GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Then there is the wind.
Barreling down from the north, swirling from the southeast, and occasionally racing in dry and nasty from the west, wind is the prevailing climatological fact of Texas life, and it is wind that makes the playing field at Lone Star Park unique among American racecourses.
"Did you know," said Darren Rogers, Lone Star's director of communications, "that Dallas-Fort Worth is windier than Chicago?"
WASHINGTON - When the Maryland House's Ways and Means Committee killed a bill Monday that would have legalized slot machines at the state's racetracks, it dealt a painful blow to everyone whose livelihood is connected to the horse business. Breeders, trainers, and track employees will watch helplessly as the sport continues to decline, the victim of competition from slot-rich tracks in neighboring states. The biggest loser of all will be the Magna Entertainment Corporation, which made the costly mistake of buying Laurel and Pimlico two years ago.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Mike Costello, the president of United Puett starting gates, went to bed in Louisville, Ky., on the evening of May 1, 1981, safe and warm in the knowledge that there would be a field of 20 in the Kentucky Derby the following day, and that his six-stall and 14-stall beauties were ready to do the job.
Then he woke up to a field of 21.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Take a break from Kerry vs. Bush. We've got all summer and fall to play that tune. Anyway, right now it is more fun to debate the McGaughey-Zito race (with John Veitch playing the role of Ralph Nader), or the relative merits of ballot propositions named Santos, Maple, Romero, and Desormeaux.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - No horse can win the 2004 Kentucky Derby.
That's the only conclusion to draw from the 3-year-old stakes races run so far this year. Not a single colt has compiled even a minimal set of the credentials necessary for success on the first Saturday in May. Almost every youngster who has shown a flash of talent has proceeded to injure himself or to discredit himself with a dismal performance.
NEW YORK - There has never been a closing odds board quite like the one that emerged last Sunday from the final round of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, a true marvel of chaos and indecision. Consider the following:
* In the six years of parimutuel futures betting, the "all others" mutuel field had never been favored in the final pool. This year, it was the clear choice at 6.70-1. Think for a moment what this says: Just 27 days before the Kentucky Derby, not one of the 22 leading contenders had more support than the opinion that none of them will win the race.
ARCADIA, Calif. - California racing now finds itself in the melancholy throes of severe empty nest syndrome. All the brave young colts and fillies have fled town, like kids off to college, or, more to the point, soldiers off to war, bound for glory in the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks.
So farewell Lion Heart, Silent Sighs, Halfbridled, Castledale, Preachinatthebar, Wimbledon, Minister Eric, Action This Day, A.P. Adventure - deep breath - House of Fortune, Borrego, Harvard Avenue, Master David, Rock Hard Ten, Imperialism, and Quintons Gold Rush. We hardly knew ye.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The whole thing smacks of destiny, or of a story too ripe to be true. Take one modest little Pennsylvania colt, stir in tales of murder and mayhem, add a high-rolling racetrack owner, and cap it all off with a Florida couple who have already survived a toxic dose of bad luck at the top of the racing game.
Smarty Jones is that colt. Roy and Pat Chapman are that couple. And Charles Cella is the racetrack owner who has offered $5 million to the horse who can sweep the Rebel Stakes, the Arkansas Derby, and the Kentucky Derby this spring.
