By Alan P. Henry

It’s all about the dream. That’s why most people buy Thoroughbred racehorses. That’s what the industry executives who run the sport need to more creatively promote.

They could start with Bourbon Lane Stable’s 3-year-old gelding Bourbonize.

He won his debut at Churchill Downs last November, then drew away in a one-mile allowance test at Oaklawn on Jan. 10. With solid and rising Beyer Speed Figures, his next test is scheduled to be the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 17.

1948 Gulfstream Park Handicap
Jan. 15, 1948
$25,000, 1 1/4 miles, 4-year-olds and up
A tiny-coal black mare named Rampart leads every step of the way with 108 pounds in the saddle and manages to hold off the closing rush of Calumet Stable’s mighty Armed, under 130, by the shortest of noses. Rampart, who pays a whopping $53.70 for her victory, becomes the first of just two distaff winners of the big race.

Peter Fornatale interviewed Tony Brice of Colleyville, Texas, the second-place finisher at last weekend’s 15^th annual National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. Here are questions and answers as a follow-up to the tournament.

Tell me what you do for a living.

Based on their performances at Gulfstream Park
All won at least one stakes at Gulfstream, except for Mr. Prospector
† Racing Hall of Fame inductee

Peter Fornatale interviewed Nick Alpino of Laguna Hills, Calif., the third-place finisher at last weekend’s 15^th annual National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. Here are questions and answers as a follow-up to the tournament.

How do you feel looking back on your performance in this year’s NHC?

I’m thrilled. I almost got the whole thing in the last race. I was in it until the very end but those last couple of races I couldn’t do anything. But I’m thrilled to come in third place.

For most of its 75 years, Gulfstream Park has been a glistening jewel in the crown of American racing, a winter destination place for the very best of the Sport of Kings. On Feb. 1, the venerable course in the Miami suburb of Hallandale Beach, Fla., will celebrate its diamond anniversary, and in the process, call forth memories of the many greats who ran, rode, and trained there . . . of milestones passed . . . of records broken. But in the beginning, who could have known? It is a story of pure survival.

Jose Arias, a 36-year-old environmental safety engineer from Bell Gardens near Los Angeles, put up a record two-day total in the 15th National Handicapping Championship at the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas from January 24-26 after taking the lead late on Day 1. On the third day of competition, Arias, a graduate of the University of Southern California, grimly held off all challengers, proceeding to the first ever NHC Final Table. In the end, he bested Colleyville, Texas, resident Tony Brice by a mere $1.20.

Monmouth Park will become the latest track to award bonuses to owners and trainers for starting horses in races, regardless of where they finish, when the track opens its 2014 meet in May, track officials announced Thursday.

Under the program, trainers will receive $300 for each horse they start in an open race, above and beyond any purse earnings. Owners will receive $700 for each starter in an open dirt race who finishes fifth through last and will pocket $500 for each starter in an open turf race who finishes fifth through last.

A Pennsylvania legislator representing a suburban Philadelphia district has introduced a bill that would re-direct $250 million a year from casino subsidies flowing to the state’s racing industry to school funding.

Rep. Todd Stephens of Montgomery County, said that the intent of the bill was to provide property-tax relief to homeowners in 211 school districts that receive less than 35 percent of their funding from the state. Those districts are typically high-income areas where the tax base is wealthy enough to provide the majority of funding for schools.

David Jerkens will leave his position as racing secretary at Golden Gate Fields in June to become the racing secretary at Del Mar, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club announced on Thursday.

Jerkens is being brought in because the track will run two meets this year – its regular summer meeting and an additional meeting in the fall – to pick up some of the dates left by the closure of Hollywood Park.

Jerkens, 35, is the son of trainer Steve Jerkens and the grandson of legendary Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens. His uncle Jimmy Jerkens is another notable trainer.