..... the board flashes #5 as the winner.... 2nd and 3rd is delayed as they review it... photo finish. We are no longer breathing.... waiting for the final result to light up on the board.

"How much will we win if we hit this ticket", all my grandsons ask me. "Umm, not sure guys... but #5 was 11/1 and #2 was 8/1... should be pretty good money"

Wait...wait....wait.... wait.... #2 lights up on the board... we've hit our exacta ticket.... all eyes turn to the payoff board, it hasn't lit up yet.... "How much Papa, how much?".... "Oh man.... maybe 3,4, maybe $500?", I speculate..... for whatever reason the payoff board ain't lighting up.

"Lets go to the pay window and get in line".... we exit our seats and get in line... or rather Gavin gets in line.... and the rest of us stand behind watching for his body language when he gets to the pay window. The excitement is palpable.

We see Gavin give the ticket guy a thumbs up..... We see him counting out money but we're 50' away so we have no idea. BUT... when Gavin turns from the window he's sporting one big smile.

"HOW MUCH? HOW MUCH?".... of course Gavin wants to build suspense..... my other 3 grandsons begin threatening his life if he doesn't tell us.

Finally, when Gavin has drained every bit of anticipation out of us that he can.... $1,040. "You're rich, Papa"..... "You mean we're rich", I corrected.

So... $250 each, (I don't want the money), and Gavin gets the extra $40 for picking the horses.

Fairy tale day for us, my grandson's first visit to the track. 7 races of disappoint and dejection followed by pure excitement... helped along by 1. The Niners missed the field goal and 2... the Ram's have taken the lead.

Now that's a good day! - JamesJM