Saturday Drive: A Day at the Races, Santa Anita Park
Story: Scott Gregory
Photos: Scott Gregory, Virginia Valenzuela
The racing forms had my morning line at Santa Anita Park ranging anywhere from 2-1 to 8-5, short odds for sure. But once at the track, I sat out the first two races, placed just out of the money in the third, lost the fourth, gave up the fifth by a nose, and had a mediocre filly drop to the rear in the final, and it was still a great day! But I’m getting ahead of myself.
We started out on a really nice Saturday morning with twenty-five Corvettes, which included seven cars from the Ventura County Corvette Club, all gathered in our usual meeting spot next to the Outback Steakhouse. Mike and Judy joined us for a little while to greet our Ventura guests and to see us off before they had to breakaway for a prior engagement with the Solid Axle Corvette Club.
After the drivers meeting, we gathered up, lined up, and radioed up, before rolling out
on our journey.
It’s always a challenge to keep a caravan of Corvettes together, and more so after encountering some Saturday morning traffic along the 210 corridor. But good coordination kept everyone on track, and we arrived together at our destination.
Once we pulled into the grounds at Santa Anita Park, we were welcomed by personalized signs that directed us to our reserved parking area.
A short walk to the prestigious Club House entrance put us inside where everyone went their own way for a little while to visit the restrooms, restaurants, bar, or find the clubhouse seating.
Some of us also found our way to the Winner’s Circle Championship BBQ area to sample the wide range of treats prepared by the competitors.
By post time, we had gathered back in the grandstands for a full afternoon of more fun, food, drink, conversation,
and plenty of pari-mutuel betting.
Our group’s luck—or dare I say skill—with betting the ponies was not without its highlights. Some of us did quite well, some did okay, but most broke even. As for those of us who didn’t quite have the equine touch, we still came out winners by enjoying good times with good people!
