The Horse Races

For my auntie's birthday we headed over to Prineville. Our friend was having a Vintage Flea Market and we wanted to go check it out. There were several booths selling their wares and it just happened to fall on the same weekend as the Crooked River Roundup.

My aunt and I headed over early Friday morning, stopping in Sisters and a few other spots on our way. Our friend, Sue, let us borrow her house outside of Prineville to stay in. It's a cute place in the country with great views. I was able to get a picture of the beautiful sunset our first night there.

On Saturday we headed to the flea market where we found lots of cute items. My aunt found a table to use for the upcoming wedding and we found some fun yard decorations. After the market we headed to Redmond to check out the antique stores in search of doilies for under the center pieces at the wedding. We were able to find all the ones we needed plus a few extra for the head table. By then it was almost 100 degrees and miserable. My aunt and I headed back to Prineville, stopping for dinner before meeting up with friends at the horse races.

My aunt, Jen, Jess and me.

I have never been to the horse races but my grandpa used to take my aunt when she was growing up. He would bet $2 to place which means if your horse comes in first, second or third place, you win. The minimum has gone up since then, it is $3 to bet. I watched the first two races to see how it worked. Both times the horse I picked came in second. I felt I was ready to bet so in the next race I chose my horse and bet $3 to place and he came in second; I won $3.90 (so my 3 dollars back and 90 cents on top).

My mother-in-law told me if there was a black horse to bet on him. There were two black horses in the 6th race. I had a good feeling about them so I bet $3 for one to win, Casual Outing and I bet on Shakalaka to show. It was so fun watching the horses come down the track, my blood rushing, yelling for Casual Outing to go, go, go! He won! and my other horse came in second place, so I won on both bets. I made $12 on Casual Outing and $4.50 on Shakalaka (minus my original bet of $3 each).

On the last race I decided to take my earnings and bet $6 on a tri-box. A tri-box is where you pick three horses to show. The three you pick can come place in any order as long as they finish in first, second and third. There were two horses that I knew I wanted but I had a hard time picking the last horse. I ended up choosing the horse that came in fourth. The one I didn't pick came in third and my other two came in first and second. I just barely missed winning again.
It was a fun night though and I walked away with more in my pocket than when I walked in. Not much, mind you, like $12 minus the cost of admission which was $5, so a total of $7, and I only lost once. I split my winnings of the 6th race with my M-I-L because she gave me the tip, so really I walked away with $4. Pretty good for an evening of fun with friends!