JC / Railbird

Suffolk Downs Archive

Modest Revival for Suffolk Stakes

The Massachusetts Handicap and the James B. Moseley Breeders’ Cup may not be on Suffolk Downs’ 2005 schedule, but the rest of Suffolk’s 2005 open stakes schedule will be revived.
The track cancelled 10 $40,000 open stakes races in early April to help conserve the overnight purse account. In a meeting with the New England HBPA last Wednesday, Suffolk agreed to replace those races with an equal number of $25,000 stakes. Officials from the Breeders’ Cup offered to match the purses on four of those races, which means that Suffolk this year will run six $25,000 named races and four $50,000 stakes races, in addition to the 12 state-bred stakes already scheduled.
“The people at the Breeders Cup saw that we were forced to cut our stakes program to stabilize the overnight purse structure for the local horsemen and stepped up made us the offer,” said Suffolk COO Robert O’Malley. “This will give both the horsemen and the track the opportunity to still offer a respectable stakes program without heavily impacting our overnight purse structure. In addition, it will give our racing fans some nice races to look forward to.”
Racing secretary Jim Pambianchi is meeting with HBPA officials this week and is expected to publish the revised stakes schedule soon. [Many thanks to reader and fellow Suffolk fan Doug Beaton for the HBPA news link.]
Suffolk notes: Apprentice jockey Anne Sanguinetti earned her first win at Suffolk in race one on Monday, aboard Judith’s Trifle.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on May 3, 2005

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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Elsewhere: “Suffolk Downs back in saddle” (Boston Herald) and “Suffolk opens under clouds” (Boston Globe)

Posted in Suffolk Downs on May 1, 2005

Suffolk Opens Today

Suffolk Downs opens today! First post time is 12:45, season passes will be given out with all paid admissions, and there’s a new $1 Pick 4 wager on the day’s last four races. I’ll be out there all afternoon, taking in the races, catching up with friends, and generally just having a very good time. More tomorrow….

Posted in Suffolk Downs on April 30, 2005