In 1993, at the start of my senior year of high school, I attended 4 race days at Bay Meadows. This summer, I have attended 5 race days at Arlington Park. With a slow work day and an evening flight to catch at Chicago’s Midway Airport, a couple of work friends and I headed to Arlington Park for a Friday afternoon of horse racing.

We paid the $7 admission and decided to watch the races from the picnic tables in the Miller Lite Party in the Park – Libido Funk Circus was the band on stage.

Since it rained all day on Thursday, the races scheduled for turf were transferred to dirt. Race 6 was the main race impacted as 5 horses were scratched. We spent about 10 minutes debating what the best bet would be with only a 4 horse race. However, when I went to place a bet, I noticed show bets were not available (there were probably other, more complicated bets eliminated as well).

I finally signed up for the Twin Spires Club – a points program for betting on horse racing. A woman working for Arlington Park approached us just as the sun came out. She said, “If you sign up you will receive a free hat and $2 off all future admissions.” How could we say no to that!

The 40-mile drive from Arlington Park to Midway took about an hour with minimal traffic.