A horse race is a beautiful thing. The pounding of hooves, like distant thunder, accompanies the kaleidoscopic whirl of racing silks. An indefinable scent, part lather, leather, and adrenaline, rises from the track. But it is the sheer spectacle of muscle, bone, and sinew hurtling along that quickens the pulse. Time itself slows as the horses round the curve into the homestretch, fierce in their determination.
I’ve been to many tracks, each with its own atmosphere. On my first visit to Charles Town Races, about fifteen years ago, I was not favorably impressed. The track had clearly seen better days and was gracelessly sliding into bankruptcy. A few years later it reopened with a new casino featuring 2,600 blinking, cacophonous slot machines.
What the slots lack in aesthetic appeal, however, they compensate for in profitability. Because the casino turns over part of its profits, the track has been able to afford renovations as well as offer larger purses, ensuring a higher standard of racing. Happily, the track retains its family-friendly, low-key charm and has not been overwhelmed by the casino glitz. The trick is to bypass the casino altogether and concentrate on the racing.
If you’ve never been to a race track, here are a few pointers. First, there are several places to observe the race – from the grandstand, the clubhouse, and an open area alongside the track. Personally, I love standing at the rail near the action.
Don’t let the jargon surrounding the sport intimidate you. Each time I go to the races, I meet people attending their first race. They always seem to be having a perfectly good time despite their lack of expertise. In fact, they may very well be having the best time, for they''ve just discovered that watching a race on television, even the Kentucky Derby, pales alongside the excitement of watching one at the track.
To follow the action, it helps to buy a program. This is the only expense you’ll incur at Charles Town (other than betting), as admission is free. There’s a helpful page in the program explaining how to decipher it. The systematic types pore over this information and make painstaking calculations, while the sentimentalists base selections on names, numbers and racing stable colors. My own modestly successful system involves briefly perusing the program then walking over to the saddling enclosure to watch the horses being saddled. Making an educated but fundamentally intuitive wager is all part of the fun for me. The half hour between races passes quickly, with much speculative banter among the patrons, and culminates in the frenzied two minutes of the race itself.
Placing a bet is a relatively simple matter. Bring cash or an ATM card, for most tracks don’t accept credit cards. There’s a minimum $2 bet, well worth the enjoyment that you get from becoming a partisan rather than a mere observer. Win or lose, the thrill of race never diminishes.