Magic I as always love the presentation but do not understand the infatuation
with the subject matter here, especially the Drape NYT article. If the NYT was
going to have a full time racing writer who would cover racing regularly (and
you know who my nominee for this position is), it would be OK that a couple of
articles per year would be dedicated to the dark underbelly of the racing
game, its roguish heritage, the Runyonesque characters.
If racing is only going to be covered sporadically, let me read about horses
and jockeys and the glorious history of racing.
I think Drape also neglected to mention that the owner of the last Triple
Crown winner, Affirmed, endured his own share of legal problems.
So Zayat doesn\'t place great value on honesty. He has a reputation in the
thoroughbred business for not placing a great value on paying people in a
timely manner. He associates with some folks who might be unsavory. He likes
to gamble. He has declared bankruptcy. All in all it might be said that he
represents a composite .. albeit a wealthy one... of many of the people one
might meet on the backstretch on any given day at any given American racetrack.
So I keep reading these things about Zayat and waiting to read something that
surprises or angers me. I have no problem that when Zayat does business with
Egyptians he portrays himself as an Egyptian who happens to be Jewish, and
when he does business with Jews he portrays himself as a Jew who happens to be
Egyptian.
I am not going to hold it against Zayat -- or his Triple Crown candidate --
that he will never be mistaken for Mrs. Genter.
