Indian Derby -- The White Seersucker pants are back!

The Indian Derby (pronounced 'Daah-bee") has been touted as the Kentucky Derby + Preakness + Belmont of India. Needless to say, I was excited (despite many other disappointments being similarly hyped) when I found out that the family of a close friend of mine in Bombay owns horses that are running at the Derby. The afternoon no Belmont sh*t-show but it was a lot fun regardless. Some highlights/lessons:

1) No cell phones were allowed in the event ($200 USD fine for cell phone use). This made me paranoid the entire day of losing my group of friends at an event with 25,000 people.

2) At a social peacocking event, people will go to absurd lengths to display their wealth. I couldn't even count the number of men in full suits (many were not even linen or seersucker) in 100+ degree weather. (Picture below is of someone actually looking good at the event instead of drenched in sweat)

3) Betting on the "most coked out" looking horse works reasonably well for short races. But definitely does not work for long races. I learned this the hard way.