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You Can Bet on P.R.

With Puerto Rico’s only throughbred racetrack about 45 minutes away, San Juan horse-racing fans turn to local betting parlors to take their chance on their favorite horses.

By Rachel Hooper
Latino Reporter

If you’re ready to try your luck, you can bet on the horses at one of Puerto Rico’s many horse-betting parlors.

Hundreds of parlors — known in Spanish as Agencias Hipicas — can be found all over Puerto Rico. Gambling is legal in Puerto Rico, and horse racing is one of the island’s favorite pastimes.

There is only one thoroughbred racetrack in Puerto Rico, Hipodromo Camarero, formerly the El Comandante Race Track, which is about 45 minutes from San Juan.

But the lack of proximity to the city is not a problem, because many local betting parlors are connected to the racetrack by computerized terminals that make up the off-track betting agency system.

Patrons go to the parlors to enjoy a few hours of leisure and sometimes to try to make their dreams of winning big come true.

Some horse-betting parlors have even added computer terminals that offer Puerto Rico’s lottery.

Carlos Melendez of San Juan is a regular at the Agencia Hipica 226 in La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce. He said he bets two to three times a week. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses.

“I think it’s a tradition because the horses have been here a lot of years in Puerto Rico, say maybe 60, 70 years,” he said.

“The game is easy,” said Alberto Aponte, who runs the Agencia Hipica 226. “Just pick your favorite jockey or horse and put down your money. Win or lose, let it ride.”

Some parlors, such as Agencia Hipica 226, have been in business for more than 50 years.

Aponte, who grew up watching the sport with his family, has now taken over the family business. And he said business is booming, with some of his bettors returning several times a day.

Gamblers can bet on races in Puerto Rico, the rest of the United States and even in Europe. He said some lucky people have won the maximum price of $10,000.

“Everybody — rich, poor, women — (bets),” he said.