The Caliente horsetrack used to be a "hopping" place. Up until the late 70's, they had horse racing EVERY day down there. In fact, back in '75, when I was a lad of 16, we used to ditch school to go bet on "the ponies" during the week.

Eventually they dropped back to only having races on the weekend, and finally they shut down all the horseracing, and the place was literally "left to the dogs".

However, just like they have the 49er Quinela at Del Mar, where you try to win a bundle by trying to pick the winner of six races in a row(races 4-9), they had the 5-10 Quinela at Caliente.

Back in "the old days", Agua Caliente racetrack was "way out there". But it was the main attraction, and other than Revoluccion, it was pretty much the only game in town. So, when they built the main avenues in that area of town, they named them after the racetrack; Agua Caliente Blvd, and 5 y 10 Blvd(after the Quinela).

Unfortunately, nowadays, the intersection at Agua Caliente and 5 y 10(known as Crucero 5y10) is truly a lesson in how NOT to design a city. On weekends, and at rush hours, it is the sight of some of the most frightful gridlocks on the planet. A couple of months ago, the city enacted a "no left turn" ordinance that helped for a little while - but the continued growth of the city has already caught up, and things are once again approaching a gridlocked state.

In my opinion, Tijuana has become a city "que simplemente no sirve" - a city "that just doesn't work".

A growth of 6% population per year is simply too much for any city, not even in the center of disorganization, Mexico.

Diego, I never heard that take about 5 y 10. Did you make it up? I thought it was for the Variety 5 and 10 cent store that used to be at that intersection.

The "5-10" was the real attraction to Caliente, as it was the only way to "hit it big".

Here is a picture of a little coin keychain that says "Caliente, home of the famous 5-10". My dad has one of these coins in one of his dresser drawers somewhere.



Check out this site for a longer history of Agua Caliente...

http://horseracing.about.com/sports/horseracing/library/blcaliente.htm?pid=2769&cob=home

Here is a picture of how the grandstand looked when I used to go to the horse races...

/image{grandstand}

Here is a picture of the grandstand when I used to go to the horse races...

Here is a picture of the grandstand when WestFargo used to go the track...

Nayarit is right, diego is wrong.

I also thought Caliente was the original of Pari-Mutual Racing (Whatever that means) and the exacta. Oh yeah, was Pharlap a real horse?

Caliente was not the original of para mutual (pool) betting, that started in Paris France, hence the para. Caliente is the home of EXOTIC bets, where two or more horses or races are linked. Examples are the quinella, exacta, trifecta, pick 6 (5-10) and pick 9. Phar lap was a real horse.

Diego,

Do you know where plaza caracell is? Next to plaza caracell is an other plaza called the Cinco y Diez. Why? THere's a 5 & Dime store that has been there since the 20's. It was moddled after the American 5 & Dime. Also, Cinco y Diez, for all you english buffs which I'm not. It's a Interlectual Toung twister in Spanish as well as English. In other words. It say more then the words imply. All Mexicans also say "OK" They have stores that are named the "OK Marcado" They don't even know what OK is. I think the Cinco y Diez is just that just a funny word that they like.

Westfargo...