Belmont Racetrack

(Saturday Night Cheeseburger will not be seen this week, due to this special Kentucky Derby trip. It will return next week at it’s regularly scheduled time.)

When I was five-years-old, my family moved to Louisville, Kentucky and we lived there from 1963 to 1969. Louisville is a great town and there’s lots of things to do there, but one of the things it’s best known for is the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Our family used to take trips out to Churchill Downs and watch the races, the horses and the people in the spring and summertime and I have fond memories of the place. But the one weekend most locals didn’t go near the racetrack was Derby weekend. The town got absolutely nuts, prices were raised and things got pretty wild. I’ve never been to a racetrack on Derby day and last week while corresponding with EV Grieve, he suggested that it might make for a fun post to go out to Belmont Park and check out that race track on Derby Day. I thought it was a splendid idea, and so now, please prepare to enjoy TWM’s day at the races!

We'll be taking the train to Belmont Park from Penn Station.

Nobody's walking on the escalator, hopefully a sign of a good day ahead!

The Long Island Railroad has a special train that goes out to the racetrack at specific times of the day. Let's go get a ticket.

And here's the train, all aboooard!

Here's the view out the window. According to the weather it was supposed to be a nice day today, but so far it's kind of gray and the sky is spitting a little rain out. Hopefully it'll clear up as the day progresses.

Okay, here we are, Belmont Park, let the racing begin!

I'm not exactly sure where to go, so I'm just following the crowd.

Looks like we're just about there!

Wow, it's a huge place and it kind of resembles a giant airplane hangar. There's three floors, but it all kind of looks the same in here.

See what I mean?

Here's a view of the racetrack from the second floor. No horses racing yet, I wonder what time that starts? Let's go outside and see what's happening.

Here's some people having a picnic outside in a reserved area. It's kind of chilly out here.

Man in sombrero waving alert!

Still no horses on the track and now it's starting to mist a little and it's cold out here, let's go back inside.

There's TV's and large screens all over the place inside.

Although I have no idea what any of this means and the whole place is starting to make me nervous.

One thing I've noticed is that people are really into reading the racing forms out here.

Everyone is studying them and there's not a lot of eye contact, nobody's even noticing I'm taking their picture.

It's kind of like they're racing form zombies and it's kind of freaking me out. Let's go check out the track and see if the races have started.

Nope, still no horses and the seats are kind of empty. I thought there'd be more action out here on Derby Day.

And more TV's inside. One thing you're not experiencing through these pictures is that there's an announcer on the loudspeakers constantly talking, but you can't understand a word he's saying. It's like the subway announcements that are always garbled, but this never stops and it's kind of giving me a headache!

Here's the back of the building, let's see what's out here.

It's a picnic area. It's a little chilly and it's drizzling rain, but let's check it out.

Jesus fucking Christ, there's no escape from this shit!

Aaaahhhh!

Let's go back inside.

More TV's, let's go see if anything is happening at the racetrack.

Hey...check it out...

It's a racehorse. But so far he's just standing there.

Okay, he just took off, but is this just a race of one horse?

Wait a second, now there's an ambulance on the track, gaining on the racehorse. This must be some sort of new-fangled race.

I tell you there's electricity in the crowd as the race is peaking.

And in the end, it was the ambulance by a nose. A stuffed up nose, but that's okay, there's doctors on board.

Okay, I've still got a couple of hours to kill before the first train back to Manhattan, so I've decided to do what I should've done in the first place, go to the bar and have some beers.

Check out these two lovely ladies, Nikki and Colleen! They're a mother-daughter bartending team and they were lots of fun to talk to. If you're ever at this bar at Belmont Park, ask Colleen to tell you her sick joke!

Here's Nikki presenting me with a beer, Home Shopping Network style! I had a great time at the bar with them and before I knew it, it was time to head back home. I think I need to come back out here in the summer and try it when the weather is nicer.

I should be home in time to catch the Kentucky Derby on the TV, the way we used to spend Derby Day in Louisville.

Except my TV set has been on the fritz for nine months now.

So I decided to while the evening away watching Mr. Ed and having a few beers. Wiiilbuuurrrr!

Belmont Park
2150 Hempstead Turnpike
Elmont, NY

Further Reading: NY Daily News, Bleacher Report and The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved.

Ain’t no doubt,
I’m talkin’ about,
Kentucky woman.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

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Bonus Mr. Ed Art by Jaws!

Taking a cue from the Mr. Ed photo, Jaws the Cabbie sent in this Mr. Ed art he produced a while back. Here's what he says about it: "I did this one while suffering through Minnesota's last protracted senatorial race." Great work, Jaws, thanks!