Mon, 23 May, 1997
Hi Al,
The adage that you can't please everyone certainly holds in horse racing--even at Lone Star Park. A small percentage of trainers are feeling a certain amount of discontent with LSP. Of course, no one has been happy with the weather, which has been uncharacteristically wet and cool. Maybe the foul weather has played havoc with perceptions. There have also been problems with lack of help on the backside--help has been so hard to come by that many trainers are galloping their own horses. This also has not helped things.
Aside from these problems, Bobby Barnett is unhappy that he hasn't been
getting his horses into races. He will be moving 20 of his 36 horses to
Churchill. Steve Asmussen is unhappy with the track--the same track whose
praises have been sung by others. He feels that the track is too fast and
that is contributing to breakdowns (of which there has been one this meet).
He won't keep his best horses at LSP becasue he feels the track is too
hard on them.
While it is unfortunate that not absolutely everyone is happy, it seems
that most others are satisfied with the track and it's management. I
returned to talk again with Ed Burdick from Randy Bradshaw's stable. The
rain has been bad, he feels, but the track has been constructed in such a
way to deal with the rain as well as any track. The lack of backside help
has been less than desirable. Overall, though, he has felt this has been a
good meet, and they have been able to better assess which horses will be
better suited to the same meet next year. They plan on attending next
year's meet--overall, a satisfied customer..
The racing has been good, attendance has been good, and the handle has been
right on. One month down, two to go..
This Saturday is the inaugural running of the Bob Johnson Memorial stakes,
for 3 and up at 1 mile 1/16. Among those nominated to run are Zarb's
Magic, Slew O' Mink, Native Regent, and Humble Seven. The race will be
televised on Fox SW from 4:30 -5:30 CDT..
On Memorial Day, the City of Arlington Stakes will kick off the turf season
at LSP. The race is for fillies and mares 3 and up. Those which are
possible starters include Clamorosa, Icy Morn, Little Sister, and Gold N
Delicious..
Other features of this weekend's festivities include the Lone Star
Sunnny-side Up breakfast, during which attendees can visit with the
horsemen, watch morning workouts, and take barn tours. Saturday is Cap
Day, as well, with the first 20,000 paid admission receiving a nice LSP
baseball cap..
On a personal note, we got to watch the Mr Redoy filly we sold at the TTBA
yearling sale last year run her first race--and that at LSP--on Wednesday.
She is currently owned by Jim Ivie and trained by Manuel Castro. She is
looking good, but was a tad unsettled by the chaos of the track. Her
connections said she really needed an out to get her ready for the TTBA
futurity trials June 6th. And so it appeared. Castro told us she was a
good gate horse, and she did not disappoint, as she broke 2nd of 11 in the
5f MSW race. She raced lapped on to the leader, whom she passed rounding
the turn. She held of a challenger starting down the stretch, but hit a
brick wall at 4f. She wound up 7th, after going fractions in 22.x, 46.x,
and the final time being 1:00.8 I would, of course, have liked to see her
hit the board, but I was not disappointed with her performance. She ran
against the likes of the 2yo little sister of Two Steppin Toni and Two
Timin Texan (those both top horses here in Texas last year). Hopefully,
this will help her in her preparations for the futurity trials. It was
really neat to watch..
Well, Al, I had better be on my way. When are YOU coming to LSP? :-).
Jill
The Running Horse (http://www.isd1.com/)