Preakness Day

I am way behind on this here blog. Just last night I had a barbeque, from which there are many a photograph of food and revelry I'd like to share. But last weekend I went to Cayuga Lake, and have many a beautiful picture from that trip that I"d like to properly share with the internet. But first we have to wade through the remaining meals and images of the weekend before that. So here we go. The day of the Preakness was a beautiful one. Warm but not unbearably so. Throughout the day I made a number of small bets that generally returned my investment...bet $6, get about $6. So I wasn't a high roller but I was happy to at least have winning tickets from time to time.

The staff and the track work hard and seem rather unimpressed by the whole thing. The ladies in the bathroom told me that they don't get breaks, they're cleaning and filling soap dispensers for the length of the event. That sounded pretty much miserable, so I was kind of amazed by how friendly they were to the masses of women rolling in and out.

This time I wore the fascinator that J. gave me this past November. Dad wore his hat this way just for the silliness of the photograph.

Running.

Flying.

Landing.

This lady checked each horse's mouth. I assumed because they have an identifying tattoo there so she could be sure that each horse was supposed to be where it was?

We were not absolutely nearby Bob Baffert and his crew...but we weren't totally far away either. You can make him out in the yellow tie, sitting next to his son Bode, for which Bodemeister (came in second at both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness) is named. Bode Miller, who is the reason the son has the name was also there.

I thought this was a pretty neat photo. Lighting isn't perfect, but you do what you can with what you have.

Mike Smith slightly removed from the hoopla behind him.

Mike Smith, Baffert and Bode, all part of the crowd.

Yup.

People looking at things.

The parade.

Such good posture.

This lady does the awkward 'ride up to the winning horse just after the race in order to get the jockey's first thoughts and reactions' interview.

I'll Have Another...had another win.

Creative Cause was a little frisky.

And somehow I have no decent photographs of the race itself. I tried taking a video and I think that was probably a mistake and a misplacement of my energies. This was a good day at the races, but I was ready to go after the Preakness. The parking lot after the main even was just a crazy mess of humanity and honking and buses making incredibly daring angles and drunk women crying and drunk women stumbling and drunk women in golf carts. Thanks to my father for the two day experience, which was quite fun.