Every year the wife and I try to make it to the Trefethen Vineyard event at the Del Mar Horse Track. Its a fun event and a great way to get out of town and do some “adulting” without the kids. We have gone for the last few years and its been an amazing time. This year however was a bit different.
The Build Up
The typical crowd includes retired administrator, Cindy, from one of the colleges I cover athletics for. She is a big advocate for title 9 issues in sports. I respect Cindy greatly and look forward to this event every year so I can catch up on her life now that she is retired. Unfortunately, Cindy had a scheduling oversight and got a flight time mixed up. She was unable to make the event. I threatened to return my bobble head the college had made of her if she didn’t make it and ultimately it was a bluff. I would never do that. It is on the shelf in my office next to my Mike Trout/ Shohei Ohtani Bobbles where it belongs. Nestled right next to my autographed Albert Pujols baseball.
The other couple that accompanied us last year included one of the athletic trainers and his wife. He was unfortunately traveling for work over the weekend and couldn’t make. Fortunately, my neighbors, John and Wendy, were reliable partners in crime for us and committed early to the event. We had been looking forward to the event since last year.
Fashion Forward
John and I have to buy a new “outfit” every year for the event. We couldn’t possibly be seen not matching our wives. For the married crowd out there, you can feel my pain when I am patiently awaiting the wife’s decision on color and style. Its a big deal to create a theme at the races. It’s like a giant prom fashion show with oversized hats, colorful dresses and side arm husbands with an overwhelming look of despair that is only remedied by a stiff old fashioned.
I am not one for collared shirts. The most formal thing I wear is a dry fit Polo shirt with some sports team branded on it. Otherwise, my wardrobe resembles a goodwill that was exclusively donated to by the action sports industry. It is mostly faded Vans swag, Hurley, and college sports attire. My wardrobe has become so predictable that my kids even draw in the “Vans” logo on my shirt when they make pictures of our family for school.
Outrunning Age
Over the last several years I have run into a problem with my own mortality. Plagued by injury, I have been unable to maintain a certain activity level. This has resulted in the need to purchase new clothing. Why you may ask… Some old classics just don’t fit anymore. This year I was going to repurpose a jacket I wore a few years ago because it had the same wine color of Jen’s dress. Unfortunately, I had become the victim of one too many donuts. It is uncomfortable enough wearing a collar, I couldn’t imagine recreating the Tommy Boy scene, “fat guy in a little coat” all day. Age had finally caught me.
There was a sense of urgency to find something to match Jen. My plan had back fired on me and now I had to piece something together at the last minute. I reached for a pair of pinstripe pants… too small. A pair of designer jeans… can’t breathe. I tried a couple shirts that made my neck have a bigger muffin top than the millennials so fond of their skinny jeans. After rummaging through the closet I finally found a pink vest and some khaki’s that would have to work.
2023
2024
The Trip Down
John and Wendy had decided to head down on a friday. I couldn’t leave due to work, until saturday. We hit the usual traffic but made it down to our hotel by 12:30. John had called me to let me know he was just getting to the venue. Jen and I were about to call for an uber and walk out the door when he was laughing about how he had to make two trips because he had forgotten his tickets at the hotel. Thank god he told me because I had left my tickets in the center console of my truck. Not the best start to the event so far. I had effectively been too fat to wear what I had planned, immediately followed by sitting in more traffic than anticipated, only to be topped off by nearly forgetting our tickets.
5 Star Uber
After retrieving the tickets and making our way back to the hotel lobby, I called for an Uber. The app indicated that we would be picked up in a Tesla Model 3. We waited patiently until the car arrived. I’m not complaining, but both Jen and I are 6′ tall. We are wearing relatively formal clothing, and in my case, a poorly fitting outfit due to my fondness for whiskey and burritos. This limits the ability to slouch when seated in the back seat of an uber. Pair this with the unusually low glass roof and it makes for a rather uncomfortable ride.
The car pulls up and Jen goes for the door. She had never been in a tesla before. The door handle was her first hurdle as I stood by and watched. If you have never been in a Tesla, the door handle is recessed into the door. There is a special technique to push on the handle before being able to grab it an open the door. Watching her rub her hand all over the door trying to give the handle some type of erection was priceless. I eventually had to step in and open the door because… I’m a gentleman.
