The legendary runner turns 30 today. “If any horse could live to be 30 years old — despite a checkered early career that saw him pass through the hands of multiple trainers and owners, a grueling campaign on crooked legs that earned seven Eclipse Awards (including two Horse of the Year honors), a foul disposition that made other renegades seem like Mister Rogers, and a near-fatal bout with colic at age 27 — it would be John Henry, who was to celebrate that milestone on March 9 at his home in the Hall of Champions at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.” (Thoroughbred Times)
Related: John Henry’s Hall of Fame page; a very nice biography of the birthday boy, with photos; and an earlier Thoroughbred Times profile, “John Henry still has moxie.”
Later: More than 200 people turned out at the Kentucky Horse Park to wish John Henry a happy birthday. “Despite his reputation as a grouch, John Henry, who turned the equivalent of 98 in human years, greeted the crowd rather calmly as they joined to sing Happy Birthday and moved in for a close-up view of the gelding in his winter coat” (Blood-Horse); Photo of retired jockey Chris McCarron, who rode John Henry in his last 14 starts, patting the woolly gelding (Yahoo).
Posted by JC in Horses on 03/09/2005 @ 3:25 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
The New York Times has a long, front-page article on the evolving relationship of Marylou Whitney, “the doyenne of racing,” and Magna owner Frank Stronach, and how the two could affect the future of New York racing. The piece does a good job of conveying the clash between old-money racing and upstart entrepreneurialism, and the unease with which both cultures regard each other:
“‘I don’t care if Frank Stronach is taking over — he’s not moving me out,’ Ms. Whitney said … No one at the table disagreed that the [racing] industry was in trouble; Las Vegas, state lotteries and the proliferation of gambling and slot machines in state after state had been siphoning gambling dollars from horse racing for decades. But no one was eager to embrace Mr. Stronach, either. They were tired of what they considered his bullying and hectoring, and suspicious of his plan to Las Vegasize racing. Look at what he had done at Gulfstream Park, his track in South Florida: rock concerts, scantily clad cheerleaders. What next? …
“Mr. Stronach has long favored aggressiveness over accommodation … Mr. Stronach envisions horse racing as the anchor of a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week global gambling and entertainment colossus. He envisions a day when customers at his tracks can bet on horses, play slot machines or his racing game, shop and dine. Away from the tracks, they could watch races on his TV network and bet on them online …”
What the article doesn’t do is give much sense of what a Stronach-Whitney alliance could mean for New York racing. I had the impression after reading the piece that there is wariness mixed with respect, but little warmth, on both sides, and that the future of racing in New York is more complicated than any of the discussion over it has so far suggested. (And it did sound complicated already, what with the NYRA franchise expiring in 2007 and the slots issue.)
One reader writes: “That was quite a story in the NYT today … That Stronach guy at least seems to realize that racing in its current form is dying, unlike the society doyenne lady. I’m not so sure that cheerleaders are the answer, but I would be interested in visiting Gulfstream and checking out the changes that they’re making. It’s sad that [many people] don’t have the attention span to wait 20 minutes between races, but better to acknowledge that and provide additional stimulation at the track than to live in denial and watch the last few venues wither away.” Good point.
Posted by JC in NY Racing Issues on 03/08/2005 @ 10:20 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– The Texas horse industry is in trouble, reports Gary West. “Only months after Texas was honored as the 2004 host of the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, the state is leaking horses.” (ST)
– What happened to racing? “Horse racing’s popularity has been in steady decline the past generation. Or three. No sport has fallen so far from such a lofty perch.” (DB)
– The Jockeys’ Guild calls Churchill Downs’ lawsuit an attack on jockeys. “They have decided to attempt to destroy the Guild rather than treat their modest requests with decency and fairness,” says Guild vice-president Albert Fiss. (Globe)
– A new arrest is made in UK race-fixing probe. The unnamed jockey was arrested on Tuesday on a charge of conspiracy to defraud. (BBC)
– Send links, comments to railbird at jessicachapel dot com
Posted by JC in Miscellany on 03/08/2005 @ 9:35 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
