A day at the races

My uncles love the horse races and they belong to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which allows access to a fancy booth at the race track. I understand that horse races are held every Sunday, and I wouldn't be surprised if my uncles attended each week.

So today we headed to the races and enjoyed the buffet before settling in at our table. My grandmother had wanted to visit Macau to do some gambling, but everyone convinced her to visit the races instead. I'm not sure she really appreciated this turn of events because she seemed pretty bored throughout the day, preferring instead to eat as much as she could.

As for me, I think I have a six-race attention span. The horse races were interesting for a bit, but then it gets pretty tedious.

Today was also the annual Hong Kong Derby, which brought out thousands of betting fans. I was told that it would be more crowded than normal, and when I asked why, I was told it was because of the Derby. When I asked what made the Derby special, people could only answer, "You know, it's the Derby!" So, I didn't really get a satisfactory answer, but learned that derbies are restricted to horses of a certain age: usually three years old, but four years in the case of Hong Kong.

I placed HK$370 worth in bets throughout the day and recovered HK$60, so Lady Luck wasn't on my side. The way I picked my horses was purely based on the English translations of their names. Some of these names were quite humorous and I noted my favorites:

* Noble Zoom
* Optic King
* Leading City
* Bespoke Master
* Cristal Magnum
* Sparkling
* Pizzazz
* Be Grateful
* King Acrylic
* Great Guy
* Mr. Vigorous
* Fat Dragon
* Happy Zero
* Super Pistacio
* My Home Town
* Vigor Delight