"Where the Surf Meets the Turf...

...At Del Mar". Ah yes! I hear the refrain even now from the golden voice of ol' Bing Crosby. He has his own Hall there at the Del Mar Race Track and Thoroughbred Club. This gigantic picture is one of four on the ceiling of the lobby at the Hilton Hotel across the street from the track. It has recently been "refurbished" so they advertised. They have a tram that runs about every ten minutes to and from the track for its guests. We took it with our son Brooks. It was the best part of our stay for two nights. It was rather expensive compared to Vegas. I'm sure the rates drop after the annual seven week run of the ponies there. It served our purpose. We hadn't seen our fourth son for almost a year. He lives in Cardiff by the Sea; a small coastal community nearby. As usual he needed art supplies and food. We enjoyed stocking him up and also getting him a cell phone. This way we might hear from him more often.

He does love to gamble and he really enjoyed our time together at the track. He showed us how to bet again. We hadn't been there for many years staying at the same hotel when it first opened. We then had had a winning venture betting by color, jockey and number. We then went back in later years and also to Santa Anita and studied the racing forms. We lost everytime. We learned about "boxing" your "exacta" and that a "quintilla" is actually the same thing. Mostly we tried boxing trifectas. Miserable luck. "The Pick Six and Pick Eight" were long shots soon hopeless. Betty was the big winner when she bet strictly "to show". Her biggest bet "Swedish Cowboy", a favorite, came in 4th, out of the money.

We had to buy alot of their "snacks" dark beer, peanuts etc. It just tastes better there. We forgot our binoculars but they have a very large color tv screen which actually gives a better view of the entire race with changing place numbers at the bottom. Of course, it wouldn't be "the races" without the voice of Trevor Denman's. "And Away they Go!" in his distinctive Aussie twang. We also noticed the cute, little, blond spotter who climbs the tower every race to catch fowls with her binocs. No, she wears slacks. Then there is the familiar trumpet call before each race...it almost sounds recorded but then he comes out and does his own ad lib riff of the same fancy fanfare.

I don't see how anyone ever really wins much at the track. I suppose there are those who almost live there during the session; come every day etc. They even bet "off track" there on other races. Most are televized and they just stand around making notes and studying. Certainly different kind of gamblers than those found in Casinos. We decided we like them better.

The next day we just had to find the Pala Casino. It wasn't that far away, very spacious and not as smoke filled. They had a buffet with more choices than San Manuel's and better food than Morongo's. When I got ahead I learned two new games on "their money" ie. Mini Bacuerac(?) and 4 Card. Lots of fun.
If Horse Racing is the "Sport of Kings" then I'm just a "Knave of Cards" Bob