{"id":15372,"date":"2015-12-30T10:02:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T15:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/?p=15372"},"modified":"2015-12-30T10:02:17","modified_gmt":"2015-12-30T15:02:17","slug":"panama-diaries-a-unique-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panamaadvisoryinternationalgroup.com\/blog\/panama-diaries-a-unique-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Panama Diaries: A Unique Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Melissa Bauer-Herzog writes in Blog-Lifestyle about her visit to Panama.<\/div>\n
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After an exciting few mornings at the track as horses prepared for the Serie Hipica Del Caribe races<\/a> at Hip\u00f3dromo Presidente Rem\u00f3n it was time for the big weekend of racing. I arrived at the track at noon on Saturday, two hours before first post to get my stuff set up and within half an hour the festives began.<\/p>\n

A table of trophies was set up in the paddock and waiting for the winners of that day\u2019s three Serie Hipica Del Caribe races. For people attracted to shiny things like me the table was like a magnet.<\/p>\n

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But one thing that can pull me away from shiny things is horses and soon each of the five countries in the Caribe races was represented by a dark bay horse with a rider carrying its flag while a band played nearby.<\/p>\n

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After that, it was time to see my first ever race in Panama. While there were some differences than you see in the United States, like some of the horses for the next race coming over during the post parade of the race before, it was mostly the same when the horses hit the track.<\/p>\n

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After that race, I headed to explore the track a little. It was easy to see how excited both the people and track management were to hold the races as soon as you entered the track with people posing with the three flower blankets of that day\u2019s races right by the entry gate. Each of the blankets had a banner with its race\u2019s sponsor attached to it.<\/p>\n

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By the paddock, I found some very enthusiastic workers. These guys were by the paddock every race and it became kind of a running joke for them to pose for my camera before every race.<\/p>\n

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One thing that I saw a lot of was kids around the track. They watched the horses intently every time a field entered the walking ring or raced and were even watching when the horses were in the indoor paddock as well.<\/p>\n

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While some of the young kids didn\u2019t go to the indoor paddock between races, they found ways to keep entertained between the official races with marble races. I was informed by a few of them that they make bets on whose marble will get to the finish line first and during the day I saw the kids really get into the marble races, cheering and screaming then run to the track rail when it was post time for the horse races.<\/p>\n

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The first big race of the day was the Copa Velocidad del Caribe, a sprint race open to aged 3 and older. Carded as race four, the already full rail leading from the indoor paddock to the walking ring filled up even more with fans who wanted to get a glimpse of the runners.<\/p>\n

\"PANSAT09\"<\/p>\n

The 3-year-old filly Bella Vecina, representing Panama, won the race with a familiar name aboard. Jose Lezcano<\/a> flew in for the weekend\u2019s races and was on the filly for the victory.<\/p>\n

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During the races, the winning jockeys would dismount and go weigh in while the horses were briefly untacked to catch their breaths before the winner\u2019s circle presentation. Jose was stopped by press to get a few words as he stepped off the scale after weighing in.<\/p>\n

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A popular figure in Panama racing, Jose was also saluted by one of the pony riders as he went by the winner\u2019s circle celebrations.<\/p>\n

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After Bella Vecina\u2019s winner\u2019s circle pictures were taken (a process that takes much longer than in the U.S. as the connections and horse strike many different poses in different places in the winner\u2019s circle and on the track), the filly headed back to the barn while the trophy presentation began. The filly\u2019s owner and her friends made quite the picture in the trophy circle with the Panama flag.<\/p>\n

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Nearly everyone associated with the horse was given some sort of memento from the trainer to the jockey\u2019s agent and even the groom. Overall, the presentation was a huge affair and took the better part of half an hour with the next race already in the post parade when it finally dispersed.<\/p>\n

From there, the races hit fast and furiously but even with a lot of running around, it was hard to miss the country pride and spirit in each of the big races. The Copa Dama del Caribe may have had the most pride of all the races on Saturday with some fillies\u2019 grooms going all out. But Katalina la Oh\u2019s groom got the award for the most creative.<\/p>\n

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Even Panama Filly Triple Crown winner Monkey Business got into the spirit with ribbons in her mane and forelock matching her silks.<\/p>\n

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But in the end, it was last year\u2019s Panama 2-year-old filly champion Vicki who took home the win.<\/p>\n

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The final big race of the day was the Copa Confraternidad Del Caribe, which had horses like the previous year\u2019s winner Don Carlos R. and 2013 Clasico Del Caribe winner Diamante Negro in it. But the winner was Mexico\u2019s Eclaire, ridden by another North America-based jockey in Luis Contreras<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Eclaire\u2019s connections were ecstatic with one of his grooms wearing the flower blanket back to the barn and flashing a huge smile for my camera.<\/p>\n

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With that, the first day\u2019s big races were done but Sunday was promised to be even more spectacular.<\/p>\n

Before I even walked through the track gate on Sunday, the flavor for the day was set when these ladies greeted me as I got out of the car.<\/p>\n

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Like the day before, the flower blankets were waiting inside for whoever wanted to get a good look at them.<\/p>\n

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Even though it was early in the day, the track was still full and had many different activities for both kids and adults.<\/p>\n

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The paddock rail was also full for the undercard races with people already staking out their spots before the big races of the day.<\/p>\n

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While there had been very fashionable people at the races the day before, Sunday was even more impressive with ladies pulling out dresses and hats.<\/p>\n

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While the two Caribe races didn\u2019t start until later in the afternoon, between undercard races and other activities visitors were kept entertained all day. One such event was Panamanian dancers coming out between the third and fourth race to perform by the paddock.<\/p>\n