So tonight we took Romain to Emerald Downs, the horse race track located about 45 minutes south of Seattle. And by “we” I technically mean my parents, and by “my parents” I technically mean my dad. You see, my dad, as you may know, has all kinds of connections at the local track, having worked in some capacity in the horse racing industry since the 1960’s. The other “we” involved was Chloe and Ella. All the “we’s” had a great time.

Of the many photos I could have used tonight, I chose this one that I admit to having staged a bit. I’m not sure Romain fully grasps the significance of the newspaper he is reading, the Daily Racing Form. But let it be known that I worked as a statistician for the “Form” for several years, even being responsible for some of the “expert” selections back in the late 1980’s. Talk about a time warp. Posing Romain in front of the “tote” board just adds to the “feel” of the photo.

Since my dad treated us to an incredibly fancy dinner in the Turf Club, I could have used photos of Ella with her prime rib dinner or Romain with his banana split dessert. I could have used a shot of Romain & Chloe in the announcer booth during a race with track announcer Robert Geller. Then there is the shot of a giddy Ella counting her pennies after her selected horse once again beat Romain’s and Chloe’s (I think Ella won 4 of 5 races and made 62 American cents and 5 French cents).

Like I said, we had a great time.

Oh, if the subject of horse race announcing interests you, Robert Geller was featured in a book on the subject called “They Call the Horses.”