Date: December 18, 2010
Event: Horse Racing
Home Team: N/A
Away Team: N/A
Location: Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Company: Rob Koleno, Larry Pommier
Result: Lost Money
It was Rob’s idea to catch a horse race while in Kolkata. He had lived near the Arlington Park, so he was “back home” 8000 miles away at the race track. We placed some bets but did not win anything substantial as our largest bet was only 500 INR (around 10 USD).
The old and run-down general admission grandstand was surprisingly full. I tried to picture the grandstands as it would have been in the late 1800’s when the British still called Calcutta their capital, I’m sure it was the place to be on race days. It was hazy as most Kolkata days are, but you could still see the Kolkata Memorial and the Second Hooghly Bridge. In the center of the track, a polo match or practice was taking place.
We watched a couple races from a grandstand bench, and then moved down to the fence to get an up-close view. Between races, the attention turned from the horses to the three foreigners. Along with the countless number of stares, there were multiple conversations where the only question asked was, “What country are you from?”
It amazed me to see that in-between races, a group of 10 or so woman would walk down the home stretch dropping handfuls of dirt to fill the divots left by that race’s horses. The last race of the day resulted in a jockey falling from a horse. He was down for a good five minutes, but ended up walking off the track. The event ended with us leaving in a yellow ambassador taxi stuck in a massive traffic jam. All-in-all, it was a great experience.
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