Nature's First Green Is Gold....

So, spring is finally here, although you wouldn't know it from the weather these days (a Freeze in April?!). With spring comes possibly the best thing that happens in Lexington all year--Keeneland! Well, okay it happens twice a year, but still, I love the spring meet most. Maybe it's because you get to see some of the Derby contenders run without the hassle of trying to actually go to the Derby. Or maybe it's just that I am so excited to see sun and warm after months of cold and snow that anything outdoors seems great.

But I do love Keeneland. And this past Saturday was the crown jewel in Keeneland's Spring meet, with the running of the Bluegrass Stakes--one of the Derby Preps and the only one held in Kentucky. Dad and Kathy came up and we all went out to the grand old track for a day at the races. It's wasn't the best weather--in fact it was so cold that eventually we had to move inside--but it was fun.

I normally don't bet much money, so I don't win much money ($2.00 per race is my norm). On Saturday, I went into the day with $20.00 to bet on the ponies. I cashed a few small tickets, so by the time the Bluegrass rolled around, I was only down about $6.00. In the spirit of the day, I decided to bet the rest of my $20.00 on the Bluegrass and see what happened. I knew I wanted to place a couple of win bets and a show bet or two, but I still had a few more dollars to spend, so I asked Jenny, Jenny, and Kathy to each pick a number between 1 and 12 (the number of horses in the race). Kathy picked 3, Jenny (friend) picked 5, and Jenny (sister) picked 8. My intention was to bet an exacta box with the horses they chose, but seeing as the 8 horse had odds of 67-1 at the time, I decided to place a Show bet on him, and do the others in a box with the 1 horse and the 7 horse who I liked a lot.

Once all the bets were placed, we went outside to watch the race. The 3 and the 5 came out early and went to the lead, which is normally a very very bad sign. This time, however, they stayed in the lead the entire way and finished 5-3. I placed a $14.00 bet and won $70.00. Very exciting. Not that any skill was involved in this winning at all, but still.......

I'll be going back to Keeneland on Thursday this week with a group from work (my boss pays us to go to the track!). Hopefully my good luck with continue.