WASHINGTON - The late Allen Paulson took his first plunge into the horse business in 1983, buying millions of dollars of yearlings at auction, hoping that one of them might win the Kentucky Derby. As trainer Ron McAnally began working with the youngsters, he observed that one of them possessed freakish speed in addition to good looks. One day he pointed to the bay colt and told Paulson: "There's your Derby prospect."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Is this the year of the Europeans?
Almost from the outset, in 1984, the Breeders' Cup scene has been awaiting many victories by horses from Europe, victories that for one reason or another failed to materialize.
It is not as if good horses weren't involved. Dancing Brave, Zilzal, Indian Skimmer, Sonic Lady, Trempolino, Lear Fan, and other stars of the European circuit crossed the Atlantic and failed to win. Perhaps we were wrong to expect such victories. Many of them had hard campaigns at home and simply ran out of gas here.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Freedom Crest is a Thoroughbred of modest beginnings who spent the first 16 starts of his life wandering anonymously among California's claimers and allowance population. Through the undying faith and obsessive attention of trainer Richie Baltas, Freedom Crest continued to improve, gaining physical maturity and precious confidence, until he broke through to the big time with a victory last January in the San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita Park.
TUCSON, Ariz. - North American racing's simulcast directors, 350 strong, descend on Louisville this weekend for the ninth annual international simulcasting conference.
Whatever else they learn in Louisville, they will learn firsthand about one of the fundamental issues of their trade - pricing of the product - which is what racing's latest internal dispute is all about.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Eddie D. wasn't kidding. He said it with a straight face.
"Four is nice," the jockey said. "But I thought I had the horses to win with all six." Such brash talk, and from a kindly Hall of Famer like Eddie Delahoussaye.
Obviously, the adrenaline was still flowing late last Saturday afternoon as Delahoussaye was walking back to the jockeys' room after a day well done. Fans lingered along the grandstand tunnel, shouting down their praise for the man from Louisiana, "Way to go, Eddie! You're the best! You the man!"
NEW YORK - American horseplayers have a unique opportunity during the next three weeks to shape their parimutuel destinies for years to come. They can answer the question, through the flow of their wagering dollars, of whether they are discriminating investors the industry must treat with respect or degenerate gamblers who can be shortchanged and mistreated with no adverse consequences.
ARCADIA, Calif. - By now, every little schoolchild in every corner of the land is aware that Bobby Frankel has never won a Breeders' Cup race, and that if he doesn't win one this year he'll probably jump off the Triborough Bridge. Or something like that.
ARCADIA, Calif. - There was a quiet moment, halfway through "Chariots of Fire," when the 100-meter running coach played by Ian Holm dismissed the challenge of the laconic Scotsman in favor of his intense English lad.
"He's a gut runner. All heart, digs deep. But a short sprint is run on nerves. It's tailor-made for neurotics. You can push guts, bully them. But you can hone nerves."
Welcome to the nerve center of American racing. Six bonafide neurotics, honed to a fine edge, will uncoil at Santa Anita Park on Saturday in the Ancient Title Handicap.
ELMONT, N.Y. - There is no greater force in racing than momentum.
When a stable is successful with almost every horse it sends to the post, these successes seem to feed on each other and produce a fresh round of triumphs. If there is an advantage to be gained in any manner, either by pace or lack of pace, traffic, strategy or prompt reaction, the "zoned" stable will usually carry the day.