richiebee Wrote:
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> covelj70 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Another great Saturday card at Gulfstream, they
> > have really done a terrific job this year
> putting
> > these big cards together. Great, contentious
> > fields.
> >
> > Many of us are vocal in our criticism of alot
> of
> > the tracks but let\'s give a shoutout to GP for
> > this season so far.
>
> Covel
>
> I will admit that GP Racing, and especially,
> Saturday racing, has been excellent.
>
> Considering however that GP has the best weather
> in the US in wintertime, a top
> notch turf course, and good old fashioned dirt
> racing, added to the fact that
> there are no races restricted to horses bred in
> New York, the racing should be
> much better, especially during the week.
>
> Owners/trainers have to love a place where almost
> no training days will be missed
> due to climate. One positive aspect of California
> \"all weather\" racing is that
> we are aware now more than ever that Los Angeles
> has a rainy season. I saw that
> Laz Barrera said that he had worried going into
> Affirmed\'s Triple Crown season
> that he had missed too much training time during a
> rainy LA winter.
>
> Back to GP: Dirt surface, excellent turf course,
> no New York breds, excellent
> weather, top owners/trainers in attendance. The
> only 2 facilities in any position
> to compete with GP are Santa Anita (weather and
> surface challenged) and Fair
> Grounds (great surfaces, unbelievably bad
> weather).
>
> The questions should be: Why isn\'t GP offering the
> best racing meet of the year,
> with quality racing 5 days a week? Racing which at
> times could be compared to
> Del Mar or Saratoga or Keeneland?
Richie, 4 month meets don\'t match top 3 and 6 week boutique meets. GP is, however, making a pretty good run at Dmr and Sar (tops them at times). If they had stuffed the best of 2010 racing into 6 weeks, the meet would blow away the Sar and Dmr products. But quality has always been lacking during the week at GP, and turns downright dreadful after the Fla Derby. The track is located in Hallandale, not a lovely spot for the most part (not exactly Del Mar), and doesn\'t match a place like Saratoga when it comes to horse tradition. If S Fla were destined to have the best racing in the US, I would imagine either Crc or Hia would have put out a better product over the years.
Truth is, GP is putting out arguably the best racing in the history of the track, run over the two best racing surfaces they have ever had, during one of the most challenging periods the sport has ever seen. Yes, we are going to get a fair amount of ugly weekday cards, and quality drops off markedly in April, but I am very satisfied with GP\'s performance in these tough times.
Now, if you wish to complain about the live set-up ... you have a much better case (though you get entire bleacher sections to yourself at Bel and Aqu, and that\'s not producing the best results).
> Purses?
>
> We all know that Frank Stronach is basically
> downsizing in a controlled
> bankruptcy. There is some fascination to me in
> wondering that if Stronach had not
> been so ambitious in purchasing racetracks a few
> years back, Magna might have been
> able to purchase an entire vehicle brand such as
> Saturn or Hummer, each of which
> I think would have been very viable once spun off
> from GM.
> I am way off subject now.
>
> Best of luck with your selections today, Covel. I
> was giving a brief look to the
> last 4 at GP and the 2 SA stakes races when I was
> called into work today. It
> occurred to me that I could conceivably watch and
> wager from the workplace
> (triple W, baby), but believe it or not I\'ve never
> Triple W\'d before. Never
> having lost on a wager made from the job, I might
> be inclined to keep my record
> intact.
