What's Going On Here : Belmont Park

Goose Bumps by Evan Hammonds

aspradling — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:53:00 GMT

(Originally published in the May 26, 2012 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

By Evan Hammonds - @BlackCat30 on Twitter

The May 19 Preakness Stakes (gr. I) was a special moment in our sport—an “Instant Classic.” If watching I’ll Have Another reel in Bodemeister in the Pimlico stretch during the second jewel of the Triple Crown didn’t stir the soul, perhaps you’re in the wrong business.

Watching from the winner’s circle at Old Hilltop, we only have two words to describe the stretch run: goose bumps.
While it’s only been two races, I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister have developed quite a rivalry—one that hopefully can draw a new generation to the sport. After the 11⁄4-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and the 13⁄16 miles of the Preakness, the two have been separated by a mere 13⁄4 lengths, and the 83/4 lengths back to Preakness third-place finisher Creative Cause shows these two are clearly on a different level from the rest of the pack…and the pack is considered a good, consistent crop of 3-year-olds.

After hitting the line together in the Preakness, can I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister begin to be mentioned in the same breath as Affirmed and Alydar, Sunday Silence and Easy Goer? Perhaps not quite yet, but give it time to percolate.

Co-owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert will pass the June 9 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) with Bodemeister, who is clearly a freak up to nine furlongs. However, the pair hopefully will have plenty of other chances down the road to mix it up again, but for now let’s enjoy the ride to New York.

It’s unlikely the Maryland Jockey Club could have even imagined the ride they would get Preakness weekend. Splendid weather brought out a record crowd to watch a competitive card full of good races and an infield full of good musical choices, including headliners Wiz Khalifa and Maroon 5.

Few figured that would be the case a few years ago when MJC chief Tom Chuckas Jr. made a bold move—and the right one—to change the culture of the infield crowd at Pimlico. The ability to bring in unlimited amounts of alcohol and the frat party atmosphere of the event was a recipe for disaster, and Chuckas had the foresight and courage to pull the tap from the keg. The hope was that short-term pain—attendance fell 30% from 2008 to 2009 in its first year—would lead to long-term gain. With a savvy marketing program and bringing in top-line concert draws, they have reinvented the event for the better. The area around the bandstand for Maroon 5 was packed, the MJC had a record crowd, and the ontrack handle was among the best ever.

This year’s event was the success it was because of three things: the weather, an appealing headliner in the infield, and trainer Doug O’Neill’s going out of his way to become one of Maryland’s own during Preakness week.

Not only did O’Neill bring I’ll Have Another to Pimlico early—he arrived the Tuesday after the Derby, the earliest arrival of a Derby winner for as long as we can remember—but the trainer came, too. On May 12, a full seven days before the Preakness, O’Neill and his team ran in the Preakness 5K with stable pony and star Lava Man leading the runners around the track. The following day, O’Neill attended the Baltimore Ravens rookie mini-camp and had lunch with head coach John Harbaugh. On May 14 he not only visited the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center but also threw out the first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles—New York Yankees baseball game. The following day he visited the Boys & Girls Club near Pimlico.

Owner J. Paul Reddam and his wife, Zillah, made themselves accessible to the media. O’Neill also danced every dance with the MJC at their ontrack events and around town.

Oh, yeah, O’Neill also had time to watch his Preakness runner gallop in the morning and to train some other horses from the stakes barn. He also found the time to come to
 the press box with jockey Mario Gutierrez and horseman Ciaran Dunne the day before the Preakness to watch videos of previous Preakness races to plot strategy.

Making himself accessible goes a long way in increasing awareness in the sport at the local level, and there was a payoff May 19. O’Neill’s past record brings plenty of baggage, but he hasn’t ducked the question and he’s gone out of his way to promote the sport nationally and at the grassroots level.

With a sweep of the Triple Crown hanging in the balance in the coming three weeks, racing has an opportunity.

And the connections of I’ll Have Another seem uniquely suited to help the sport take full advantage of it.

One for the Road - By Evan Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 19:10:00 GMT

(Originally published in the November 6, 2010 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

By Evan Hammonds

It’s impossible to separate the greatest Breeders’ Cup races from the venues in which they occurred. We recall indelible moments in time and place: Personal Ensign’s remarkable rally on a cold, rainy afternoon at Churchill Downs; Sunday Silence holding off Easy Goer’s late charge in the growing darkness at Gulfstream Park; Tiznow running down the long Belmont Park stretch to defend his Classic title in post-9/11 New York; and Zenyatta on a resplendent late afternoon at Santa Anita Park.

Horses and tracks are inextricably linked in the moveable feast that is the Breeders’ Cup. And that’s just what John Gaines envisioned when he proposed the idea of racing’s championship event. Gaines wanted the Breeders’ Cup to rotate among tracks and locales around North America each year, much like the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, or the PGA Championship. What better way to create excitement than to tantalize racing fans and entice general sports fans with an ever-changing location? Some diehard Breeders’ Cup fans have traveled to every venue. What better way to let each participating track show off its best attributes to the racing community?

Obviously, some tracks have met the challenge better than others over the first 27 years. Nine tracks in all have participated and it is safe to say just a trifecta are legitimate contenders to host the Breeders’ Cup these days. They are the landmark tracks accustomed to handling big-event days, having the personnel, infrastructure, and resources to do the job well: Churchill Downs with its iconic Twin Spires, Santa Anita Park with its majestic San Gabriel Mountains backdrop, and New York’s venerable Belmont Park.

