It was cold. It was raining, and the wind was blowing. So what else was new? It was autumn and it was Chicago - the western farming community of Arlington Heights, to be precise - and Curley Brown wasn't about to let a little weather get in the way of his grand opening day.
NEW YORK - If you're a horseplayer and you have been putting off getting a high-speed Internet connection, delay no longer. The last few weeks have seen a flowering of online offerings designed not only to let handicappers play the daily fare from home but also to review and study all the key races leading to the Breeders' Cup Oct. 26.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Benjamin Disraeli, no doubt counting his supporters in Parliament, liked to differentiate among "lies, damn lies, and statistics."
Obviously, he was on the mailing list of the California Horse Racing Board's quarterly newsletter.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After knocking on the door several times, Finality had what trainer Todd Pletcher terms a break through performance in capturing the recent Jamaica Handicap at Belmont. The Jamaica victory confirmed that Finality, owned by Dogwood Stables, belongs with the in crowd. He runs in Saturday's $150,000 Lawrence Realization to answer the question: At what distance?
ARCADIA, Calif. - Adoration could win Saturday's Ken Maddy Handicap, no doubt. She ran well down Santa Anita's hill last spring, won the Senorita Stakes on the grass, and then won the Hollywood Oaks on the main track to emphasize both her versatility and her class.
And yet, at least as far as David Hofmans is concerned, if Adoration merely comes back breathing, with a strong heartbeat and a healthy appetite, the trainer will be relieved. In light of recent events, winning the race is almost too much to expect.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Of all the Breeders' Cup races, the one that intrigues us the most, year in and year out, is the Mile. Because there is such a high requirement for speed to get a position and stamina to sustain a lively pace, a high level of class is essential for success in the division. We have in mind such two-time winners of the Mile as Miesque, Lure, and Da Hoss.
WASHINGTON - The popular racehorse Tragedy seemed indestructible when he competed at mid-Atlantic tracks for the better part of a decade. But no horse can withstand the stress of the sport forever, and Tragedy's career came to an anticlimactic end on a recent morning at Penn National Race Course.
TUCSON, Ariz. - At their last meeting, members of the beleaguered Kentucky Racing Commission took a few encouraging steps to repair their damaged reputation on permissive medication.
They hired a respected non-Kentuckian to advise them, after months of worrying that he wasn't true bluegrass. They cut raceday medications from 16 to five, instead of to zero, which they should have done. The commission made a bid for respectability.
ELMONT, N.Y. - There is mounting evidence that this year's 2-year-old crop - fillies as well as colts - has a higher than usual level of quality.
Toccet came into Saturday's $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park as a promising prospect at 9-1 eligible to a nonwinners-of-two-other-than. He came out of it as an impressive winner by 1 1/2 lengths after a strong move through the stretch that suggests he has a future.
ARCADIA, Calif. - In "Travels With Tarzan: A Circus Season," a 1998 PBS documentary by Bill Yahraus and Robin Rosenthal, impresario Tarzan Zerbini describes his show as the "largest one-ring circus in North America."
"You cannot find another guy who will do the same stuff that I do," says Zerbini. "It's always action. It's always moving. It's always different."
