Thursday, April 22, 2010

“North Dakota Horse Park will not open for racing this year” plus 3 more

“North Dakota Horse Park will not open for racing this year” plus 3 more

North Dakota Horse Park will not open for racing this year

Posted: 22 Apr 2010 07:19 PM PDT

The financially troubled North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo will not open for racing this summer.

State Racing Commission Director Winston Satran says the track is still $150,000 short from last year's season, owing money to suppliers and vendors.

Satran expects the park to request a $50,000 grant. He says the Racing Commission likely will approve that amount if the park can show it can come up with the rest.

The park's general manager stepped down in December, saying there was no money for operations. Satran says poor management is at least partly to blame.

Satran says it is not known if the track will reopen next year, but he is optimistic.

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Horse racing is back this weekend

Posted: 22 Apr 2010 11:36 AM PDT

After taking a year off due to state budget cuts horse racing is returning to the Cochise County Fairgrounds this weekend

The El Moro de Cumpas trials will take place this weekend with the finals to be in Sonoita in two weeks for the second straight year. The Sonoita Derby Trials will also take place this weekend as will the John Ray Memorial.

This will be the only weekend of horse racing in the Douglas area.

Kingman cancelled its horse races this year and Safford ran just one week instead of its usual two.

Sonoita will be the next stop on the racing circuit running April 24-25 and May 1-2 which is Kentucky Derby weekend.

Horses have been arriving at the local track in recent weeks and things are all set up and ready to go.

Cochise County Fairgrounds manager Karen Strongin is hoping the community will come out and support the races this weekend.

What happened last year was beyond anyone's control, Strongin said.

"We would have loved to have had the horse races but with the timing of the state budget cuts that was just not possible," she said.  "We want to race, we will race but we had to wait to hear from the state as to if any funds were going to be available to help us put on these races."

Gates will open at noon each day with races starting at 1 p.m.

There is an admission charge of $3 per person to the races.

 

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Crowds show up as horse racing returns to CCF

Posted: 21 Apr 2010 10:15 PM PDT

Thoroughbred and Quarter horse racing returned to the Cochise County Fairgrounds this past weekend and the size of the crowds seem to indicate the event was missed last year.

Early reports indicate over 4,000 people came through the gates Saturday and Sunday.

Despite all the conflicting events going on with the races fans seemed to show up in large numbers Saturday and Sunday with a new sense of appreciation for the event which was cancelled last year due in part to state budget cuts.

Even the trainers and jockeys were happy to be back in Douglas.

Longtime local trainer Ron Salmon has been coming to the Douglas races for 19 years and had a horse in the fourth race Sunday which won making the weekend more enjoyable.

"This is probably the best track there is," he said. "It's wide, it's well maintained. It's one of the better tracks we run on."

Salmon races horses all over the state and has seen his fare share of tracks. He says the horse racing environment at the Cochise County Fairgrounds is something special.

"There's no other place like it," he said. "Everybody seems to have a good time when they come here."

Not having the horse races last year hurt not only Salmon who had a hard time finding work during those "dark weeks" but also the fairgrounds and local businesses that rely on the races to help them remain open.

Salmon said he and the other trainers hope what happened last year doesn't happen again for a long time.

"It's a good track, good environment, they have plenty of stalls here for all the horses, it's an overall good atmosphere," he said.

Ten races were held each day this past weekend and the lines at the betting windows were taking bets up till the very last minute all day long.

Reports the day after the race indicate the betting held its own which is good.

Jockey Rick Oliver who rode both days in Douglas, echoed Salmon's feelings.

"I love coming down here," he said. "It's such a nice facility. The crowd seems to really get into the races. They seem to have such a great turnout year after year. … This is one of the best tracks on the fair circuit."

When Douglas was unable to host the races last year Oliver said he felt they may never come back.

"I didn't think we'd ever be down here again," he said "I really like coming here."

Oliver was a jockey for 10 years, quit for 15 and returned to riding in 2004. He has become a regular in the El Moro de Cumpas stakes winning the race in 2006 and again last year when the finals were held in Sonoita.

"I'd wish they would bring the finals back here," he said. "It helps having the border right here."

Oliver said he did not realize the significance of the El Moro de Cumpas until he got his horse back in front of the grandstand in 2006 to the cheering fans and the large group waiting to greet him with the El Moro de Cumpas trophy.

"This race means more to me than any other race all year long that I ride," he said. "The money is not all that great but this race is great for older horses. We need more races like this."

Oliver rode three different horses in the El Moro de Cumpas time trials Saturday finishing third, fourth and third in the sixth, seventh and eighth races. His horse in the eighth race Monarca Dash, qualified for the finals in Sonoita.

