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'Day at the Races' – A woman's thing?
Only 6 men show up in bid to top Kay Huff's 100 gals

by Brittany Hersh

When Kay Huff and a few friends attended the horse races at the Alameda County Fair in 1992, they didn't foresee it would grow into an annual event with over 100 women in attendance.

Huff's "Day at the Races" brings together women who love to have fun, see old friends and make new ones. Multiple generations are represented at the event as daughters who came with their mothers are now bringing their children to share in the tradition.

In 2005 the women posed with the Pleasanton Weekly for the Take Me Along section, a pre-race photo op that has since become a tradition.

In 2006 Mike Hosterman asked Huff if he could join their group but Huff replied that "men were not allowed." Hosterman took it upon himself to do something about this and started "Mike's Day at the Races," which consisted of only him the first year. Since then the group has grown to include six members, a bit shy of Huff's 100 women.

As for picking a winning horse Huff, said there is no difference between first timers and those who have been there since the event's inception. Some of the favorite strategies are picking horses based on their name or the jockey's shirt color but most of the women just go with their gut feeling, said Huff.

The event is promoted mostly through word of mouth and email but this year Huff also used Facebook and Evite. Everyone is welcome to participate in the event. Speaking from the somewhat lonely men's side of the bleachers, Hosterman said he is always looking for new recruits.