I got my hands on a few tickets, and so we set out for a weekend in New York. Coincidently, The Horse exhibit was showing at the Museum of Natural History this weekend, so of course we had to stop there too. Very cool.
Saturday, morning started early as we made a mad dash to board the first train to Belmont Park out of Penn Station. I think mad dash is an understatement. Luckily we got seats and didn't have to stand for the forty min train ride. We arrived at the park around 11:30 am. It was bright, sunny and humid. And it only got hotter as the day went on. I think it only reached 88, but sitting there in the sun, it felt a lot hotter than that. Luckily we had sunscreen, and we weren't about to give up our seats to go sit in the shade!
For me, this was not just racing, but a photo opportunity, as I love to photograph horses. My favorite of the day was this one of White Tie. Taken during the parade of the 2nd race.
The first race was at noon, and about every 20-40 mins after that. With each race the crowd of people grew and grew. By the time 6:20 rolled around there was hardly any room to stand. We stood on our benches to see as they paraded the horses in front of the grandstands. Of course by now the entire world knows the results of the race, and unfortunately Big Brown couldn't pull off a Triple Crown victory. Oh well, it wasn't his day. It was still a remarkable race, and the energy of the crowd was incredible. To top it all off, there were no breakdowns.
Despite the heat, the sun, the sunburn, the crowds, the lines, the overflowing bathrooms, and the long train ride home (standing) followed by an even longer car ride out of NYC, it was a good day. A once in a life time experience for sure.
