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Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Gulfstream Less Than Capacity

- Gulfstream Park as we know and love it is a thing of the past, but the lavish Magna Palace that will replace it will open on Wednesday….kind of. Track president Scott Savin would just assume that you go to Calder instead. "We have capacity issues. I would much rather the bettors ... they want to be able to place a bet, they want to be able to see the signal, they want to be able to see the odds.” [Sun-Sentinal] Yeah, those things would be nice. But Magna VP Dennis Mills said that opening on time is important for the "credibility of our meet, Magna Entertainment, and our chairman [Frank Stronach]." Nice to see they have their priorities straight.

I actually could have gone this weekend, though due to sad circumstances. The Head Chef’s dear friend Eileen recently lost her mom, and she is in dire need of assistance dealing with affairs related to her mother’s apartment, which happens to be in Hallandale. So the Head Chef is going down Friday morning. But with present on-track capacity believed to be limited to somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 – and they don’t really seem to know for sure - and racing on Friday cancelled altogether, the idea wasn’t very appealing. Besides, the idea of being on my own and having the house to myself on a non-kids weekend is rather tempting. Can anyone say “Aqueduct-Meadolwands doubleheader?”

Fortunately for the top three-year olds stabled there, they won’t have to wait on long lines for food or restrooms. The spotlight has been on West Coast contenders such as Brother Derek and Stevie Wonderboy, who are apparently headed for a very early-season showdown in the San Rafael on Jan 14; but in the coming weeks at Gulfstream, we’ll see the likes of First Samurai, possible for the Hutcheson on Feb 4, Private Vow, who would have been at Fair Grounds had that meeting not been switched and shortened, and Remsen winner Bluegrass Cat, also possible for the Hutcheson, at which point the capacity at the track will hopefully be greater than it is now, whatever exactly it turns out to be.

This place better turn out to be nice, because it’s replacing what to me was a near-perfect racetrack experience. There was plenty of space, much of it green; ample seating and grandstand apron room; bountiful betting windows and machines, and likewise for the food stands, restaurants, and bars. The rooftop lounge out by the clubhouse turn on the 3rd floor was truly one of my favorite track hangouts, and I wonder if they’ll be anyplace as unpretentiously agreeable as that spot was. In fact, I could use that phrase to describe what the entire track was like – an unpretentiously agreeable and totally sufficient paradise in which to watch and participate in our favorite game. Already, Magna is sending the wrong message by herding everyone who doesn’t want to shell out an extra $10-$20 just to get into an unfinished building into a tent; c’mon Frank, you gotta be kidding!

- Wednesday’s feature is the type of wide-open turf allowance race with the kind of quality that hopefully will typify this meet and be the main attraction, at least until the slots parlors and movie theaters arrive. It’s almost like one of those harness handicap races, in which the better horses are assigned the outside post positions. Actually, Ecclesiastic, the one horse, is the morning line favorite. He chased better up here at Belmont this past fall, but doesn’t win much, as his 3 for 23 record attests, even in allowance company. I like Watershed Event, going from the nine post at 8-1 morning line for Dale Romans. He’s found new life since switching to the turf late last summer, winning three out of seven starts on the green. He’s shown a fierce closing kick in his last two in Kentucky despite being extremely wide, and with some pace possible from horses inside of him, could work out a winning trip with Mark Guidry at a good price.

- Undefeated Declan’s Moon will miss the Santa Anita meeting. The now four-year-old gelding is recovering from a slight injury to his left front cannon bone, detected by a nuclear scan in September. [Brisnet]

11 Comments:

Anonymous said...

...quick note about a certain Gulfstream 3yo named Disco's Son...unless i have my facts wrong (memory ain't my strong point), i believe Disco's Son dumped the rider and was running loose vs. Private Vow in the Belmont Futurity on Sep. 17th...i believe he beat Private Vow to the wire that day, and of course it was 9 lengths back to the rest of the field...i'm a little concerned because he hasn't run since then (suffered some kind of injury?), but perhaps he was scheduled for a vacation anyway...probably not, but you never know...anyway, i'd definitely keep him in mind @ Gulfstream, as he'll likely turn up pretty soon, and he's gonna have that blank running line showing, so that should help the price...i don't doubt he's a good horse, as he's obviously been flattered by Private Vow since then...just something to keep in mind...

t said...

