on sat and sun (supposedly year round) from noon to about 5pm there is horse racing in saigon. i went on a saturday with a friend and we had a blast. the taxi cost about 120,000VND (under $10) each way and took btwn 20 and 30 minutes. the taxi ride alone was a blast, just seeing the city go by. there was some serious hustle and bustle on the streets, sidewalks, and shops. couple taxis right outside when racing was over so no stress on that.

we got dropped off at the entrance and paid 10,000VND to get in (less than $1). i think we paid 5,000VND for a program that didn't have much english but was somewhat helpful. they had some handicapper picks in there and these would have one, two, or three stars. the no star ponies didn't win a single race.

after entering we looked for the VIP section which i'd read about on the net somewhere. after a bit of a stroll we found it, glass enclosure up in the stands at the finish line (of course, should have been easy to figure out). we couldn't go up because we didn't have a ticket and took some hand gestures, etc... to figure out we needed to go back under the stands to the street. here we found another entrance that has two ticket options, the 10,000VND that we already had (and soon would not need) and then the 100,000VND for the VIP. we were also given another program that was a bit more extensive and had some english in there.

the benefit of the VIP was a/c, no ticket lines, not many people, and a good view of the finish. they had tv monitors but it was tough to tell which pony was which on the TV. really helped to be in the VIP. they had food and beverage (i saw the food options down below and that wasn't for me). i had some noodles and beef and my buddy had french fries. my dish was excellent, i couldn't believe it. fired down about 5 beers during the racing (8 races). no smoking in the VIP, which was also nice. but did have smoking area just outside (and still in VIP but no a/c). had a victory smoke after my buddy hit a superfecta.

as far as betting goes, the minimum bet is 10,000VND. not sure on the max. you can bet to win but no place and no show. they also have exacta, trifecta, and superfecta wagering (the super was called a quat or something like that). then they had another exotic that required picking the first six ponies in order. i forget the name of that one.

they don't have the "box" bet so if you want to cover a bunch of ponies in the exotics you have to list each bet. i just wrote them down on paper and handed them to the guy at the ticket window. he spoke perfect english and so did one of the waitresses. i hit a trifecta and my buddy hit a quat (the super) but naturally we lost on the day. we'd bet about 50,000VND per race. i don't remember the exact cost of the ten beers and two small food dishes but it was dirt cheap, less than 200,000 VND. they make the money on the bets.

one thing i learned is the favorite wins (those with more than one star in the program you get with the 10,000VND ticket). the pony with the most stars won 6 or 7 of the eight races.

i heavied up with single win bet of 50,000VND on a pony that was second in the odds. pony was right up front but tossed my rider about a half stretch from the finish. the guy was okay though.

the horses are really funny. the don't always run straight. they'll zig zag and stuff, even the favorites that eventually win were a bit erratic.

if you go to saigon and have even the slightest interest in horse racing, this is a must do. we were the only western folk in the VIP but i did see a few down with the masses. i'd say there are a couple thousand people there.