Steve Schuelein asks Santa Anita and Del Mar racing secretary Rick Hammerle, trainer Howard Zucker, bloodstock consultant Gayle Van Leer, owner-breeder John Harris, and professional horseplayer-handicapper Jimmy Allard about their hopes for 2011.
By Steve Schuelein
First Published: (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)
The dark cloud of bad economic news the last couple of years hit Florida Thoroughbred racing like a hurricane. However, the people in the Sunshine State are resilient to storms, and they know that hurricanes don’t last long. Most people in Florida have put the damage in the past to focus on how bright and sunny Florida really is.
By K.T. Donovan
First Published: (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)
It wasn’t that long ago, 1987 in fact, after the Texas legislature passed The Racing Act, that some pressbox wag in Louisiana said: “Last horseman out, turn off the lights.” That was the expectation in those days: that horses and horsemen from around the country would flock to Texas once the state allowed pari-mutuel racing. Texas, after all, was widely considered to be horse racing’s “promised land.”
By Gary West
First Published (02 February 2011 - Issue Number: Issue 19)
