Going in Circles Digest
Real writing on Racing 💯
Topic of the week
On Monday we asked the question on Twitter, if you could bring back a track from the past, which one would it be?
After 940 people voted, it was a close contest with Hollywood Park edging out Hialeah Park by 2 percentage points. The New England circuit of Suffolk Downs and Rockingham Park was third and Bay Meadows a distant fourth place finisher. A lot of reminiscing was done in the comment section including many defunct tracks other than the selections given. There was a lot of sentiment for the New Jersey tracks including Garden State Park and Atlantic City which closed for good a few years back. A few Canadian tracks, Greenwood and Windsor raceway a harness track got a few mentions. Hazel Park, Detroit Racecourse and Pinnacle in Michigan were brought up. Sportsman’s Park and Balmoral Park from the greater Chicago area as well as pre-mourning the eminent demise of the incredible Arlington Park kinda hits home. Roosevelt Raceway at one time the top harness track in North America out on Long Island had a bunch of votes. Brandywine Raceway another trotting track had some backers as did Liberty Bell in Philly. It’s sad when you think that we may be adding to this list in the not so distant future. Calder now seems to be in the rear view mirror, Aqueduct is a question mark once the Belmont construction and renovations are completed. The aforementioned Arlington Park might soon join the deceased. Los Al is living on borrowed time as are the existing fair tracks in California. Turf Paradise closing in the next few years would not be a surprise. Golden Gate probably isn’t standing on solid ground, the Bay Area fault lines notwithstanding. Finger Lakes? On the harness side Tioga, Monticello and Vernon Downs, all in New York are shaky. Pompano Park which has seen a massive increase in business the last few years due to the efforts of Gabe Prewitt seems to be staving off the guillotine but for how long? Next Tuesday on Going in Circles LIVE we are going to have a listener segment where people can call in and share their memories of tracks that are no longer with us. Monday’s Going in Circles Digest will have the link to the broadcast and phone number to call in. Looking forward to hearing people’s stories.
Quote of the week
In AD 56-120 the great Roman historian Tacitus said, “A desire to resist oppression is implanted in the nature of man”
In 2021 the not so great racehorse Tacitus said, “A desire to resist the winning is implanted in me”
BIG MONDAY UPDATE
This weeks Big Monday show is going to be recorded tonight, Wednesday and shall be called Wilding Wednesday. Barry and I will be going over the Gulfstream card for Pegasus Saturday. On first glance it appears to be an excellent undercard despite the lack of star power in the main events. The weather outlook is excellent as the forecast is calling for temps in the upper 70’s with clear skies and little chance for any significant rainfall. Check it out at Going in Circles Podcast