ARCADIA, Calif. - Frank Stronach shielded his eyes as he stood on a platform near the winner's circle, midway through last Saturday's program, and gazed up into the clubhouse mezzanine seats.
They were nearly full, which was no surprise, since the mezz is peopled by the true believers - owners and trainers, their friends and families, visiting dignitaries and serious gamblers - and this was Santa Anita Handicap day.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Racing fans were looking forward to a confrontation of the nation's best older horses in Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap. Medaglia d'Oro, runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Classic last fall, won a tune-up for the $1 million race impressively, by seven lengths. Congaree had won three stakes in a row, each of them in spectacularly fast time. "It could be a heck of a race," Congaree's trainer, Bob Baffert, said. "You won't see a race like that for a while."
NEW YORK - This is the year that movies are supposed to make horse racing a national passion again, thanks to "Seabiscuit," which will open July 25 with a splashy $25 million marketing budget. The racing industry has understandably hitched itself to the movie's coattails. At the recent Eclipse Awards, actors from the film handed out several awards and surrounded the sport's top officials at dinner.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Racing's greatest strength has always been the quality of people attracted to it. One of the most remarkable was John D. Hertz, founder of the rent-a-car company. His will directed that a sum of $50 million go to government-sponsored scholarships. He asked that the money be used for the training of engineers, who would receive scholarships in exchange for one year of service to their country.
ARCADIA, Calif. - At the end of the 2002 season, Robert McNair took a hard look at his two favorite sports franchises and tried to foresee what the future held.
One of them sported a record of four wins and eight losses and had nowhere to go but up, even though it looked like a pretty long climb. The other one had a more promising record of seven wins and seven losses, with efforts of true brilliance intermingled with sobering disappointments.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It is usually a mistake to give up on a horse.
Rick Violette Jr. must have been sorely tempted at times with Man From Wicklow, who went through his 2-year-old season and most of his 3-year-old campaign before winning his maiden. But Violette, who liked him at first sight and purchased him privately as a weanling, persisted with a confident approach and saw his appreciation justified.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Alert the State Department. Stand down the troops.
Peace must be at hand. Why else would Bobby Frankel turn his back on a million-dollar race in his own backyard to make plans for his own private invasion of the turbulent Middle East?
Frankel has respectfully declined the opportunity to run Medaglia d'Oro in the Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday. Coming off a dazzler in the Strub Stakes, possessing speed, proven stamina, and with Jerry Bailey fully committed to ride, the big colt looked very tough to beat.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - When Badge of Silver drew away to win a stakes race at the Fair Grounds by 10 lengths, he looked as if he may be the most talented horse of his generation and the leading contender for the Kentucky Derby. Undefeated in three starts, he could be a superstar in the making.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Milwaukee Brew, who will try to win the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap for a second time on Saturday, could pick a lot of things easier to do. Like fly, tapdance, or ride a Harley, just for starters.
In 65 runnings such history has been made only once. Even then, it was not a clean deal. After winning with flair in 1981, John Henry's second victory in the Santa Anita Handicap of 1982 required a ruling from the stewards that disqualified Perrault.
TUCSON, Ariz. - I heaved a huge sigh of relief the other day to learn from an NTRA/Rudy Giuliani release that public confidence in racing actually is higher now than it was prior to the Breeders' Cup scam.
This was the first word from Giuliani, who left New York to take on, for huge fees, Herculean tasks like cleaning the Augean stables of Mexico City and restoring calm after the jitters resulting from the Breeders' Cup Ultra Pick Six.