No Horsing Around Here

Since being sick the past couple of days, I've spent hours in bed catching up on the tube. Prior to, there hasn't been much time for me to watch TV. In fact, the majority of the time that I'm parked in front of a television, I'm strumming on the guitar or I'm online. The nice thing about being ill is that the immobility keeps me from attempting to multitask; I've been able to focus on one thing at a time. This means that lying in bed catching up on my favorite shows means that I'm doing just that. At this moment, I'm blogging in silence, with nothing but the throbbing of my pained head in my ears.

Back to my bed-ridden TV watching: I've discovered a new show to add to my list of favorites. It's called "Jockeys," a new reality show on Animal Planet. Now I'm not a fan of reality TV, but this series grabbed my attention immediately. The show revolves around - you guessed it - jockeys, specifically a group considered to be comprised of the world's best, based in the Santa Anita racetrack in California. Like everyone else on this Earth, these jockeys go through their own personal and professional dramas, as they all struggle to come up on top of their game in the horse-racing realm.

I called my dad as soon as I stumbled upon this show. Not surprisingly, he already knew about the series. As far back into my childhood as I remember, Dad has been a racing aficionado, and still is to this day. We used to spend days and some weekends hanging out at Golden Gate Fields or Bay Meadows racetracks in California. From those memories, I can recall what seemed like forever between races, the strange olfactory mixture of cigarettes, wet turf, and grass; the excitement that arose with each race, and the collective roar and surge of emotion from the crowd as the horses and their riders appeared from around the bend and raced the final leg to the finish line. It's really an exhilarating sport.

Lucky for my dad, I suggested we take a trip out to Santa Anita one of these weekends, for old time's sake. As a child, I didn't care for the races, but now am intrigued by the sport. Dad and I agreed that the visit to Santa Anita would be fun to see our favorite jockeys in the flesh. A little high-stakes bet here and there wouldn't hurt the fun either. In the meantime, we at least have the show to satisfy our fancy for the races.