Arlington National Race track is actually a beautiful race track in the suburbs of Chicago. Because of my sweet son's obsession of race horses we planned a trip to see the Arlington Downs. It's nothing like the Kentucky Derby or Belmont, but it's the closest thing to this neck of the woods.
The grounds are actually very articulate and beautiful.
It was such a HOT day, that we found ourselves spending lots of time in the shade.
Tye told me that my dress was ridiculous, he literally said. "Please tell me your not wearing that...." Sorry I thought, I'm not taking fashion advice from a 9 year old.
Sissy, didn't mind the dress, we actually matched a little!
Before each race, the trainers, jockeys and horse hands prepare the horses for the race, then they do a small parade in the Paddock. It's tradition that each member of the family picks the horse they think is going to win the race. Our betting is usually something like this. If a jockey or horse has ANY sign of Pink on it's saddle blanket or silks, it's Taylor's horse. If a horse is Black, he's got Tate's bet. Wes always reads the program and looks at the stats and makes his bet. (Which he usually wins) Tye, well I can't figure out Tye for the life of me, I'm not even going to attempt his philosophies on horse betting. I usually just pick the one I like best, no strategies and I usually loose.
Pretty soon the horn sounds the music starts and we run to the track...
It's actually pretty amazing to see these horses run 50 mph past you. The winning member of the family usually jumps up and down as they post the winners, then there is the typical fighting over why the other horse's didn't win(the excuses my kids come up with would floor you) but then the cycle repeats itself every 24 minutes!Call us crazy, but it's pretty fun.
