I’ve blogged about the races so many times, that I’ve run out of ideas for what to call these posts. So I figure ‘horses and hangovers’ is a pretty apt description for spending a day trackside.

On Saturday we donned our glad rags and hit the track just in time for the first race.

I won $18.50 on a $20 bet in the first race and things didn’t get any better from there. I hate gambling!

We spent the day doing a circuit from the rails:

To the betting ring/TAB tent hanging our hopes on ill-advised tips:

And back to the tent to refuel:

I do love a country race meet, so casual and fun. Even the Kalgoorlie Cup can be overwhelmingly packed ( and with mostly questionable clientele).

As the shadows grew long there was one race we were all hanging out for, the big one. The Esperance Cup was the one race for which we actually received decent tipping advice, but never got around to actually placing a bet. Always the way.

Anyway, we made sure we were on the rails for the race before the Cup, as we had a friend whose horse was running.

I filmed the race and my friend Chelsea’s commentary is hilarious, as the horses were thundering down the straight she suddenly realised that our friend’s horse had got a serious lead and starts screaming hysterically. I’m very pleased I captured it (language warning):

After that excitement we headed back to HQ to make the most of the open bar as the sun set.

An excellent day, despite being down by at least $14 by the end. Afterwards we joined everyone at the Pier Hotel to party on. The night ended with me eating the leftover curry from the fridge at about midnight, much to the annoyance of my housemate Cuttsy, who had been hanging out for some Tikka Masala on toast. Whoops. Sorry… kind of.