July 23-24, 2009
On Thursday, we had an UCD sponsored event to the Leopardstown Horse Races. I knew nothing about horses, except what little my roommate told me, and even less about horse racing. But we were given a free ticket, free dinner, and a free pint of beer.
There were about seven or eight horse races in total. We were given a booklet describing how to bet, the different types of betting, and information about the jockeys and horses. We were told which horses might win, which to look out for, and which had to prove something.
We arrived a bit late and we only got around to betting after eating dinner. However, I was able to bet on the last four races. There were at least 5 different methods of betting. A “win” was to pick the exact horse that would come in first place. If I remember correctly, an "each way" was a bet that horse would either win or at least place. I don't recall the others, and I unfortunately no longer have the booklet.
My method of choosing horses can be described as rather pathetically uninformed. I chose the horses by reading all their names and picking one that sounded interesting or cool. I also have a bit of a soft spot for underdogs, so I sometimes picked them over the favorite.
I only bet 2 Euros on each race. The first three were quite disappointing, and like most other people, I would get up and shout in anticipation, and then consequently sit down and glare at my losing ticket.
However, I held out and I bet correctly on the winning horse, Grand Aurora. I was excited but as soon as I went to pick up my winnings, I realized that I bet on the favorite. So I only received 2 Euro for every Euro that I bet.
So in total, I bet 8 Euros on all the races, and only made a profit of 4 Euros. I guess it could have been worse, but I wasn't expecting too much in the first place.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures worth posting for this trip. All my pictures came out horribly grainy (I think I needed to clean my lens) and we were not close at all to the racetrack. So I didn't get any decent pictures of the horses or the jockeys.
On Friday, I spent my last day at work and I received a farewell, including some gifts, from my colleagues. I wasn't expecting it at all, but I thanked them for all for helping me accomplish my work and enduring my constant requests for more work.
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