"Riders Up"

This is what Gatz has to say:

I just finished my 5 or 6th trip to the horse races "where the turf meets the surf" at old Del Mar. The summer horse racing meet ended as of today.
I walked out of there (today) 13 dollars up but in past races have lost money. All totalled I ended up about 50.00 down. Big spender huh?

What I want to share with you after all my observations ( I watched the people more than the horses) is this:

What a conglomeration of eccentrics. A place filled with: cranks, cigar-chopping bullshitters, con artists, creeps, skanks, men on the make, women on the make, liars, bored wives and girl friends, loners, losers and wannabe's. It was a weird mix of the lucky, the unlucky, the people for whom this place is the only place they can go and people who drive in, place big bets and then drive out. People that take the bus there and people that drive Bentley's and Rolls Royces.

Of particular note were the women that are clearly on the look out for rich men. They come in packs (usually 3-4), dressed in short skirts (very marginal legs) and the tallest heels you ever saw. Who wears 6-7 inch heels to a gum splattered, ticket strewn, trash filled horse track? Are they "working" girls? Maybe, (probably) but several things are for sure and that is they sure do think they look "hot" and they don't. Some are lumpy in their skin tight dresses and skirts (yikes) some flaunt their boobs in low scooped dresses and blouses (trust me they shouldn't). But despite hours in the gym, hours in the lava beds (tanning salons) and hours getting their hair bleached, streaked, colored, ratted and tin-foiled, they still look just like the former head cheerleader in high school does at the twenty year reunion. All dolled up, still believing she is hottest chick in the hen house but is way past those days, and sadly doesn't know it.

I hear these guys talk to each other about "buying a piece of a horse" and invariably it's some half assed nag they foolishly wasted their money on and never wins. There is always a reason why it didn't win: "the jock took him out too fast", " I think it has an ankle problem". The point is these guys can't face the truth, they bought a loser. The things is for about 5,000 you can get a "piece of a horse" and then for just another hundred dollars you can get a "owners license". This gives you instant status, (you are now a horseman) free parking and you get to use all the insider jargon like, " yeah, she did a 30/6 in her last", "she's broke her maiden and even though she has won only one race she is out of "skimmer" and "skipper". Out of means the baby of those two horses.

What a bizarre world where everyone there is either looking to win money or trying to form alliances with others to get someone eles's money, or looking to scam someone, always looking for some edge in someway. People can be friendly but they are always sizing you up, wondering if they can unload their nag on you, "hey, Will want a piece of John's Sweet Pea".

I had a great time overall especially with my friend IRV. I also thought of Steinbeck, Hemingway, and a host of other writers that would have been able to describe this distinct world better than I. They could have had a field day with this carnival of characters. They might even have bought a "piece of Southern Saga"! I chose not too!!