Belmont

[GenuineRisk]

Folding chairs are allowed, though if you get in early enough to plant yourself near the fence, you'll have to fold them up at some point prior to the race or risk getting smooshed under a mob of people.

I was there for Charismatic, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones and Big Brown. I'll never forget the absolute silence that fell after Birdstone passed Smarty.

I just love Belmont on a TC year, even though I hate crowds. I know the Kentucky Derby is mobbed every year, but then, there's also a Derby winner every year. At Belmont on a TC year, there's just that great feeling of expectation all day, that maybe, maybe, this year, history will happen. I can't think of any other sporting event where just about the entire crowd is rooting for the same athlete. Horse racing runs on gambling (one of the things I love about it), but the Belmont in a Triple Crown year is the only race that transcends wagering and becomes about hoping to see a horse do something incredible.

You can bring in coolers and beverages that aren't in glass bottles, but no alcohol on Belmont Stakes Day. Though there is plenty for sale (yay, souvenir glass).

I went to AQ yesterday to fill out the application for tickets. Maybe 40 or 50 people were waiting to go up at 11:30 when they opened up the office. Annoyingly, the people who made sure we knew they'd been there SINCE TEN THIRTY, WAITING, SO DON'T GET IN FRONT OF US, hadn't even seen the Preakness. Aspiring scalpers, I imagine.