Last summer, I wrote a “Save Pimlico because. . .” column in this space. Long on sentiment and short on facts or direction, the column was supposed to make people think, to be an inspiration of some kind, to fill this space in a somewhat lively fashion, provide some context to the whole thing – oh, and beat a deadline.
Sometimes the obituaries can be a bit much. A few recent ones packed a big punch and took a chunk out of the region’s (and the nation’s) Thoroughbred world. Cot Campbell, Willard Thompson, Rick Violette, Bruce Smart, Walter Reese, Bob Levy, Buck Woodson – and too late to make this magazine Dr. Matthew Mackay-Smith – must be having some conversation in the track kitchen at Afterlife Downs about now.
Snippets of success from around the region and beyond:
So what does it feel like to be on the verge of watching a horse you bred line up for a $2 million race?
“I’m calm, but I don’t know why. I feel like it’s already decided. Somebody knows who wins this race, we’re just watching it play out.”
The stuff you think about at a horse sale that get a little monotonous after awhile…
If I were designing a sales pavilion, I’d look hard at the English/Irish versions where the horse for sale gets the opportunity to walk while the auctioneer rat-a-tat-tats through the bids. It’s always going to be a foreign environment for a horse, but the ability to walk has to help. Horses in the rings at Tattersalls and Goffs or wherever else, look calmer, a little less agitated by it all, and buyers get one last chance to see them walk.
Imagine for a moment racing without betting, where each racetrack attracted spectators with atmosphere, amenities and customer experience.
There’s no television pundit, no odds board, no post-time delay, no carryover. It’s just racing, a day out, entertainment with horses and jockeys. What would the purse structure look like? How different would it all be? Would racing survive? Could it actually happen?
Well, this is – essentially – American jump racing.
Dive into the Maryland Million Guide in the back of this magazine and prepare for some serious racing history.
Northern Dancer sired the first Classic winner, Herat, in 1986 – a year that included winners trained by the likes of Allen Jerkens, P.G. Johnson, Jack Van Berg and Woody Stephens. Jerry Bailey rode three winners, Vince Bracciale Jr. rode two. What a day that must have been.
I guess it’s the improbability of it all. Or something like that anyway. People ask me, and I’m sure you too, all the time: “Why horse racing?” Sometimes I struggle for an answer. Other times, I come up with things like Belmont Stakes Weekend turned in by Mid-Atlantic-bred horses.
This month’s column could pretty much be just two words – Save Pimlico – but I’ll finish the sentence because the old girl deserves a proper explanation.
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