The Boston Herald reports that Boston mayor Thomas Menino has come out in favor of slot machines at Suffolk Downs. “People say it’s about gambling. I look at it differently,” said Menino. “It’s about jobs. It’s about revenue.” Good for Menino — but when will the state legislature act? Time is running out for the track. The New York-based real estate development firm Vornado recently bought a stake in Suffolk and is on the verge of drawing up a redevelopment proposal for the parcel along with Boston developer and Suffolk board member Stephen Karp. “Without slot machines in the near future, the racing at Suffolk will cease and the property will be developed,” said Suffolk president John Hall. The situation can’t be stated any more bluntly than that.
The Herald jumps in with a pro-slots editorial: “Allowing slot machines at the state’s four racetracks would be an industry bailout. But when an industry’s worth bailing out, what’s wrong with that?”
Interesting that Menino’s comments and the Herald’s editorial comes so soon after Sunday’s Hot Dog Safari. Seems like there may have been a little lobbying for slots going on among the hot dog eating and family fun.
Posted by JC in State Issues on 05/24/2005 @ 11:55 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
Afleet Alex earned a 112 Beyer speed figure in the Preakness. “The Preakness was as legitimate a race as the Derby was flukey.” (Daily Racing Form — sub. req.)
More bad luck for trainer Nick Zito: It was discovered Monday that Noble Causeway “entrapped his epiglottis” during the Preakness. The colt will have a myectomy. (Blood-Horse)
Wilko is also having surgery. Trainer Craig Dollase said the Breeders’ Cup juvenile winner came out of the Preakness with a chip in his right front ankle. He’ll have surgery on Thursday to remove it. (Daily Racing Form)
There’ll be no Triple Crown this year, which has NYRA officials plotting how to attract crowds to a race that suddenly seems a little irrelevant. They shouldn’t worry, writes Rick Bozich:
This time the Belmont Stakes will have to hustle for love, headlines and TV viewers. This time the Belmont will have to sell more than another faux Triple Crown contender.
Fine.
We all know how those Triple Crown buildups turned out. Lots of trips down memory lane for Steve Cauthen. No new members of the Triple Crown club. Six of the last eight years we’ve hit Belmont wondering whether racing would celebrate its first Triple Crown winner since Cauthen scored on Affirmed in 1978. Six times no champagne was popped.
This year the fairy tale ended three weeks earlier. Giacomo, the Kentucky Derby winner, finished third, nearly 10 lengths behind the unflappable Afleet Alex in the Preakness.
Fine.
Why do I keep saying everything will be all right? Easy. This time the plot lines will be enchanting without being predictable. (Courier Journal)
Posted by JC in Triple Crown on 05/24/2005 @ 11:45 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– Ghostzapper worked six furlongs in 1:13.24 at Belmont Monday. The 2004 Horse of the Year will make his 2005 debut next Monday in the Metropolitan Handicap. (DRF)
– Trainer Tim Ritchey paid $210,000 for a Dixieland Band colt at the Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic sale on Monday. Ritchey bought the colt for Cash Is King, the stable that owns Afleet Alex and bought him at the same sale a year ago for $75,000 (TT) … The Cash Is King crew is on a roll. The day after winning the Preakness with Afleet Alex, the owners were back in the winner’s circle twice at Delaware with the fillys Racing Luck and Kelsey’s treasure. (BH)
– NYRA fired 59 mutuel clerks and suspended 30 others for participating in an “illegal job action,” according to senior vice president Bill Nader. New York mutuel clerks have been without a contract since 2003. (NYDN)
– Send links, comments to railbird at jessicachapel dot com
Posted by JC in Miscellany on 05/24/2005 @ 11:40 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
