the a.c. race course had it's grand opening in 1946 and preceeded the casinos by decades as the first gambling establishment in south jersey. the original stockholders included the legendary bob hope, frank sinatra, and six of the nation's big band leaders: kay kyser, phil spitalny, harry james, xavier cugat, sammy kaye, and axel Ssordahi. though the race course is not open year round for live horse racing, it is open for races via simulcasting and once a year, (april 28-may 3) they are open for 6 days of all-turf thourghobred racing, which is how i ended up here.
i decided to grab myself a cheap beer, a racing program and a good seat. you can get up close and personal with the horses in between each race so you can get an idea which horse might be 'the one' (which in fact, in my case, was none of them...i left a big fat loser and maybe a little drunk), then, head back in to place your bet, then continue on though the doors to the track to watch the race and cheer your pony on (i kept yelling, 'move your bloody arse!!', but no one around me got the my fair lady reference, which i found weird, we were at a horse race for crying out loud!) this seems to be a family affair because i did notice many people brought their rugrats along with them. the highest of the stands are blocked off, whether this is for safety reasons or not, i am not sure. the place is kind of run down, but that didn't bother me, i've seen worse. the only food they offer are hotdogs and soft pretzels and such, but who needs food when there's a bar with cheap beer everywhere you turn??
keep in mind that this race course in not actually in atlantic city, it's located in the mays landing section of hamilton township, new jersey (it's about a 20 minute drive from a.c.) next to the hamilton mall, right off the atlantic city expressway. if you are in town for the week of live races, i highly recommend popping in for at least one day. i placed bets for fun, which is lucky for me because i wasn't lucky at all. but i did have a great afternoon and enjoyed some cheap beer out of a plastic cup and the people watching will certainly pass the time. you will see all types walk through that door, no one is excempt from gambling, i guess! it was fun, do it. you won't regret it! i will certainly be showing my face there again, much to the chargin of the woman who decided it was okay to comment on how ugly i was. right in front of me. serisouly, lady, zombie gnomes have feelings too! but ruin my day, it did not. it was very crowded, so make sure you get there early in the day so you aren't stuck parking out in the boondocks...because if you lose all your money, it's an extraordinarily long walk back to your car.. on to my next adventure...
