ARCADIA, Calif. - Doug O'Neill was asked what Merv Griffin expected when he bought Mr. Chairman privately in October 2006.
"A Cal Cup Classic winner, of course," O'Neill replied, although he smiled as he said it, acknowledging a slight exaggeration.
As it turned out, O'Neill and Griffin got it right, although a whole lot had to happen before last Sunday's running of the $250,000 event before Mr. Chairman could be called a Cal Cup Classic winner.
ARCADIA, Calif. - At this point in a singular life of accomplishment and privilege, George Strawbridge Jr. could be justified in thinking that opportunities for unique experiences might be thinning out.
Descended from the founder of Campbell Soup, a pillar of the steeplechase world, and a former professor of Latin American history, Strawbridge turned 71 this week with legacy intact as banking entrepreneur, philanthropist, and patron of the arts, not to mention a long and rewarding involvement with the Thoroughbred racehorse.
NEW YORK - Four weeks from Tuesday, Massachusetts voters will consider a ballot initiative, known as Question 3, that would ban a form of parimutuel racing in the Bay State. If you think it's safe to exhale because it's "only" greyhound racing that would become illegal on Jan. 1, 2009, think again.
ARCADIA, Calif. - While a respectable though unsung herd of local talent parades to the post in a variety of California Cup races on Sunday at Santa Anita, the true emerging star will be staying in the barn.
It's not like he's ducking anybody.
ARCADIA, Calif. - There was a red horse munching hay in the quiet of his stall in Santa Anita's Barn 27 on Thursday morning who has effectively upstaged the 102 Thoroughbreds entered for Sunday's presentation of 10 California Cup events worth $1,325,000. And he wasn't even trying.
Such is the star power of Curlin, the $10 million beast, who has settled into his Los Angeles digs just as comfortably as he has in Dubai, Long Island, Louisville, Oceanport, Baltimore, and the Springs - both Saratoga and Hot - during his two-year odyssey at the top of the racing game.
NEW YORK - Earlier this week, the wagering menus were announced for the Breeders' Cup cards at Santa Anita on Oct. 24 and 25, and if you're a little confused, you're not alone - the Breeders' Cup itself has all sorts of contradictory information about the betting on the two programs up on its official website. Perhaps the good news there is that since the menus aren't exactly written in stone, at least without some more masonry, there might be time to rethink three seemingly peculiar decisions.
Dennis Patterson thought he might be able to hang tough until the bitter end, but it was just too much to bear. He shipped his horses out of his Bay Meadows barn about a week ago, even though training will continue until Oct. 8 in the shadow of demolition crews hard at work gutting the venerable grandstand.
"It was bad enough going to the funeral," Patterson said. "I didn't need to stick around to watch them dissect the body."
TUCSON, Ariz. - When art and racing are mentioned in the same sentence, which isn't often, the names of Paul Mellon and John Gaines come quickly to mind.
Both loved fine art and had the means to pursue and acquire it, at very high levels.
But what about art and racing in the atmosphere, instead of the stratosphere? What about the non-Mellons and non-Gaineses of the world?
ARCADIA, Calif. - In mid-September of 1997, a tropical cyclone raged across the eastern Pacific, just off the Mexican coast. The storm tickled the tip of Baja California and passed directly over Socorro Island, devastating its lonely village, before moving westward into open waters. With sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts of up to 220 mph, it was the most powerful storm ever observed in that region. They called it Hurricane Linda.