The Cleanest Race

Just before a race begins, loudspeakers pipe in bouncy music suggestive of a military procession. The hundreds of spectators rise from their seats, waving programs and yelling encouragement to the horses as they break from the gates. “Giddy up!” one elderly men yells in heavily accented English. As the horses hit their stride, a roar of excitement and anxiety grows from the crowd — almost entirely men between the ages of 40 and 70. They have money on the race. Several men yell full-throated ex