Image courtesy of saltyseadog on Flickr.
Do your kids like horses? Racing? Cheering? Hot dogs and french fries? Then follow my lead and take them to the Track. There will probably be ten races, lasting just a couple minutes apiece, with about 15 minutes between them. You can buy a program for a couple bucks to find out the names of the horses and what their records are, if you want. There’ll be a board in the centre of the track that shows the odds on each horse and a big screen next to it showing the race as it happens. (It’s sometimes hard to see who’s who when the horses are on the other side of the track.)
We usually go to the standardbred races (that’s where the horses pull a jockey in a harness) on summer evenings at Woodbine, but the thoroughbreds race on weekend afternoons and might be a better fit for your schedule. The evening races do take us a bit past bedtime, so they’re only an occasional treat, but they are less crowded and the long summer evenings are so nice for sitting outside and cheering.
And, well, there’s also gambling. Most people who are at the track will be there hoping to make a little money on a horse. You can simply ignore this, or you can incorporate a little small-time action into the trip as you see fit. Depending on their ages, it’s also fun to brush up on all your racing and gambling lingo, eg. exacter, trifecta, box. Obviously, you will steer well clear of the racetrack if you have any real qualms with gambling. Even though my own dad loves the track, our family didn’t start going until I was a teenager and my younger siblings were school-aged. (Maybe he loved it a bit too much before I was born? Needed a decade and a half of fatherhood to get that out of his system?)
As far as fitting in, there were a few kids there last week. Woodbine has a FAQ page on their website that says children are welcome, though you need to be over 18 to place a bet. The next question, though, asks if there is a special play area for kids, and the answer is simply no. So bring your kids and make an afternoon or evening out of it for the family. But don’t dump your kids trackside, so you can lay down the long dollar, if you get my drift.