So I went to the track yesterday...

A good friend of mine decided to spend her birthday at the Del Mar racetrack near San Diego. Apart from a visit to Santa Anita years ago, it was only my second time to a race track... and I ended up having a lot more fun than I thought I would. Maybe all that tequila had something to do with it. Okay. That, and winning almost $400 on a single race.

See, I have this coworker who is crazy about horse racing. Naturally I send him an email last week asking who I should bet on this weekend. He promises to text me that morning if he found anything interesting. So on the way down yesterday, I finally get a text from something out of a spy novel:

"Just a hunch. Race 4, Horse 10."

I grinned like I just received the coordinates of Osama bin Laden's secret lair.

By the end of Race 3, I was already 2 beers and 4 shots in as I marched towards the betting window in that resolute way only a drunk man can march. Apparently, there is a "right" way to make a horse bet, and I didn't want to F it up and look like a noob. I practiced repeating the bet over and over in my head like an inebriated actor rehearsing his lines. When it was finally my turn at the window, I aced it:

"Del Mar Race 4. $50 to win on 10."

I'll tell ya now, there ain't *nothing* more exciting than a horserace when you have $50 on a horse chosen by text message. And few things more exhilarating than when said horse WINS. My throat is still sore today from all the screaming I did in that one race.

What followed was a series of text messages in quick succession:

"WINNER!!!! I *so* owe you lunch!"

"How much your win ticket pay?"

"$370!"

"OK you can buy me a lunch!"

One friend also made $370 off the same tip, while two others made $168 each. We were a very happy bunch. 

Giddy off the win, we decided to bet $5 in the next race too, on a horse because we liked his name--"Where's the Remote?" He won too! Made us $15 each. Feeling like we had a good thing going, we bet $5 on the race after that based on the winner of a 3-way game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. Yup. These are the ridiculous ideas we come up with when we're drunk and playing with house money. Alas, that was when our luck ended. With an extra $380 in my wallet, I decided that was the end of my betting for the day. :)