Racing at the Fair Grounds and The Travers

Quarter horse racing at the Fair Grounds provided a nice backdrop for Geoff Worden's Travers experience.
Watching the Travers was a must. Home sounded pretty good with a big screen and NBC televising but the Fair Grounds beckoned. Quarter horse racing is underway, there was a stakes race, and Saratoga would be on multiple channels. Plus, the classic characters would be there for live racing and the slate of stakes at Saratoga!
The parking lot was nearly empty even though my arrival was after the second post. Trying the usual doors, I soon realized why. Locked. Heading around the corner to enter through the casino I briefly contemplated the open doors into the paddock. It probably could have been done but it felt wrong. After watching some of the quarter horses leaping, bucking and carrying on in the paddock area, I’m glad I walked the extra few hundred feet, even in the brutal heat.
The OTB section was the only part open and it was hopping. Nearly every table was full and animated calls urging horses on rang throughout the room. I scanned the first bank of televisions for a Fairgrounds feed and was floored by the odds. One horse was 1-9 and all the rest were very long. Mere minutes later horses with 40-1 next to their names were 5-1 or 6-1. With so few people on site and probably no one watching simulcast, even small bets had some effect on the odds. It was wild.
That slightly surreal constant plus the general keyed up nature of the horses and the complete mayhem and intensity of the races ended up capturing a lot more of my attention than expected. 

The No. 5 horses won the second and fourth races. When the post for the fifth race arrived, I heard a mother and daughter talking about how amazingly the five horses were running. Until this No. 5 horse. After acting unruly before the race and in the gate, she was scratched. The streak was over. The entertainment was just beginning.
You can’t be messing around during quarter horse racing. If you miss the start, you pretty much miss the race. Twelve or 13 seconds of jockeys whistling, hooting, hollering, and horses careening down the stretch is it. No strategy. No waiting to make a move. Rev ʻem up, turn ʻem loose, and hope you get a clear path. 
There appears to be lots of bumping and swerving; this is not an Olympic sprint.
QUARTER HORSE RACES ARE OVER IN A FLASH

Quarter horse racing is like a controlled riot and the race recaps use words like: veered, drifted, brushed, squeezed, sandwiched, jammed, swerved, cut off, and bothered foes. Most of those sound like grounds for an inquiry to me but for quarter horses it’s business as usual. 
By now the last allowance race before four stakes races at Saratoga was set to go.
As Shining Copper with Rosie Napravnik aboard continued to dominate, a loud voice grew louder. “Come on Rosie! Come on, ride her girl!” After the win, more loudly and to no one in particular, he said, “Who don’t like Rosie now!?” He continued, “Silence, huh. Yʼall quiet now!” I love the Fair Grounds.
The bar special of the day was $3 for 16oz. drafts of Miller Lite and Coors Light. They should have offered Corona. Races seven through 10 included six horses with Corona in the name: Bcs Corona Six Chick, Corona Jesse, Downtown Corona, Open Me A Corona, Laynes Corona On Ice and Sheza Easy Corona. Only one got into the money but that one made quite a statement.
Open Me A Corona won the Gentilly Dash Stakes and set a track record. My impression of quarter horse racing is not one of wealth. Sure, horses are expensive to feed; house, transport and train but a third of the races on the card that day had total purses of less than $10,000. All of the jockeys wore generic Fair Grounds silks (FG), even for the stakes race. However, Open Me A Corona has career earnings of over half a million dollars! Winning all but one of the races you enter has to help, but it changed my thinking.
THE FAIR GROUNDS SILKS ALL THE JOCKEYS WORE

It was time for me to get something to eat and the Gentilly Grill and DeSaix Deli were open for business.
The names come from streets in the area, the Fair Grounds address is on Gentilly Blvd. The two are one restaurant, a kitchen between the OTB and the slots casino where you place your order. The stench of stale smoke unfortunately hangs in the air more than aromas of cooking. In my experience, this is good food; the best at the track, and you should just deal with the cigarettes or get your food and eat somewhere else. Note: for better weather, more fresh air enters and this smell is significantly mitigated - but isn’t this how OTBs are supposed to smell?
The tables nearby beckoned me because Saratoga was on the lone TV in this area.
My order of the fried chicken salad was met with approval by the gentleman to my left, “Good choice, that’s my favorite.” He also agreed with my selection of dressing, Caesar, which comes on the side. Iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green and black olives with shredded cabbage, carrots and cheese topped with a generous helping of fried chicken made the side of seven packs (!) of Saltines completely unnecessary. The chicken was fresh and still warm with a thick coating that did not display even the slightest sign of grease.
THE FRIED CHICKEN SALAD
 
Pepper flavor came through in the crust but there was no spicy heat along with it. It was delicious and I will be hard pressed to continue exploring the menu instead of ordering this as a regular dish. Someone might observe that the chicken was just a little bit dry but with the dressing it all worked beautifully. 

The Travers Stakes went off shortly after I finished my meal and I rooted hard for Wicked Strong and V.E. Day (my longshot pick). Having watched the Jim Dandy in person, I realized Wicked Strong was in the same position around the last turn in the Travers as well and thought the race was won. V.E. Day blazed forward impressively with the late kick I expected but it was stronger than I thought possible and resulted in a huge win. In the end, Bayernʼs fade crushed my Trifecta and Superfecta and I got served another reminder to avoid front runners. It was a spectacular race and an entertaining day at the Fair Grounds, good food, exciting racing and amusing characters. As if I needed my appetite whetted for the upcoming meet ...
Quarter horse racing continues at the Fair Grounds August 27-30 and Sept 3-5.