Wed, 8 May 1996
Hi Al,
Haven't found the time at home to send you the info on Lonestar's
opening, so I guess I'll send it from work (before anyone else gets
here). As I had written to you earlier, Lonestar Park, the Dallas
area class 1 track, opened its simulcast pavillion this past weekend.
Friday was opening day, just in time for the Oaks (they get the signal
from Churchill, amongst other places). The first day saw 4500 people
in attendance who wagered over $700k. Pretty good opening day for a
work day. Saturday saw 5600 in attendance for the Derby, and those
people wagered over $840k. These figures were about what was expected
by the track management. Let's hope the people keep coming. Most of
the info on the pavillion opening has come through the news media, and
there are some billboards up on I-30, but I think they need to hit TV
with real ads.
This past week the TTA offices burned down. The important documentation was saved, as were backup disks for the computer files, but this is liable to take awhile to recover from. Most important of all, no one was hurt. Currently, they are trying to establish a temporary office.
Sunday we took the Salt Dome colt down to Summer's Mill. Ken had told us no one would be there at the time we went, but he had a stall all set up for Herbie. Of course, Herbie wanted no part of going in the trailer, but rode well once there. When we got there, he wanted no part of going into the stall. The stall they set up for him was in one of the stallion barns, and his stall was across from Midway Circle, who tends to get upset easily. So, of course, what did Herbie do? He flew backwards, right into the screen stall front of Midway Circle. What a disaster. When we got him close to the stall door, I turned him around and backed him in. Silly horse--here's a beautiful big stall (all the starving horses in Ethiopia would kill for), and it MUST contain a monster. He was still pacing a big circle when we left. Ken called us later that night when he had returned, and said that the colt had settled in well. I was pleased to hear Ken say that he thought the colt looked sure enough like a racehorse--nimble, well-balanced, and athletic. I value his opinion. Later this month, we'll take the Mr. Redoy filly to Cedarcrest--another travesty in the making......
I'm hoping to have some more info for you later this week. Ken has a meeting with the Lonestar Park group today, and some interesting things may come out of that (Ken is the chairman of the racing committee for TTA).
Hope all is well with you and the family. Say hi for me. Later.
..................................Jill
The Running Horse (https://www.isd1.com/alauck)