Was not on the backside on Saturday, so I can not attest to the security and
surveillance provided for and of the equine and human participants thereat, but I
must say that the security on the frontside was nothing less than an awesome show
of police presence like I had never seen before at any racetrack, or actually any
public gathering or sporting event.
State Troopers. Nassau County Police. NYPD, both uniformed and undercover. Mounted
police and Canine corps. Motorcycle cops from both Nassau and NYPD. NYRA\'s own
security detail, maybe even some old deranged Pinkertons who haven\'t been told
that their services were no longer required, looking to padlock the pay phones 30
minutes prior to post time.
On the roof of the Belmont grandstand, ten floors (approx) above the Nassau/Queens
County border, surveillance and sniper teams poised to locate and eliminate any
eminent threat.
General parking was run with military precision, with hordes of orange vested
attendants making certain that all rows in the lot were completely filled before a
new row could be started. The aforementioned motorcycle patrolmen zipping up and
down the rows, making certain that no impromptu and verboten tailgating
like activities were being undertaken.
A police helicopter circled low above the parking fields, bringing back memories
of a decadent party on the outskirts of Louisville on the eve of Bold
Forbes\' Derby victory.
Once at the admission gates, all entering patrons were asked to transfer all carry
in belongings to a 6x9 inch clear plastic security bag with the NYRA logo. After
making said transfer, all patrons were subjected to a brief wanding before being
granted admission.
I have years worth of NYRA New Years Day calendars scattered around the archives,
some probably dating back to the 1980s. NYRA, Belmont and Saratoga T- shirts and
caps, I have a few. I have \"free\" Belmont beer steins which ended up costing three
or four hundred dollars. I have any number of Belmont stadium blankets, both green
and tan, which my cats like lying on top of and my mother in law likes lying
underneath, sometimes at the same time, which makes for a cute photo. I will have
to say, however, that my 2013 Belmont Stakes NYRA 6x9 Clear Plastic Security Bag
is my favorite NYRA giveaway of all time.
I am thinking of giving this plastic bag the \"seal a meal\" treatment, permanently
encasing all of the contents which were being schlepped around on Belmont Day --
official program, DRF, computer downloaded DRF with TG #s transcribed, an ancient
set of binoculars which are somehow still (barely) functioning after a close
encounter at high velocity with a cinderblock wall at Aqueduct in the late 1990s.
Would make a nice time capsule, probably not something the folks at the Hall of
Fame on Union Ave would be interested in, but possibly something that I will
command be placed on the mantel next to the crematory urn.
Once inside concession lines were not that long, not surprising considering that
an ice cold 16 ounce container of Budweiser was market priced at $8.00. For my
purposes, the wagering lines were too short; in the end a few \"shutouts\" may have
decreased the deficit. Possibly if I had been following the live TG feed during
the races more closely, Silver Charm would have put me on Forty Tales, but it
would have been difficult for me to have come up with the NW2LT Belmont Stakes
winner. I think this is the third or fourth NW2LT winner of the Belmont since
Commendable and this is why I have generally not been successful in this race.
Since the racing Gods never seem to deal with me with any abrupt finality, I
managed to extend the proceedings by staying alive with Hyman Roth to four decent
doubles, any one of which would have evened the ledger for the day\'s activities.
The needed 4 ran 2-3-4-5 behind a not impossible Thomas Bush trained winner.
In the end, it was a Saratoga like day, beginning early, full of hope and
hopefulness, and ending dazed and confused in an interminable traffic jam...