Monmouth Park in New Jersey gave its best shot in 2007, but miserable weather in late October at a facility built to close after Labor Day undermined its efforts. Arlington Park in Chicago was a close second and has been the best performer to date with the use of temporary stands.

Lone Star Park, the little track that could, really couldn’t in 2004. The original Gulfstream Park was a solid player in 1989, 1992, and 1999, but the new racino version can’t cut it. Woodbine performed admirably in 1996, but Canada in late fall, plus the track’s loss of space to slot machines, makes it a less than ideal candidate. Aqueduct, home of Breeders’ Cup II in 1985, is poised to become a racino as well. And Hollywood Park doesn’t really want to be a racetrack.

Perhaps former Blood-Horse editor Kent Hollingsworth’s toes were still frozen after returning from Aqueduct in 1985 when he wrote in this space that “the Breeders’ Cup should stay in Los Angeles, at Santa Anita or Hollywood Park, whichever track operation can do the best job of promoting Breeders’ Cup Day, at the track and on television.” His assumption was television viewers would prefer a venue that would “be bright and sunny rather than cold and rainy” with “no overcoats in the crowd,” when tuning in racing’s big event.

Twenty-six years later we believe it’s proven the sport and the horses are the show on TV, not what’s happening in the grandstand.

Breeders’ Cup had hoped to make Santa Anita the permanent home of the World Championships, citing the prospect of long-term sponsorship deals, good weather, and proximity to the entertainment community.

A permanent home does not make sense for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are questions about the long-term stability of the ownership entity. Lest we forget, Frank Stronach’s Magna Entertainment Corp. went bankrupt. It was succeeded by Frank Stronach’s MI Developments. California racing is, in a word, unstable.

The Breeders’ Cup also has always been in need of a back-up site. Amazingly, Belmont Park was able to pull off an emotionally charged Breeders’ Cup in 2001 just weeks after 9/11. But just in case, Churchill Downs was ready to pinch hit.

The Breeders’ Cup returns to Churchill Downs in 2011. But after two years we’ll miss the freeways of L.A. and the Manhattan skyline. Let’s hope Breeders’ Cup takes its show on the road in 2012 and beyond.

Stakes Sizzle - By Evan Hammonds

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:39:00 GMT

Originally published in the October 16, 2010 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

By Evan Hammonds

The cornucopia of grade I stakes served up from coast to coast the last two weekends has offered racing fans great insight into the equine athletes preparing for the upcoming Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs. Taking a look at some of the tracks’ numbers—attendance and handle—offers the Thoroughbred industry some insight into the health of the racing game.

The three major venues of early October—Keeneland, Oak Tree at Hollywood (a first in 2010), and Belmont Park—all offer their own charms, and comparing their figures is like comparing apples to oranges to bananas, so we won’t even attempt that. However, we can look at the following attendance figures:

Sun-drenched Keeneland drew 17,000-plus for its opening day program, Friday, Oct. 8, then drew 22,958 for five graded stakes the following day. Those are outstanding figures, considering the World Equestrian Games were still going on and the University of Kentucky football team hosted top 10 ranked Auburn that evening.
For Zenyatta’s California farewell, more than 24,000 showed up Oct. 2 at Hollywood Park toting signs and giving last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) winner a well-deserved, rousing send off. For those who did not have the good fortune of being there, the event did play well on ESPN, which carried about a 15-minute cut in during the early evening (Eastern time).
At Belmont for Jockey Club Gold Cup day, a mere 9,671 were on hand for the live action. The following Saturday, 6,858 witnessed Uncle Mo’s Champagne Stakes (gr. I) and A Z Warrior take the Frizette (gr. I). Those numbers seem anemic, considering the New York metropolitan market is among the world’s largest and there appeared to be little competition from Major League Baseball or college football on either Saturday.

On the other hand, handle figures for both Belmont cards showed strength and national interest in New York Racing Association “Super Saturdays.” National handle on Gold Cup day topped $18 million, and more than $12.5 million was wagered the following Saturday.

At Belmont, attendance has flagged for years, caused perhaps in part by some of the malaise surrounding NYRA the last few years and more likely tied to the fact it’s much easier to sit at home and wager online while watching the races on a high-definition flat screen television. The strong handle figures support the theory that thousands of fans in “virtual attendance” are participating in the racing action while online.

Naheem Ghazi, head of marketing for NYRA, is a smart fellow. He figures it would take a few million dollars to move the needle on ontrack attendance. No one has that kind of coin lying around these days. Even once NYRA’s slot parlor gets underway next year at Aqueduct, there are lots of bills and IOUs to pay back. He’s doubtful his marketing budget’s needle moves any time soon.

These three different locations combined illustrate great interest in our sport. In New York a Wall Street attitude prevails. Average handle per person on track Oct. 9 was $179.55 and on Oct. 2 it was a robust $222.64.

With a heavy party atmosphere in a “tailgating” section at Keeneland for the college crowd, a day at the races in Lexington is more of a social event. The average handle per person Oct. 9 was a scant $75.45. The hope here is that these students submit their applications for the Keeneland Club after graduation.

In Southern California, star power ruled the day, bringing out the largest crowd at Hollywood Park since 2001. That’s about triple a standard weekend crowd at Hollywood and about double what a Zenyatta “retirement party” drew last year after the Breeders’ Cup. If there has been an upside to the downturn in bloodstock prices over the last few years, it’s that racing’s top players have stayed in training another season rather than being hustled off to stud.

As long as racing can maintain its ability to challenge gamblers with a high-quality game of skill that churns out eight-figure handle days, can offer a sought-after social scene, and keep some of its brightest stars in training, then the future of racing in North America remains bright.