At the Track
We arrived in one piece. With ease, we found our gate and made our way to the usual suite on the top floor over looking the finish line. We were greeted instantly by familiar faces from the vineyard and luckily Jon and Wendy had already got a table for us. We did the initial mingling and made our way to the bar. First up was the Trefethen 2021 Dragons Tooth immediately followed by a 2021 Cab. Both well placed and well timed for the arrival.
Jen instantly went to work reviewing her betting strategy. Me personally, I am not much of a gambler. My luck is too… lets call it “educational” because we all learn from mistakes. We constantly joke about how you should never follow me into a line at a store, or go through customs with me. Inevitably I will always get pulled and searched or there will be some mechanical failure causing the line I am in to completely shut down. Despite knowing this about my luck, I let Jen convince me to place a bet in the second race.
Perfect Odds
Of all the bets I have ever placed over the years, this one had to have astronomical odds behind it. It is completely IMPOSSIBLE one could have picked the outcome for it and yet I knew by picking the two horses I did, I would lose.
I picked the favored horse followed by another that was a slight underdog. You could feel the tension as we eagerly watched them line up. My first horse seemed overly anxious or excited. I had a good feeling given the energy on display. Was it the wine or my poor judgement that began to make me feel like I could somehow win?
They lined the horses up in the starting gate. My number 1 pick began freaking out. It instantly busted through the gate and ran down the track. It was off to a commanding lead. Mostly because none of the other horses had left the starting gate yet. Apparently it was so excited it wouldn’t settle down. This ultimately led to it’s disqualification before the race even started. I still had one more horse in the race. I watched intently as they reset the gates.
The Second Horse
The gates flew open and my number 2 pick began in the middle of the pack. It was making up ground by the first turn. Gaining on the leader but a few feet. As they rounded the back stretch of the track I was on my feet cheering. Almost as if I had hit my thumb while hammering that nail in my own coffin. A few seconds later, my horse pulls back and comes to a complete stop on the back stretch pf the track. The pack races off and ultimately finished the race.
Confusion set in as everyone was wondering what was happening on the back stretch. Two men with a giant curtain run onto the track trying desperately to block our view. You hear a quick “pop” and then see the horse back away from the curtain. The horse fell to its side and we all knew what was going on. My 2nd horse had broken it’s leg and they just tranquilized him on the field. The truck and trailer came on the track while they loaded him into the back and hauled him off to the vet and ultimately never to race a gain.
Lessons Learned
Again, I am not a gambler. While half the crowd was silent and the other half almost in tears as this tragedy unfolded. I couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible. My luck is so bad, that I had successfully picked two horses that didn’t even come close to finishing the race. One was disqualified at the start while the other likely died. This is why I am not a gambler. What are the odds of picking both horses in the same race? Ok Universe, you win. No more gambling for me.
Dinner
After our day at the track reaffirming my near perfect luck, we decided to head out to dinner. We were originally supposed to eat with our friends Jon and Wendy but they had a family emergency requiring them to head home early. Jen and I were able to use reservation at the Brigantine restaurant near the track as planned.
Dinner was great but the crowd at place was a bit confusing. For a Saturday evening, there were an unusual amount of couples with large age gaps between them. Did we miss a memo? Was there some parent/child function in town? We watched a middle aged man dine with a woman almost twice his age and walk out holding hands. Conversely, we also saw the standard elderly man with a woman probably still in college. Was it his daughter? Possibly a granddaughter? I couldn’t say but they seemed really friendly towards each other. It made me wonder if everyone was looking at Jen and I thinking “ew gross, look at that similar aged couple” in disgust.
Wrapping Up
We all know that no one was looking at us during dinner but it makes for a better story that way. We ended up having a lovely dinner and even split some cheesecake at the end of it. We called an uber and headed back to the hotel. Our room was freezing cold from leaving the AC on. I have a bad habit of over utilizing the AC when we stay at a hotel because our home doesn’t have any. You wouldn’t believe the humidity in Huntington Beach sometimes. I want to take advantage of it when I can. I can’t wait to see what happens next year. Track days are always fun and exciting!
