MassCap Day at Suffolk
It’s MassCap day at Suffolk Downs and there’s a buzz in the air, an excitement around the grandstand unlike anything since the last running of the Massachusetts Handicap in 2004. I arrived about half an hour before the track opened and watched the crowd grow to dozens. By opening time, there was an impatient gang of fans pressing against the doors. Someone called, “Two more minutes!” and another, “Open the doors or we’ll knock them down!” At 11:00, it seemed likely they would when people began rattling the doors and pounding on the glass. A chant went up: “Open the doors! Open the doors! Open the doors!” Security heeded and the crowd surged in, then politely sorted itself into neat lines to pay the $2 admission into the freshened facility. There’s new paint, a grandstand gift shop, a playground and picnic area on the apron, a spiffy new stakes barn, and the best thing of all: A positive vibe on the frontside and the backstretch.
Photos from around the track this morning:
Brass Hat naps in the stakes barn on Saturday morning.
View of the field for Saturday’s first race from the catwalk.
Big stakes, big hat.
5 Comments