In 2008 another jockey, Anna Barrio, who has a big fan base of her own, told the Douglas Dispatch in a story they were doing on her she too enjoys coming to Douglas every year because the track conditions are excellent and there is a strong sense of support here for the sport.

"Its fun riding in front of a crowd that's into the race," she said. "I've done well here … I really like coming here."

An injury prevented Barrio from riding in Douglas this year.

Fairgrounds officials report they had two track records set Saturday in the seventh and eighth races of the El Moro de Cumpas trials. The first record was set in the seventh race but broken in the very next race by a Quarter Horse called Jesstifiable who was ridden by Floyd Campbell.

Jesstifiable, owned by Victor Ramos and trained by Roy Ronquillo, was one of the eight horses to advance to the El Moro de Cumpas finals which will he held in Sonoita.

The other qualifiers for the finals were Leonas TR, owned and trained by Armando Orozco; Stoli Chaser, owned by Manuel Medrano and trained by Dennis Martsteller; Lanes Luck, owned by Francisco Ayon and Abel Rodriguez and trained by Ayon;

Fly Corona Cat, owned by Y/N Horse Stables LLC and trained by Omar Lorta; Monarca Dash, owned by Jose Gallardo and trained by Alejandro Sanchez; Chicks on the Berge, owned by Chuck Stanton and trained by Ramon Fontes and Oh So Chilly owned by Victor C. Ramos and Francisco J. Rivera and trained by Roy Ronquillo

Cochise County Fairgrounds manager Karen Strongin said she was quite pleased by what she saw this past weekend.

"All of the vendors did well and were happy, there were no accidents or incidents and the whole race meet went smoothly," she said. "The Cochise County Fair Association would like to thank all of the people who attended, helped, participated and supported the horse races."

 

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Horse Racing notebook: Harris' voice is road-tested

Posted: 22 Apr 2010 08:58 AM PDT

Most horse track announcers are as serious as a police lineup. They prep themselves so well that bumbles rarely sneak into race calls.

They leave you only one nit to pick — too much intensity. A few are so stern they'd sound mad at an IRS refund.

Then there's Tom Harris. Right off, his friendlier tone surrounds you with warmth. It invites you to loiter under the nearest magnolia and sip iced tea.

Harris became Sam Houston Race Park's announcer for the recent thoroughbred season. He will return for the quarter horse season, which opens April 30. Boy, did it take him a long time to get here.

Dallas-born, Harris went to Arizona State to study broadcast journalism. As a college student, he called races for a Phoenix dog track. When the Chicago Cubs needed a public-address announcer for spring training games, they chose Harris.

"What a pleasure it was," he recalled. "To be announcing in the same press box with Harry Caray, Steve Stone, Lou Boudreau and others."

Each February and March, Harris would spend mornings in class, call Cubs baseball in the afternoon, and announce greyhound races in the evening.

Harris took on his biggest double-duty challenge in 1996. Wednesday through Saturday, he would call races at San Antonio's Retama Park. Up before dawn on Sunday, he would hop a flight to Spokane, Wash., home of now-defunct Playfair Race Course. After calling the Sunday and Monday night programs there, he would fly back to San Antonio for four nights at Retama.

For three years, Harris had a less demanding commute. He mixed Playfair with calling summer greyhound races in Tucson, Ariz. He relocated after each season.

Harris' early career included racing seasons at Great Falls, Mont., and Raton, N.M. His year at New Jersey's now-shuttered Garden State Park produced his biggest thrill.

"I was fortunate to call the1991 Garden State Budweiser Breeders' Cup race that Safely Kept won," he said. "She was quite a horse, an Eclipse winner."

Once, Harris switched off the microphone and signed a three-year contract to open and manage a Nebraska track, Atokad Downs.

Even now that he's "40-ish," Harris still balances assignments well. From his Wimberley home, where he, wife Becky and son Harvey reside, Harris drives to Houston for each three- or four-day racing week. He will call quarter horse races from the April 30 opener until the season ends in August.

SHRP's purses a bit light

SHRP ranked No. 20 for daily purse payout during its recent thoroughbred season, according to Thoroughbred Times.

Houston's track averaged $99,993. No. 1 was Keeneland ($639,000), followed by Woodbine ($462,000) and Santa Anita ($399,000).

Houston's track averaged $99,993. No. 1 was Keeneland ($639,000), followed by Woodbine ($462,000) and Santa Anita ($399,000).

Hollywood opens — again

Rising from the ashes of many closure reports, 72-year-old Hollywood Park opened its spring-summer season Wednesday.

A horse shortage prompted one major change. Hollywood will offer Thurs-day racing during just seven weeks of the 13-week season.

horsechronicler@gmail.com

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