After watching our favorite Jersey
globetotter, Anthony Bourdain, in Hong Kong on The Layover and considering Cecily’s strong Chinese gambling
heritage, we decided that not only did we need to get to Hong Kong, but we
really needed to get to Happy Valley. Happy Valley is an enormous horse track
complex surrounded by apartment buildings in the middle of Hong Kong. Horse
betting is so popular in Hong Kong that Happy Valley provides close to 10
percent of Hong Kong’s total tax revenue.
We were lucky enough to make it to
Hong Kong in time for Happy Valley’s last race of the season despite forgetting
to look into it ahead of time. For tourists, there’s a special ticket you can
buy by showing your foreign passport at any of the many Hong Kong Jockey Club
(off-track betting) locations around the city. It gives you access to the
members area, which includes the ground level right up to the track, ground
level seating and access to the several restaurants inside the complex. Considering the
price of entry to pretty much any arena for any event in the States starts at
about $40, $12 for what felt like VIP access to the entire grounds was
pretty nuts.
So, I don’t know if she was
feeling the pulse of her Cantonese brethren or her generations-deep gambling
spirit was coming to the surface, but I've never seen Cecily so goddamned
Happy.
After watching one race start and
end and realizing that we were screaming for all the horses at once, we figured it was time to place some bets.
Easier said than done.
It took 3 locals, 2 English
speaking tourists and the man at the information booth to explain the system to
us.
You can bet on your horse to Win,
to Place (1st, 2nd or 3rd place), or Quinella
(which for some stupid reason just means to come in 2nd place). You
just fill out the cards in the pictures above and hand them to the cashier who
prints out your official bet slip.
And if you’re lucky enough to
choose Jazzy Feeling to win on your
first bet...well then you are Cecily.
 |
| Look at her -- she looks like a glassy-eyed Disney character who just got invited to join Walt in the castle. |
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| Demented with glee. |
All of this joy for a total win of 40 Hong Kong
Dollars—enough to get her a footlong at Subway in February. Oh Happy Valley,
certainly not a misnomer for Cecily.
That is until her winning streak
turned out to be just a single win. No dinner in the castle with Walt after all.
She was especially unhappy with
number 6, who defeated her prized Baltic
Warrior:
After she lost 3 more races with My Cup Overflows, Wine Lovers and Oriental Fantastia (all real names btw), I tried to distract her of her
losses by pointing out the entertaining grounds crew,
but her gambling fury prevented
her from appreciating the synchronized poking.
