In which I go to the races... and take pictures.
Turns out they have more than three horse races a year. ;-) And, there's horse racing in Des Moines.
The racing is held outside the Prairie Meadows casino, on the NW edge of Des Moines, a little over a half hour drive. I'm told it's actually a (get this) nonprofit casino. It's owned by the county as a revenue source (like lottery tickets, I guess, but with slot machines).
The building is huge and the parking lot is huger. It's next to Des Moines' amusement park. There are several hotels nearby, as well as a campground which was actually quite full of RVs and tents. I told Mom that it seems like, if you're going to pack up your family on vacation, you could go someplace more exciting than Des Moines. She pointed out that in this economy, maybe not. I guess it is a way to feel like you've gotten out of the house without using a lot of gas -- provided you watch how much you put in the slot machines.
This is the side facing the horse racing:
The second floor is inside spaces to sit with huge glass windows, the fourth floor is a restaurant (also with huge glass windows). Children are allowed outside on the apron and in the restaurant while there's racing, but not in the second-floor area as, for some reason, it's considered part of the casino. (The signs say they card under 40 and I was carded several times.)
There are benches but no bleachers outside. There was a lot of standing involved, since all the best views involved standing by a railing.
There were quite a few families with children. The racing is free (they want you there so they can entice you to gamble) so I imagine that's part of the appeal. There were people drinking, of course, and people who were clearly serious about playing the ponies. But there were also hula-hooping contests in the winner's circle between races (it was 50's night) and a guy in a horse mascot suit giving stickers to kids. All and all I felt it was as wholesome as any activity entirely about gambling is likely to be.
I guess it makes sense that you vary the length of the race by moving the starting gate. I wonder if all tracks pull them with tractors? (It rained through the first few races, hence the rainbow.)
On TV, it seems like the track is empty when the horses are running, but actually it's not. In a race longer than the track (this is a 1-mile track, so that's anything longer than a mile) they have to drive the starting gate out of the way before the horses circle back around.
Then after the gate come all the lead ponies who escorted the racehorses to the gate.
Down the stretch they come!
The winner and his "connections" heading for the winner's circle. They show the race on the TV in the infield. Just like most sporting events, for most of the race you can see much better on the TV than watching the actual race.
In the winner's circle. (No hula hoops when horses are present.)
Loading the horses into the starting gate. Number 5 wasn't so sure about the whole gate thing.
There are 20-30 minutes between races, during which you can place bets, buy snacks, or head inside and gamble. That's what the casino is presumably hoping for. Or, you can run inside to grab a soda (they have free fountains in the casinos if you look carefully) and then head back out to watch the between-race stuff: saddling, leading the horses around, that sort of thing. Here, people are watching horses preparing for the next race in the paddock.
Riders up!
Racing started at 6:30 (I arrived for the second race) and finished at about 10 (9 races total). Then (with great difficulty) I located a nickel video poker machine and played a dollar worth of video poker. The county is clearly not going to be engaging in any major projects with my contribution.
I always think it would be fun to try blackjack or craps, but I've never seen a table with less than a $5 minimum, which is too rich for my blood.
All and all I thought it was a fun evening out, and free except for the video poker. Next time I must remember to bring binoculars and my SLR -- the lens on my little camera was nowhere NEAR long enough for most of the shots or fast enough for the lighting conditions.
The racing is held outside the Prairie Meadows casino, on the NW edge of Des Moines, a little over a half hour drive. I'm told it's actually a (get this) nonprofit casino. It's owned by the county as a revenue source (like lottery tickets, I guess, but with slot machines).
The building is huge and the parking lot is huger. It's next to Des Moines' amusement park. There are several hotels nearby, as well as a campground which was actually quite full of RVs and tents. I told Mom that it seems like, if you're going to pack up your family on vacation, you could go someplace more exciting than Des Moines. She pointed out that in this economy, maybe not. I guess it is a way to feel like you've gotten out of the house without using a lot of gas -- provided you watch how much you put in the slot machines.
This is the side facing the horse racing:
The second floor is inside spaces to sit with huge glass windows, the fourth floor is a restaurant (also with huge glass windows). Children are allowed outside on the apron and in the restaurant while there's racing, but not in the second-floor area as, for some reason, it's considered part of the casino. (The signs say they card under 40 and I was carded several times.)
There are benches but no bleachers outside. There was a lot of standing involved, since all the best views involved standing by a railing.
There were quite a few families with children. The racing is free (they want you there so they can entice you to gamble) so I imagine that's part of the appeal. There were people drinking, of course, and people who were clearly serious about playing the ponies. But there were also hula-hooping contests in the winner's circle between races (it was 50's night) and a guy in a horse mascot suit giving stickers to kids. All and all I felt it was as wholesome as any activity entirely about gambling is likely to be.
I guess it makes sense that you vary the length of the race by moving the starting gate. I wonder if all tracks pull them with tractors? (It rained through the first few races, hence the rainbow.)
On TV, it seems like the track is empty when the horses are running, but actually it's not. In a race longer than the track (this is a 1-mile track, so that's anything longer than a mile) they have to drive the starting gate out of the way before the horses circle back around.
Then after the gate come all the lead ponies who escorted the racehorses to the gate.
Down the stretch they come!
The winner and his "connections" heading for the winner's circle. They show the race on the TV in the infield. Just like most sporting events, for most of the race you can see much better on the TV than watching the actual race.
In the winner's circle. (No hula hoops when horses are present.)
Loading the horses into the starting gate. Number 5 wasn't so sure about the whole gate thing.
There are 20-30 minutes between races, during which you can place bets, buy snacks, or head inside and gamble. That's what the casino is presumably hoping for. Or, you can run inside to grab a soda (they have free fountains in the casinos if you look carefully) and then head back out to watch the between-race stuff: saddling, leading the horses around, that sort of thing. Here, people are watching horses preparing for the next race in the paddock.
Riders up!
Racing started at 6:30 (I arrived for the second race) and finished at about 10 (9 races total). Then (with great difficulty) I located a nickel video poker machine and played a dollar worth of video poker. The county is clearly not going to be engaging in any major projects with my contribution.
I always think it would be fun to try blackjack or craps, but I've never seen a table with less than a $5 minimum, which is too rich for my blood.
All and all I thought it was a fun evening out, and free except for the video poker. Next time I must remember to bring binoculars and my SLR -- the lens on my little camera was nowhere NEAR long enough for most of the shots or fast enough for the lighting conditions.