Horse Racing & Class Differences

            In my hometown of Tampa, Florida, the Tampa Bay Downs is a well-known place for gambling and leisure. Young or old, rich or poor, everybody flocks to the Downs for some excitement. One of America's oldest and most well-maintained racetracks, the Tampa Bay Downs  is the only Thoroughbred race track on the west coast of Florida. At the Downs, you can see the juxtaposition of the very rich and the very poor. Working class folks will go to watch the dog races and gamble, while the upper class will go to watch the dogs that they own participate in the races. The difference between the two classes is that while the working class is hoping to earn some money off of luck, the upper class owns the property and will make money no matter what. Once I was accepted into Harvard, I visited the Tampa Bay Downs for the first time for our Harvard Alumni/ New Students meet & greet. I was escorted past the "working class" rooms, where cheap televisions covered the walls, cigarette smoke shrouded the room, and men and women mindlessly drank and gambled. I then walked into the room meant for owners. It had catered food, fancy carpeting and decorating, and an expensive flatscreen television on the wall, broadcasting the race for us.

          After the race, we had the opportunity to walk down to the track and take a photograph with the winning horse. Obviously, Harvard was pulling out all the stops to woo their new prospective students. As we walked down from our clubhouse room, I saw the spectator seats that the regular visitors would sit in. They were simple, dirty concrete seats covered with trash. I was shocked by the differences in surroundings provided for the two socioeconomic classes. Interestingly, the same differences I observed were noted by the authors of Sociology AS: The Complete Companion OCR. In one of their charts, titled Traditional Stereotypes of Class, each class is associated with particular education, speech, and leisure characteristics. Interestingly, both the upper and working class are associated with racing. The distinction between the two comes with ownership. Upper class leisure involves "hunting, shooting, fishing, polo, horse racing (as owners), and rowing, while working class leisure is described as "dog racing, watching football, and pubs."

  

         I found the Tampa Bay Downs to be a very interesting class intersection point. While both classes attend the Downs as a leisure activity, there is still a distinctive difference between the two while participating in the race. Upper class participants are provided with comfortable indoor seating, away from the masses, while working class participants are relegated to the concrete seating outside in rain or shine.