It's always very sad to hear of the loss of a loved one. My condolences to your Better Half, her friend Eileen & her family.

Poor segue here, but do any of your loyal readers know which is the choicest of Reno Race Books? I'm headed on Thursday, and want a comfortable spot. I don't bet enough for rewards or rebates to be an issue, but if you have bead on that, it'd be good info to have as well. -tbb

Alan Mann said...

T-Man -

Great racetrack story, thanks for sharing. I checked on Formulator and you're right in that Donato has only these two horses...anywhere so it seems. So actually it's pretty funny that Charley gave you two of his horses to watch, since they're the only ones he has.

I watched Dance Man on the Cal Racing site, and first of all, Battaglia fucked up the call and called him Groovy Bandit, who had already started to fade to the back of the pack. Then when they turned for home, he called Dance Man taking the lead as if he had made a move out of nowhere. Nice try, Mike. So yeah, he ran pretty well, contested the pace, came away with the lead in the stretch, and weakened "slightly," according to the race chart, for third. He shows an obvious affinity for the Polytrack - just toss those two at Keeneland - and has improved before joining the Donato juggernaut.

Also, he drops in class here which should definitely help. The one thing I'd be concerned about is that he's a need-to-lead horse in a race loaded with speed. We'll have to hope that the class drop can help him get a jump on the other speedsters, and he may have to hold off a late rally by Vacancy.

Anonymous said...

...boy, do i feel like a heel...i just halfway glanced at the Gulfstream post and noticed it said something about 3yo's, so i posted away...i didn't realize your wife had lost her mom until i saw people leaving their condolences, and i went back and read the entire post...allow me to apologize, and wish you and your wife all the best during this rough time...it's gotta be really hard on the lady, i can't even IMAGINE losing my mom...hope you guys are doing okay, or at least as well as you can...it's stuff like this that makes horseracing seem very unimportant...again, my apologies and condolences...

Anonymous said...

...geez, i couldn't even get my apology right...it wasn't your wife's mom, but rather her friend's mom???...i wish i hadn't opened my damn mouth, now i feel even worse...i think i understand what your wife's going thru, however...not long ago, i learned that a very good friend of mine's father had passed away...well, we're more like brothers really, as we grew up a few houses down from each other and hung out together basically every day from pre-school thru high school...haven't really spent any time with the guy for several years now, due to me moving out of town, but i grew up in the guy's house and saw the old man on a daily basis...turns out he went in for surgery to remove a lung, and not long afterward i guess there was some type of complication and he slipped into a coma and died...i had to hear about it thru an e-mail from another friend of ours...i really felt bad that i couldn't be there for the guy, and the news kinda tore me up as well, because when we were growing up together they had always treated me like i was part of the family...i'm glad your wife is there to offer her support, and help her friend Eileen through such a terrible time...all i could offer my friend was lousy phone call, and i feel pretty bad about it...that's just the way things work out sometimes, i guess...

Alan Mann said...

Hey T-Man, those were my comments, so be sure to send the check to me after you cash in on the EX! :-)

And yes, Harvey Pack is still with us, though his public appearances seem to be limited to Siro's at Saratoga during the summer. Good luck today.

Ruben Bailey said...

I hope SOMEONE cashed in on the $43 EX w/ Vacancy/Danceman...geez!!!

Nice work team!!

Alan Mann said...

T-Man better have had it!! As for me, I was stuck doing something at work, and missed it, ARGHHH!!! I need to quit this day job!! But gonna make up for it on this 8th at the Gulf...

One unscientific observation I want to throw out there is this: the Polytrack at Turfway sure seems to favor stalkers and closers. I don't know that I've ever seen any horse go wire to wire there.

Ruben Bailey said...

So Alan.....

DID you cash on the exacta? I think your exact quote was something like, "All of the best horses drew outside posts".

Hope you did!!(I didn't cuz I'm continually stuck at work.)

Alan Mann said...

Thanks everyone for the kind wishes for Eileen.

And Walter, please tell T-Man that I picked Vacancy! I didn't win any money so I might as well insist on the credit!

Anonymous said...

...i don't know what T-Man is talking about, lol...hey T, i never even looked at the race, honestly!...Alan was the one who mentioned Vacancy, not i...in any case, i'm glad you hit the race...congratulations...