A Day at the Rillito Horse Races

According to a notice on the Rillito Horse Races website, Quarter horse racing originated in at the Rillito Racetrack. As someone who has only been to horse races once prior to this, I had to do some research to learn that the reason these horses are called “quarter horses” is because they are the fastest horses when running a quarter mile. Which explains why so many of the races were short–lightning fast, but short. No furlong after furlong of horses and riders jockeying for position. And–ta-da–one horse set a new track record at Rillito on February 29th.

Also, the Budweiser Clydesdales were supposed to make an appearance.

Comparing Santa Anita and Rillito race tracks

Okay…here are a few of the people and places I saw, and I’m including old photos from the Santa Anita Race Track in California for comparison. I was struck by how at both tracks rising mountains in the distance create a dramatic backdrop. And how the buildings contrasted greatly.

And the other pair of photos show the difference in the landscaping and buildings at each track. The Santa Anita grounds and buildings are elegant Art Deco. The Rillito buildings are fairly industrial in appearance.

The Rillito Horse Race Season, however, beats Santa Anita in one key way: zero horses have died at the Rillito race events this season. Over two dozen horses have died at Santa Anita. One big difference: all horses at Rillito have a physical inspection by the vet before they are allowed to race.

People watching at the horse races

With the races being so fast and over so quickly, the people at the event provided the most entertainment. So I’ll start this day at the races at the parking lot…

I was impressed by the number of women on horses working in the races. I think this young jockey won, although I have to confess I wasn’t keeping track of winners. (Sorry the image is blurred.)

On the left: Little Diego wasn’t happy about having his picture taken. The man in the red shirt is his grandfather and it was his birthday, so we all sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

On the right: these four are in Tucson house-hunting after retirement. It turns out they are from Tacoma where I was born. The woman in blue is Penny and she picked the winner in four races in a row! She picks by choosing horse names she likes–what a system!

Now for paranoia

After I got home I saw the report from the Director of the Washington State Health Dept. announcing that coronavirus had been spreading for six weeks in western Washington–which includes Tacoma. Yikes! Were my four race-acquaintances carrying the virus? Was I exposed? But then I remembered Penny telling me that they had been in Tucson for two weeks. And since they were all still healthy at the end of the virus incubation period, my paranoia lessened. A bit.

Other people at the races…

And, finally, the Clydesdales pulling a Budweiser wagon pulled out onto the track where it stopped so local officials and celebrities could have their photo taken. Then horses and wagon pulled up on front of the grandstand, but didn’t stay for very long.

I left as the Clydesdales turned and headed back to the barns. It turned out to be a fun way to spend a warm afternoon in Tucson.

Sadly, the day after I was at Rillito, jockey Richard Gamez, was killed in an accident. At age 67 he was leading the race at the time.

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