Used to get a box at Arlington at least once a year and bring a group of friends or family, but that option is no more and Mrs. Claw loves her live horseracing, so looking at Fairmount near St. Louis for an overnight, wondering if anyone can recommend hotels/bar/restaurants etc in the area. Hard to get a feel for the place on the website, looks like they were recently acquired by one of the suddenly all powerful gambling entities that are launching all kinds of initiatives lately.

You're in Rockford right? Take her to Magic Waters for the day, and that back to the hotel for sex.

Just make sure you plan it for when the Cardinals are out of town. It will be easier to book a hotel, diner reservations, etc.

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Unless you have a specific reason to want to go to St. Louis to watch horse racing why wouldn't you just go to Louisville?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

My company is still advertising at Arlington, so I would assume they have a season this year.

This is a great point.

St. Louis isn't as bad as people make it out to be, but still....I'd much rather go to Louisville.

If you have your heart set on the Fairmont near St. Louis....
- Fast Eddies in Alton
- City Museum

That's the extent of cool things in St. Louis

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I've never been to Churchill but I am told the neighborhood its in is not good.

I've been to Fairgrounds (New Orleans). The neighborhood is fine but the track itself is a dump.

Santa Anita and Gulfstream are the two tracks I want to visit next. Otherwise I just set up an OTB at home by casting track feeds to TVs.

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"I honestly don't see a good bet on the board here."

C'mon Bob you know it's not called Magic Waters anymore, gotta keep up with the changes going on her in the midwestern cultural Mecca know as Rockford! I am sure a learned man like yourself would take in the vaunted Sock Monkey Museum instead, or even the Rockford Peaches stadium, but may want to grab a flak jacket and helmet because that part of town can be a bit sketchy.

Plus the hotels around here are now stops for gang bangers and mules on their way to Chicago on the national heroin roadway network, no locals go anywhere near them anymore.

Louisville is in the long-term plans, but just looking at a quick weekend trip for June.

I do recall taking my young daughter to the Clock Tower and Coco Key when it opened as it was a short drive from Harvard. Eventually only traveled to Rockford to referee basketball or hit Guitar Center. The racetrack outside St. Louis is near Cahokia Burial Grounds so that's touristy...my favorite place in the city was a place we found while on an Amtrak layover...it was in Lafayette Square...

https://squareonebrewery.com/

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

It's not. It's a lot like Augusta. A mecca for their respective sports just sitting in crappy neighborhoods.

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I strongly recommend Keeneland in Lexington if you can hold out until October. I've gone four times now with various friends as one of them grew up in Lexington.

It's a little longer drive than Louisville (about 5.5 hours from 55/294) but it's a nicer setup in many ways. The only problem is that it's a short season, only 3 weeks in April and 3 in October.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

My father never was never a big Churchill guy,preferred Keenland and Saratoga

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

WTF, no more Magic Waters?

It is run by Six Flags now...

https://www.sixflags.com/hurricaneharborrockford

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

I've not been to many tracks but most enjoyable experience was definitely Saratoga for me but that would be quite a road trip unless you can get a cheap flight into Albany.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Everyone prefers them. They're boutique meets. Churchill is everyday racing, though CDI would like to make it a boutique based around three days of Derby Week. The best race meet in the U.S. is the seven-day meet at Kentucky Downs in September. https://themintkentuckydowns.com/racing/

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

$30 one day, or $80 whole summer? What?

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

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You can never get a cheap flight into Albany during Saratoga.

My Saratoga brush with fame - was flying Chicago -Albany for work during Saratoga (only made that mistake once), and Lester Munson and his wife in the row ahead of me.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

Heading to the Fanduel Collinsville place to bet the ponies next weekend, touting the $100 free Fanduel bet thing on the website, does that actually give you the $100 worth of free bets, or do you need seed money first?

You will need seed money first.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

I imagine it is like flying into Augusta during the Masters. Most people fly into Atlanta and take the 3 hour drive over or into South Carolina somewhere.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

Fanduel seems to have spent a ton on the facility, but the racing was terrible, only four horses showed up for most races, resulting in the cancellation of many types of bets and radical changes to odds at the last minute as people threw money at long shots in hopes to make anything more than a buck or two on a $2 winner. We got there a bit early to take it in and have a few beverages, so had put bets in before the first few races, but the winner we hit that went out 12-1 ended up 3-1 at post, so no real payouts and no chances to box a trifecta and make a few bucks.

The place really needs an inhouse casino, there is tons of unused space, even when the crowd arrived later. Interesting people watching, certainly a much different group than a typical Arlington weekend crowd. Agreed that next time we get the itch to take in some live horse racing we will do the Churchill Downs trip.