After years of driving past the Ocean Downs Casino while visiting family in Ocean Pines, we finally went to watch the horses race. Although the casino is the main attraction at Ocean Downs, that is obviously not a family-friendly activity. But watching the ponies definitely is!
We arrived a little early and were surprised at all of the family-oriented activities setup in the grandstand. Both a magician and a juggler were on-hand to entertain the kids, and they both really delivered.
Cascading Carlos is a two time Guinness World Record holder for his amazing juggling feats. His first record is for throwing (and catching!) a diabolo 78.5 feet in the air and his second record is for the most helicopter spins with a devil stick in one minute (113). He demonstrated these impressive skills and others while the kids watched on in amazement. But even better than him showcasing his own skills was how he helped teach the kids all of his various tricks. He spent so much time showing my boys how to do tricks like hoola hoop while spinning a plate on a stick, flipping and catching the devil sticks, and throwing the diabolo. They really loved it, and he was kind and patient with the kids of all ages who were having a blast trying out all his juggling props.
There was also a magician walking around mingling amongst the crowd. He did some absolutely amazing card tricks and a disappearing ball trick that blew our minds. My oldest is especially interested in magic so he really loved trying to figure out his tricks.
Although the boys seemingly would have been happy to just practice their juggling skills and watch magic tricks, there were still horse races to watch. The grandstand area is a slightly sloped patio with benches facing the track. The casino is behind the grandstands, as well as a tent where food and drinks are sold and the betting windows where you can wager on the races.
Ocean Downs features harness racing, a form of horse racing where the horses pull a driver in a sulky and have to maintain a specific gait (pacing or trotting). The start of the races is really fun to watch, as they use a moving start. A truck with a gate goes around the track ahead of the horses. It gradually increases speed before crossing the starting line, closing the gate, and pulling away to let the horses take off around the track.
We quickly learned the basics of the traditional wagers – win (1st place), place (1st or 2nd place), and show (1st, 2nd or 3rd place). We didn’t get into the more exotic wagers… or bet more than $2. We let the boys help us choose the horses, which they usually selected based on name or appearance. It was exciting to watch the quick races and see how our horses did. We were right next to the winners circle so we got to see the winners up close after their race.
We had a really fun family night out at Ocean Downs. The harness races provided some exciting action, and the juggler and magician were really entertaining. It was a really easy, cheap, and fun family outing.
