Opening Day Notes
The weather was grim — rainy and foggy — but the mood at Suffolk Downs was anything but for opening day, despite all the recent glum news about the track’s future. More than 6,200 people filled the grandstand, wagering more than $331,000 on the day’s 10 races. The scene was noisy and happy, with crowds gathering at the rail for each race and raucous cheers going up from all over when horses neared the finish line. Fans stood at the paddock fence shouting, “Good job” and “Great ride” and “Welcome back” to jockeys and trainers, who smiled and said, “Thank you” and “Glad to be home.”
—
I arrived two minutes too late for the first race and missed the second attending to the bureaucratic rigmarole of getting my backstretch badge renewed. I made it to the paddock in time to catch the horses entered in the third race walking, and picked number one to win. (Not for any sound handicapping reason; I decided on Friday that handicapping Suffolk on Saturday was a largely useless exercise, given the weather forecast, the number of horses coming off long layoffs and the rest coming in from tracks all over the east.) Horse one tossed his head playfully and danced on his toes as he and his groom walked the paddock. He looked confident and ready to run, unlike some of the others — horse four was so nervous he had to be saddled walking, horse six was washy, and horse five was ill-behaved, rearing up in his stall and refusing to let the jockey mount. His groom brought him out to walk again, and as the two circled around, the rider, with a lift from the trainer, caught the horse and leapt up into the saddle. Horse five bucked and tried to shake the jockey off. A woman next to me laughed and said affectionately, “He’s wild, isn’t he?”
I watched the race standing at the fence near the finish line. As the horses came down the stretch, number four was in front. My horse was chasing and looking like a solid second when, in the last half furlong, he switched leads and tore down the final yards, winning by a nose.
—
My racing companion joined me for race five. In the car of the train he’d been on, he told me, a group had been talking excitedly about Afleet Alex. On the train I was on, a man across from me had the Herald folded open to the racing page and was studying a simulcasting program; to my right, two young guys talked about the Derby. “Everyone says Bellamy Road will win,” said one, “But I like Bandini.” Opening day: All the racing fans are out.
—
Standing in the rain, watching the horses from race three jog back to be unsaddled, I thought: If I had to choose right now between being at Churchill Downs all next week or at Suffolk today, I’d choose Suffolk.
—
Jockey Dyn Panell had a great opening day, winning four races, three for trainer John Rigattieri. Joe Hampshire, one of Suffolk’s top riders in previous years, isn’t returning to Boston this year. He’s decided to stay at Philadelphia Park, where he leads the jockey standings.
Horses who raced at Laurel this winter won five of yesterday’s races; two from Tampa won, as did one from Mountaineer, another from Aqueduct, and one who hadn’t raced since last fall at Suffolk. Horses shipping in from Gulfstream didn’t win any races, but did manage five seconds and thirds.
—
Elsewhere: “Suffolk Downs back in saddle” (Boston Herald) and “Suffolk opens under clouds” (Boston Globe)
