Wednesday, August 15, 2007

A horse is a horse, of course, of course......

Track season is officially half-over. I haven't really been affected by it much, but since I don't go out most evenings, it's easy to avoid the crowds and carousing I hear people talk about.

Here's evidence of something the town does to spruce up the town at this time of year:



Yesterday, I walked over and watched some of the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale auction. I was hoping to see some big money being spent, but since it was such a small turnout, it didn't happen. The highest price paid while I was there, was $50,000, with bidding starting at $1000.

The auctioneer would make these editorial comments when the bidding wasn't going well to try to urge folks to not let a good horse go unsold. It did happen a few times though. It was interesting to hear the descriptions of each horse's lineage, but sometimes even if it sounded great, not much was spent on them. Obviously the bidders knew why.

I felt really bad for the poor guy who had the worst job there: running out and scooping up the horse poop, while each horse was being paraded around a small stage.

I also felt bad for the horses. While some were docile, some really didn't want to be there and struggled while being led around.

So aside from horse statues all over town and horse-themed just about everything, this was the only real racing-related thing I've seen since we moved here.

Oh and here's a stock photo of what it looked like:

Fasig Tipton Yearling Sale

Please click on the photo and you'll see a larger version.

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