INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Father's Day. That's a laugh. Keep your bad ties and your Brookstone gadgets and your "Die Hard" DVD trilogies. Just make sure Dad has the day off, no strings attached, and leave him alone when he dozes off in his chair. Problem is, that will never happen at the racetrack.
There is no professional sport more family unfriendly than horse racing. The season lasts 12 months. The working week is seven days. Each of those days begins before dawn.
ELMONT, N.Y - A long time between drinks.
E Dubai, who won the Dwyer Stakes for 3-year-olds here at Belmont Park last summer and was second in Saratoga's Travers to Horse of the Year Point Given, could be the one to beat in Saturday's $250,000 Brooklyn Handicap at nine furlongs, though he hasn't started in almost 10 months. Cracked heels that took longer than usual to heal were responsible for his being away so long, but he has trained forwardly and his people expect a good performance.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There are three significant races on Saturday's card, and Hollywood Park is calling it the Governor's Festival, even though governors come and go.
The Californian, the Hollywood Oaks, and the Whittingham Memorial have very little to do with state politics. In fact, there is only one name that links the three races with any sense of historical clarity. And his name is already on one of them.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The focus of attention was on the Belmont Stakes last weekend and on the outstanding performance of the 70-1 Sarava. But Belmont was the scene of another glittering piece of racing: Xtra Heat's victory under 127 pounds in Sunday's $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap for fillies and mares.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Last Saturday night, at around 11:10 (GMT), Brian Meehan was watching the Belmont Stakes from the comfort of his home in Old Lambourn, east of London, where he trains about a hundred horses at his Newlands Stables.
When Sarava hit the wire a half-length to the good of Medaglia d'Oro, leaving War Emblem in the dust, Meehan jumped for joy. His heart filled with the pride of close association. Then he made a series of mental notes, among them the very modern notion that occurs to only the most contemporary trainers:
ELMONT, N.Y. - Don't cry for War Emblem.
America's star 3-year-old Thoroughbred was unlucky to stumble at the start of the Belmont Stakes before suffering the defeat that cost him the Triple Crown.
But the idea is wildly exaggerated that this misstep caused his loss to the 70-1 Sarava, and that War Emblem missed making history because of a split-second fluke. On one of the most memorable days of racing ever presented in New York, War Emblem simply wasn't good enough to take his place among the sport's immortals.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The folks at Belmont Park got it all wrong. As musical accompaniment for the final act of the 2002 Triple Crown, "New York, New York" was way off the mark. Better they should have turned the microphone over to Corrinne Malone, a troubadour holding forth on a backyard bench, and let her croon her seductive version of "Que Sera Sera."
Whatever will be, will be.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The winners? Sarava and racing.
Sarava's victory in the 134th Belmont Stakes was a 70-1 surprise because of his limited exposure this spring. His people had been fighting a nasty quarter crack and had to select their racing opportunities with care.
But Sarava made the most of his few races, particularly the 1 1/16-mile Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico, which he won by four lengths on Preakness Day.
NEW YORK - When horseplayers exchange parimutuel horror stories these days, their tales seem increasingly to involve the agony of victory rather than defeat - the agony of betting a horse at 7-2 as he goes into the gate and then watching him drop to 3-1 as he takes the lead around the first turn, 5-2 as he turns for home a winner, and 2-1 by the time his victory is official.
ELMONT, N.Y - In theory, at least, War Emblem's bid to win the Belmont Stakes and sweep the Triple Crown should not be so difficult. He merely needs to maintain the outstanding form he displayed in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Most of his main rivals are colts he has already defeated in the first two legs of the series.