Amy B.
Yelp
My husband & I took our 2 kids (16 & 13) and our German exchange student (17) to Remington Park on Labor Day for our 1st visit. We had a GREAT time! None of us have ever been to the horseraces before so I wasn't sure what to expect. But for $0 to enter and $0 to park, I was definitely up for a family outing!
Everyone working there was SO friendly! In fact, it was the lady (Rhonda?) behind the counter outside taking bets that contributed about 75% to us having a good time! I walked up to her booth, and when she greeted me with a smile, I said, "you have a friendly face and I have NO idea what I am doing". She was so patient, informative, and genuinely concerned that my WHOLE family have a good time! When I went back up a 2nd time, her 1st words were "DID YOU WIN?!?". Customer Service goes a very long way with me and she definitely was great.
Here are a few things that as a newby, I didn't realize but wish I would've known ahead of time (with the exception of betting, I still don't completely understand that!):
*Spend the $3.50 and get the "program". If noting else, it is a good momento. But it is fun to look at all of the horses, where they're from, the jockey's name (and weight!), etc.
*After they "parade" the horses through the little alley-way, there's not much notice about when the race will start. I was expecting a countdown or something, but once they get them all loaded in the gates, they go.
*You can literally stand right at the track to watch the race. My kids would go up to the fence to watch each one, they really liked that.
*They may run on the dirt track and they may run on the turf. We saw both but I was totally caught off-guard when they lined them up to run on the turf. I later realized that you can look on the program and it will show which track the race will be on.
*There are quite a few photo (and video) opportunities! There is a pretty water feature on the north end of the facility and a really beautiful statue that we took note of.
*You can bet for a very little amount of money. My least amount I spent on a bet was $2. Or, you can not bet at all! You could literally make a day out of it and spend no money. But...please tip the valet.
We walked around indoors before we left and there are a few restaurants in there. But for the most part, it is definitely casino-ish and...if you're sensitive to smoke like I am, you'll need to keep an open mind as a lot of the patrons are smoking, indoors and outdoors. I don't think there was a designated smoking area at all (but I could be mistaken).
My only "complaint" (and I don't like to complain) is that they had live music but every time he would start to play, the loud speaker would blast the radio, or the announcer, etc. I would have enjoyed the live music more had the not interrupted him repeatedly ;-)
I would definitely go back, and I would definitely take my kids again.