My Day at the Races at Monmouth Park – June 21, 2015
Thanks to America’s Best Racing, I got to attend my first ever horse racing event at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, NJ. I got the “VIP” experience too!
The day began with a tour of the horse stables which was led by Liam Benson, the younger horse trainer in racing! He was super knowledgeable, great with the horses, and gave us an amazing tour.
I got to pet so many horses that day, it was very exciting for me. He has a lot of great horses, some are babies and some are ready to race.
Getting a backstage look at the horses at @MonmouthPark w/ @ABRLive @TeamABRLive pic.twitter.com/KPt5XX5oOF
— NJ Isn’t Boring! (@njisntboring) June 21, 2015
Our group all had a great time. Because we were a group of bloggers we blew up his Twitter feed. You can follow him on Twitter too @LiamDBenson. He’ll have horses racing at Monmouth Park for their July 4th event. I’ll be rooting for Mulligan’s Singer, even if I’m not able to attend the event.
Great group shot @MonmouthPark of @ABRLive guests with @liamdbenson and Mulligan’s Singer. She next runs on July 4th! pic.twitter.com/eLDpYBJ25N
— Danonymous Racing (@DanonymousMan) June 21, 2015
After the tour, we headed to the race track. If you haven’t been to Monmouth Park, it is a beautiful place to go. It’s clean, it’s big, and even if you’re not into horse racing it’s a great way to spend the day. You can bring in your own food and drink (even beer!), sit on the lawn…watch the race on a TV and listen to live music. It’s so affordable too, it’s worth going at least once to see if you’ll like it.
We really lucked out with the weather (it was supposed to be raining…hard). Because it was Father’s Day the men got in for free, which is cool. There is a ladies’ night coming up in August where women can get in for free if they’re wearing a hat or fascinator…so that’s something to look into.
My husband and I didn’t play bets at first since we had never been there before, so we got up close and watched the races which was neat. It’s definitely a lot more fun when you have a horse to root for.
Figuring out a horse to bet on is a lot more complicated than you think. Thanks to our hosts at America’s Best Racing, we definitely left learning a lot more than we knew before we got there. I think. My husband picked up on it more than I did. There’s a lot of different factors to consider – the horse, jockey, prior wins/losses and the races can be so unpredictable. Just enjoy the experience…
In addition to visiting the horse stables, we also got to stand in the paddock area which usually only the owner’s can do. In the paddock you can look at the horses up close, which can help you in making a decision in what horse to bet on. You also get to see the jockey’s get on their horses before heading to the track.
After visiting the paddock, we placed some bets and spoiler alert…we lost! It was still a fun experience and we ending up betting (and losing) again before we left.
Overall, we had a great time and we plan on going again. Thank you to America’s Best Racing, and especially Dan and Victoria who were amazing hosts!
