Don't Blink

We now enter the time of year when times seems to speed up and the days although filled with daylight seem to pass so quickly. It seems you reach the 4th of July Holiday, than you blink and Labor Day is upon us.

On the racing front, we enter such a busy time. Starting this holiday weekend we have a stakes filled card at Belmont and Monmouth Park and Hollywood Park out west has the American Oaks.

Opening Day at Delmar is only 19 days away and Opening Day at Saratoga will be here in just 26 days.

The Churchill Downs meet ends on July 4th. Churchill track officials are beaming with last nights "Downs after Dark" night racing experiment drawing 33,481. The 3 night experiment drew 27,623, 28,011 and last nights high of 33,481. I had read that some people feared with college over that the final night would not draw but those fears were put too rest. The old adage of putting out a usable product with great customer service and fair pricing worked for the night racing experiment.

On the Churchill Downs website you will find a poll where you can vote on whether to keep the experiment going as part of the regular meet schedule. I'm no Nostradamus, but this seems like a 1-9 lock on a "Yes" vote.

Summertime Attendance

Among my wish list for racing is for shorter meets, with better fields and more relevance to the racing days and dare I say a racing season. Belmont, Aqueduct and many others are just way, way too long. Yesterday, in the waning days of Belmont's Spring meet, just over 4,350 managed to pass through the gates at Belmont. Meanwhile, at Delmar, on Opening Day, 43,459, a record crowd came out. Next Wednesday at Saratoga for Opening Day will also see a strong turnout. Despite high food and gas prices if you give people a good product they will come out.

Why dilute the product with long drawn out meets with weak fields? The State racing associations love it but the fan (remember him) does not.

At Belmont today there is a race of interest to me. In the 4th race, a 2 year old maiden race, Prince Charming at morning line odds of 6-1 will be running. He is by 2002 Breeders Cup Juvenile Winner Vindication, who died last week.