What a way to spend a Saturday, at the races. A friend of mine's father had some horses running (donkeys if you ask me) so we went through to Turffontein race course for the day.I have never been much of a gambler but decided that today was my day to make some cash.I was given a crash course in betting and odds and the styles you can play as well as looking at horses and deciding which looks like a winner. Perfect.On we went to the betting area. I placed my first bet on Race four. Swingers Box (which means that you pick four horses or so and if any of them place top three you win), a horse to place and a horse to win. I came up short. R100 down.Next one I bet another swingers box. It "shat in" apparently and I walked away with R250 odd. Great, I was up. Then we went for lunch to a fantastic little Portuguese restaurant. Starters, queen Prawns, a couple of brandy and cokes and life was good.Then the final race of our day before heading back. I decided to play blind, picked four horses in the swingers box, picked a winner and a place. It just so happens that I picked the winning and second place horses to finish my day R450 up. What a pleasure.All in all, if you have a couple bucks to play with, definitely something I would suggest doing. But getting caught in the gambling trap is easy at the races with the hype around you, so watch out and keep your cash in check!