Okay so last night was one of those nights where I just really needed my horse racing fix, you know? Hadn’t tracked Penn National properly in a couple weeks, felt out of the loop. Decided it was high time I caught up properly.
First things first: Setting Up the Fort
Grabbed my old reliable tablet – that thing takes a beating but just keeps going – plopped it right next to my main laptop screen. Fired up the Penn National site on the tablet to follow the races live. On the laptop? That was for my trusty spreadsheet. Yeah, I know, spreadsheet sounds boring, but it’s simple! Just rows for each race number, columns for the track, date, time, the winner, the jockey name, and the win price. Old school, works for me. Made sure my battery pack was juiced up and plugged into the tablet, didn’t want any drama halfway through.
Then Came the Waiting Game
Started hitting refresh on the Penn National site maybe ten minutes before the first race I planned to watch. Scrolled through the entries, kinda mumbled horse names to myself trying to guess which one looked fast, which jockey was riding hot lately… you do this stuff too, right? Snagged a snack and a drink, settled in proper. Got comfortable. Screen refresh, refresh, refresh… then finally! The entries popped into the gate. Fingers crossed, leaned in closer. That bell rings… and we’re OFF!
Right Into the Action!
Honestly, my eyes were flicking between the tiny live stream video on the website and the constantly updating running position table right below it. Penn National’s page updates that table fast! First race was a claiming race, bunch of cheaper horses. A horse named “Gray Ghost” broke sweet. Held the lead almost the whole way! My man Luis Rivera was riding him. Came flying down the stretch looking strong. Bang! Finished on top. Immediately punched “Gray Ghost” into my spreadsheet. Rivera’s name? Check. Time stamp? Got it. Looked up the win price quickly – paid $7.20 to win. Not bad. Made sure my sheet saved.
Second race was wilder. Big favorite kinda just… stalled? Nobody took the lead early, it was messy bunch. This other horse, “Quick Reply” with Angel Cruz on board, was sitting way back early on. Totally thought it was out of it. Then, pow! Turned for home, found this giant gap on the inside rail just opened up, Cruz kicked hard, and they came FLYING past everyone right at the wire! Underdog victory! My hand was almost cramping trying to type that all into the spreadsheet, fast as I could catch the official result. Felt awesome to catch that live.
Kept this rhythm going. Race after race. Scribbling down jockey names (saw Cruz and Rivera pop up again later on), win prices. Watched a filly named “Starlight Dancer” absolutely dominate in race 5. Was clear from the start. Punching names, checking times against the official clock on screen. One thing I always gotta remember: wait until they post the OFFICIAL sign before I finalize my sheet entry. Sometimes the photo finishes are super tight!
Wrapping It Up
After the final race, I leaned back kinda sore. Took one last look at my screen, at the mess of scribbles turned into a clean list of winners. Felt satisfying, real satisfying. Gave that tablet a pat for surviving the evening. Closed down the website, saved my spreadsheet one last time (gotta back that up later tonight!), and cleared the snack wrappers. Another night diving into the results done. Feels good to have the latest winners and jockeys right here, recorded proper. Might see if Cruz is riding anything else this weekend…
