Reading Ray Paulick’s open letter to John Brunetti in which he urges him to let go of Hialeah for the sake of the game, made me nostalgic for the good old days when the Eskimos used to put their infirm elders on an ice floe and watch as they floated away to certain death, it was a harsh necessity in an environment where there were limited resources and hostile predators everywhere but there must be sacrifice for the sake of the community and for the sake of the game, it’s time to take guys like Brunetti and Stronach firmly by the hand and lead them out to the ice floe.
For Brunetti, like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, it’s time he stops deluding himself that the glory days are returning with him in a starring role and bury that dead chimp that was his vision for Hialeah.
Stronach has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into his business model at Gulfstream trying to make a bad idea work, only managing to destroy stockholder equity, embarrass himself and alienate his core customers, all at the same time.
Time will tell if Minor is a visionary or a fool but his vision for Hialeah seems much less foolish to me after what I have seen happen at Gulfstream. Minor faces a slew of challenges, among them convincing the Florida legislature that what racing in Florida needs is fewer dates and a return to the concept of a boutique meet at Hialeah similar to Saratoga or Del Mar. Racing in the state is at a nadir, it is obvious to me that things have gone beyond the point of diminishing returns. A return to focusing on quality over quantity will lift both the racing and breeding industries.
South Florida is mired in what appears to be a prolonged and deep recession that Gulfstream may not survive. The timing and conditions are right for a resurrected Hialeah to open just as the economy begins to expand and if it does I’ll be there waiting in line to get in, hurry up already!
With Curlin’s next start still undecided, this performance by Duke of Marmalade in the King George Stakes may give Asmussen enough reason to keep Curlin home.
I am back from a great trip to Saratoga where I had the pleasure to spend the day with Teresa of Brooklyn Backstretch, a Saratoga native, who dazzled us with a few of the nooks and crannies in Saratoga that I never knew about (like the lobby of the Adelphi Hotel). I also had the pleasure to meet her Mom and Dad, AKA Mother and Father Backstretch.
Dana of Green But Game made the scene, as did her good buddy, the notorious Swifty AKA Adam, last but certainly not least the charming Jessica of Railbird completed this TBA Saratoga posse.
An anonymous commenter noted that I referred to Cognito, who won the first baby race on Wednesday, as Incognito. My mistake, we all make spelling errors every now and then.
Thanks to Teresa for pointing this misspelling out to me.
We all know Steve Asmussen is a busy man but with the money he makes you’d think he’d buy an umbrella (hint: they sell them in the gift shop at the track).
Steve in the winner’s circle after Jardin’s win the Schuylerville
Jardin, those white dots in the picture are rain drops, it was pouring
Steve does it again, Incognito ($700,000 Keeneland grad) wins the first baby race of the meet. More of those umbrella things in the background, you’d think Steve would catch on about how handy they are
Star Player takes the opener. Eibar Coa hand signals that he’d like a beer to celebrate
Dining at Saratoga, it’s pricey, for your seventy odd bucks you get to sit at ground level on the clubhouse turn and watch the races on a monitor. What a bargain. I had a slice of $4.25 slice of pizza and a $6.50 can of beer instead.
And guess what, the toilets worked. The NYRA Nation can pee at will, thanks Charlie Hayward!
Opening day at Saratoga, I spotted Stephen Steven Crist and Andy Serling, taking a smoking break from some dreadful handicapping.
Andy, to Stephen’s delight, is demonstrating how Tallulah Bankhead would hold a cigarette.
If Andy or Stephen Steven saw page 19 in today’s program, the Fourth District Dental Society is sponsoring Oral Cancer Screenings next Wednesday, maybe these boys should put their cigarettes down and get to the screening!
Should the storied track rise like a pink phoenix, it would be welcome news to Gulfstream haters like me.
Halsey has many obstacles to overcome but the idea of a restored Hialeah is too good to be true and Halsey has a few things going his way including support from horsemen like Todd Pletcher.
MEC stock is worth slightly more than a pile of flamingo poop these days and this means the viability of MEC is very much in doubt. MEC announced a 1 for 20 reverse stock split which, at least, will keep the stock from being delisted on the NASDAQ. MEC also managed to sell off Great Lakes Downs to some friendly Michigan Indians but Frank’s biggest problem is the Florida Seminoles who run the nearby Hard Rock Casino. The Seminoles ain’t so friendly and wouldn’t mind scalping Frank although, in my opinion, Frank’s thinning scalp wouldn’t be much of a trophy.
Meanwhile construction of that retail disaster called the Villages at Gulfstream slogs along, soon to be sucked under the Stronach riptide of ego, bad planning and worst real estate market in South Florida since the Depression.
So Steve lost his cool and exercised his first amendment rights on the starter at Churchill Downs. The profanity laden tirade resulted in poor Steve being fined, surprisingly for something not detectable in a urine sample, go figure.
Steve will not fight this fine ($250) although I wish he would.
What does $250 matter to Steve Asmussen? It’s nothing more than the cost buying a round of drinks at the Jim Dandy bar for his veterinarians.
I was hoping Steve would contest the fine, he could have just called Maggi Moss up and said hey Maggi, come up with another bullshit defense like the Chap Stick defense for me.
As you read this, Maggi is researching whether undiagnosed Tourette syndrome could be epidemic on the backstretch.
Of course, the idea of fining someone for using profanity seems a little peculiar to a racing fan, if you walk through any grandstand you will hear most if not all of the seven dirty words you can’t say on television repeated every three seconds in any of a million variations, For gamblers profanity is the core of a vocabulary that makes the frustration of a losing bet easier to understand, we all know the feeling when three of the horses in your trifecta box finish first, second and fourth.
