The Greatest Place On Earth

[PhantomOnTour]

At least it was this morning.
A friend took me to the backside for breakfast and morning works at FairGrounds and I had one of my best experiences ever at a track.
The perfect sunny and 60 degree weather didn’t hurt either, but it was the picture of serenity & beauty.
Walking shed row and seeing horse after horse being bathed & groomed, having coffee & biscuits next to McPeek & Asmussen, seeing local favorite Robby Alvarado jogging Rattle N Roll for McPeek, watching Asmussen jog by with his string (Echo Zulu was among them), and seeing groups of runners from Stidham Cox Faucheux and Walsh gallop by.
I could have spent the whole day there.

If you’ve grown sour on this game (which is very understandable) I encourage you to get to the track & get close to the horses. They are therapeutic, majestic, calming, inspiring….they are magic.

I love this game!

[PaceAdvantage]

Agree. Have done that more than a few times at Belmont & Saratoga...it really is a special place and just as you described.

[Wiley]

Good stuff.

Will you be at the races tomorrow?
Hopefully your weather stays nice.

Used to hit the Louisiana Derby each year when I lived down there, but have not been in many years. Always a fun time even on a losing day.

Thanks.

[burnsy]

It’s the reason some of us can’t give it up. What you described is in my blood. My parents brought me to Saratoga in 1969 when I was 7. Your description sounds like a typical sunny , misty morning at Saratoga. I live thru below zero, winters for it. Last year, I met one of the guys from here for one of those mornings. It’s all about the horses �� and trying to win (fair and square) . The humans are the ones that get in the way …….the bad eggs that is. And that is a shame . If everyone looked at it like we do. There wouldn’t be so many problems.

[PhantomOnTour]

Originally Posted by Wiley

Good stuff.

Will you be at the races tomorrow?
Hopefully your weather stays nice.

Used to hit the Louisiana Derby each year when I lived down there, but have not been in many years. Always a fun time even on a losing day.

Thanks.

Does a one-legged duck swim in a circle?
Hell yeah I'll be there...Sunday too (closing day). Gonna try to get back to the backside Sun morning.

Burnsy - well said brother. It's all about the horses...I don't go to watch Stidham train or James Graham ride. I go to watch horses run.

[classhandicapper]

I absolutely love the backstretch. It sucks all the stress right out of you.

[burnsy]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I absolutely love the backstretch. It sucks all the stress right out of you.

What all you guys are describing is why it’s important that people actually attend a track. Yeah , the online thing is convenient but you don’t get the full experience without actually going . It brings an extra level of appreciation.

[Boomer]

I'm 165 miles from my closest live track, Tampa Bay Downs.


Thanks for putting the bug in my ear boys. Lots of Stake races Sunday.


I'm going to start working on a live visit!

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by burnsy

What all you guys are describing is why it’s important that people actually attend a track. Yeah , the online thing is convenient but you don’t get the full experience without actually going . It brings an extra level of appreciation.

I agree, but the consolidation crowd believes that the game would be much better served by having far fewer tracks.

[JustRalph]

Originally Posted by PhantomOnTour

At least it was this morning.
A friend took me to the backside for breakfast and morning works at FairGrounds and I had one of my best experiences ever at a track.
The perfect sunny and 60 degree weather didn’t hurt either, but it was the picture of serenity & beauty.
Walking shed row and seeing horse after horse being bathed & groomed, having coffee & biscuits next to McPeek & Asmussen, seeing local favorite Robby Alvarado jogging Rattle N Roll for McPeek, watching Asmussen jog by with his string (Echo Zulu was among them), and seeing groups of runners from Stidham Cox Faucheux and Walsh gallop by.
I could have spent the whole day there.

If you’ve grown sour on this game (which is very understandable) I encourage you to get to the track & get close to the horses. They are therapeutic, majestic, calming, inspiring….they are magic.

I love this game!

Did the same at Keeneland about 10 yrs ago. Damn fine time.

[burnsy]

Originally Posted by AndyC

I agree, but the consolidation crowd believes that the game would be much better served by having far fewer tracks.

That’s just reality. Laws of Economics, Supply and Demand. I don’t think people are actually advocating that rather than they are seeing reality and the writing on the wall. You can’t have these huge facilities with short fields and no attendance. Just facts. The other thing is the tracks being separate entities, unwilling to split up the “territories “ and seasons. The way it’s set up now with no organization or agreements makes them their own worst enemies. It’s gonna consolidate thru attrition. Not cause people want it. If they could come up with some centralized system of operation or run smaller tracks for the cheaper horses like a “minor league system” …… then maybe. But the way things are going, it’s gonna happen no matter who cries about it. It’s the jungle system the way they run it……. Survival of the fittest . Tracks are gonna close whether people say shit or not.

[Thomas Roulston]

Fair Grounds is awesome: They run 7 1/2-furlong turf races when there is a 480-foot run into an 814-foot turn - and they run 12-horse fields at that distance too.

By contrast, the stuffed shirts at NYRA won't run 7 1/2-furlong turf races at Aqueduct when that would be a 617-foot run into an 824-foot turn.

[ranchwest]

For those who don't have backside friends, some tracks have opportunities to tour the backside, see a few horses and talk to a trainer or two. It's a great experience in my view. I did that at Lone Star... snacks, a bus ride over to the barns and back and then a jockey guest (and completely free).

As for Fairgrounds, it is a beautiful track.

[jahura2]

Originally Posted by PhantomOnTour

At least it was this morning.
A friend took me to the backside for breakfast and morning works at FairGrounds and I had one of my best experiences ever at a track.
The perfect sunny and 60 degree weather didn’t hurt either, but it was the picture of serenity & beauty.
Walking shed row and seeing horse after horse being bathed & groomed, having coffee & biscuits next to McPeek & Asmussen, seeing local favorite Robby Alvarado jogging Rattle N Roll for McPeek, watching Asmussen jog by with his string (Echo Zulu was among them), and seeing groups of runners from Stidham Cox Faucheux and Walsh gallop by.
I could have spent the whole day there.

If you’ve grown sour on this game (which is very understandable) I encourage you to get to the track & get close to the horses. They are therapeutic, majestic, calming, inspiring….they are magic.

I love this game!

I live by and work at Keeneland during the meets. The best days start with an early breakfast at the track kitchen and a slow walk through the barns to the back entrance.Take in the smells and the sounds of the backside and you will always want to go back. Everyone is welcome on the backside, just be respectful of the workers and the horses and you will get a true race day experience. As mentioned by others on this thread it was the first "hook" that got me to love the track. Spent a year as a groom/hotwalker and wouldnt trade it for anything. Despite all of the bad actors, there is still the history and horses that keep me going back.

[Elkchester Road]

Originally Posted by jahura2

I live by and work at Keeneland during the meets. The best days start with an early breakfast at the track kitchen and a slow walk through the barns to the back entrance.Take in the smells and the sounds of the backside and you will always want to go back. Everyone is welcome on the backside, just be respectful of the workers and the horses and you will get a true race day experience. As mentioned by others on this thread it was the first "hook" that got me to love the track. Spent a year as a groom/hotwalker and wouldnt trade it for anything. Despite all of the bad actors, there is still the history and horses that keep me going back.

jahura2...the very things you stated are what I look most forward to from racing. I spent the first 11 years of my life on the property that is now Frankfort Park Farm...on the corner of Old Frankfort Road and Elkchester Road.

I always arrive to the track from the Rice Road entrance. Park in the back lot...and enjoy the walk through the Barn Area to the Rear Grandstand entrance.