Thursday, March 04, 2010

SURE SIGNS OF SPRING

OZONE PARK, New York--One of the surest signs of Spring doesn't involve groundhogs or birds, but rather horses.

New York racing fans can shake off the frosty cobwebs of winter by buying this Saturday's Daily Racing Form (for those of us who still read the printed product and are able to locate a newsstand that sells it) and turning to Aqueduct's 10th race, the Grade III, $250,000 Gotham Stakes. Ten horses are entered to contest the 1-1/16th miles and bolster their reputations on their way to competing in the area's ultimate Triple Crown prep race, the Wood Memorial.

It can be reassuring in these troubled times to engage in the simple act of attending an afternoon of racing. Despite the harsh economic climate, the racetrack still offers an astounding value ($2 general admission--compare that with stratospheric ticket prices to next weekend's Big East tournament in Madison Square Garden) for those who want a chance to escape for a few hours and participate in a rite that has endured for hundreds of years. Granted, a visit to the track can become expensive if luck isn't on one's side that particular day. It can also be quite lucrative if Fortune smiles. Betting is a filter that the fan layers on top of the track experience. The horses run just as hard either way, though, because that is their nature. They have no agents, no endorsement deals and no agenda. They simply run.

One ritual that I perform when I visit any racetrack around the world is to be sure and watch the first race upon arrival from the vantage point of the finish line in the shadow of the wire. While I enjoy the Grandstand, Clubhouse or box seats for the duration of the afternoon, starting the fun by blasting your senses with the sounds, sights, smell and excitement of a heartpounding stretch run reaffirms one's love of the sport.

Todd Pletcher has a horse entered in the Gotham. He seemingly has a horse or two...or three...entered in every Triple Crown prep race this Spring. Pletcher's Three Day Rush drew the rail with Fernando Jara riding. The man who launched Pletcher's career, D. Wayne Lukas, will saddle Wow Wow Wow from the outside post and give Cori Nakatani a leg up. The field also includes local hero Dick Dutrow's New York-bred Yawanna Twist (Edgar Prado) and Graham Motion's Turf Melody (leading rider Ramon Domingez). Julien LeParoux invades to ride Awesome Act.

The intriguing angle that surrounds Triple Crown prep races is the element of the unknown. Three-year-olds are being asked for steady improvement while running longer distances over the course of three months. Some rise to the challenge and most fail to compete at the highest levels. Think back to this time last year. Only a small group of people had ever given anything other than a passing notice to Mine That Bird. The backstory surrounding the horse is the stuff of Derby legends. In retrospect, Mine That Bird had legitimate credentials to compete in the Kentucky Derby and, in fact, was purchased in part to run in it. However, had anyone other than Calvin Borel been atop him during that race it's doubtful that the gelding would have been draped with the garland of roses that evening.

So indulge yourself this Saturday and go all "Old School." Buy the Form tomorrow, spend time time Friday evening smudging your hands and face with newsprint and be sure to take your time handicapping the Gotham. Scribble down seemingly inspired past performance insights all over the paper, languish over the comments in the running lines at the end of each horses' race and then change your mind six times. Handicapping from a sterile computer screen or from 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of printed out paper diminishes part of the tradition and romance of our collective racing experience. Who among us has not ruined an article of clothing as an ink-stained wretch with a strong opinion about a horserace? Do it because Spring is upon us.

To paraphrase Woody Stephens (who, no doubt, lifted the line from somebody else): "Nothing makes you feel young each Spring like a live three-year-old in your shedrow."

 

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