By Thomas Chambers
Why do they call it Arlington Heights?
A quick check of elevations of Mount Prospect, Rolling Meadows and Palatine put AH at the bottom of the list, so maybe it’s like a subdivision name. But the bedroom community does have one thing that soars above surrounding suburbia and that is the majestic grandstand of Arlington Park, the jewel of Chicago Thoroughbred racing and one of the finest facilities in the racing world.
You’d think it’s merely a trip to the races, out in the country, well beyond O’Hare, for a pastoral diversion. But there’s so much going on out there that TrackNotes will require two installments to give you a feel for the place. That this is necessary has sparked megabytes of debate over what Arlington is, or has become. The insides of a horseplayer are torn apart in the conflict between racing and wagering and Arlington’s Churchill Downs Inc. parent’s seeming passion to rival Wrigley Field as the world’s largest outdoor, Generation-Alphabet beer bash.
The yuppie posing and the strollers and the carnival that’s offered to keep you interested if you don’t care about the races and the blaring bands. Why, that’s not what racing is or should be about! But yet, is not Arlington successful at this marketing approach? Get people in and hope the racing bug bites them? Convert them from free-program wannabes to true Daily Racing Form handicappers? This much is true: the two worlds, racing, and the marketing of all things to the right demographic, are colliding. Be careful out there in the Heights.
This week, it’s more about the gracious approach to a Saturday at beautiful Arlington Park. Mum was in town from her Palm Springs paradise and it’s pretty cool that going to the races has always been high on her list of leisure activities. So to take the most comfortable route, we booked a table in The Million Room.
On the fourth level on the finish line, it’s a white-tablecloth restaurant ($5 over the $7 general admission just to walk in, reservations suggested) done in high tiers so as to get the best view of the track. I thought to myself, “This is their equivalent of the Gold Cup Room at Hawthorne!” But more nicely appointed, for sure.
It was Prairie State Festival Day, meaning a series of stakes races featuring Illinois-bred horses. More on that later.
I’m not a regular Arlington-goer, but I figured at least some of the people had to be players in the Illinois breeding and ownership game. It was great people-watching as there is a dress code (basically, no denim, no t-shirts, no shorts, and no wild displays of flesh by the ladies either) and people abided by it. They were there to enjoy – and bet – the races. It was the kind of focus I like.
The menu looked decent and we had an appetizer order of deviled eggs with caviar (don’t go nuts on me, it was literally just two microscopic black eggs on top) that were very good. But once ensconced post-appetizer, the room’s true colors began to emerge.
The biggest problem was that there was not enough waitstaff. If I saw a second person, and I’m not sure I did, that means they had about 1.5 people to cover the whole room. Visions of corporate bean counters danced in my head. Seems Churchill Downs itself had a similar problem last Friday night. The guy waiting on us had a suitably chipper style, but he was hard to find most of the time. The fallout from this was that the burgers we ordered surely sat on the wait table for at least 20 minutes before being delivered and what might have been a decent sandwich was not. The beer selection also gave me visions of Churchill Inc. and the beer distributors going toe-to-toe on the deal with both of them ending up in a bloody mess and we customers suffering as innocent bystanders. Nobody won that battle. Awful selection, not good.
Wagering was easy. Up a couple of steps to a couple of human tellers and several machines. Nice, responsive and accurate machines. Winning? Not so easy.
As I suspected upon learning of the day’s schedule, while each race had nice-sized fields, all of the horses in each race seemed the same. None of them popped off the Past Performances sheets to me, and I never got a handle on things. I really do not like Arlington’s Polytrack, and with all the rain last week, all the turf races were taken off the grass. I really rarely play Arlington.
Each race seemed as if all the runners rounded the track in one bunch. Like when the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore Show all left WJM in a giant group hug. No horse seemed to be able to establish himself as the fastest in a race and closers were hard to find. There were a couple of very minor come-from-behind wins. Good turns of foot are often not rewarded and early speed means little. Do they plan it this way? Maybe it will be better on my next visit. Yeah, right.
Calvin Borel rode Arlington that day, so cynical me had the Churchill marketing wonks forking up an appearance fee to get him here. But he didn’t do much: a third in the Purple Violet and second in the Black Tie Affair. The highlight of the day – and it was from a pure racing standpoint as I didn’t bet him – was the exciting victory in the Black Tie Affair by the grand grey, Fort Prado. The 8-year-old won the race in old-warrior fashion for the fourth time; he was not to be denied. He has now won on dirt, turf, and artificial surface. He’s a horse as honest as the day is long.
We both pretty much had “blinkers on” as it was simply up the elevator to the Million Room lobby (and a tasting by a young lady hawking wine), a day at the races, and then down the elevator afterwards and home. Our vantage point was superb and it was easy to watch the horses all the way around instead of depending on the video. We didn’t really explore the grounds. The cuttingest part of the day was while I lost my stake, Mom made a profit. I didn’t hear the end of it in the stagecoach ride all the way back downtown.
Next time: Mingling with the masses. Or, “Unless It’s a Tipster with a Hot Horse, Get Off That Phone!”
Rachel’s Road
Interesting development: Owner Jess Jackson has declared that his fantastic filly Rachel Alexandra will not run in any race in this fall’s Breeders Cup. While Rachel runs Saturday in Belmont’s Grade I Mother Goose (it figures to be nearly a walkover, but this is racing), there’s lots of buzz as to how her 2009 schedule will develop.
Jackson is still seething over what he sees as a dubious racing surface costing his wonder horse Curlin the exclamation point of winning the Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita last October. In it’s typical idiocy, Thoroughbred racing will again hold the festival at Santa Anita this year. While there’s a lot of speculation as to Jackson’s motives, I don’t blame him on face value. Why compromise Rachel’s achievements by sending her into an ambush by the Europeans, who handled the Cup track much better last year? I don’t think it’s wrong to stand against synthetic surfaces, but it’s a shame it has to happen. Once again, the fans lose. The day the racing industry unites and carefully ponders knee-jerk decisions such as rushing to synthetic surfaces is the same day Chicago’s city council stands up to The Wizard.
The fallout is that the chances of Rachel Alexandra meeting super older filly Zenyatta remain slim and dimming, as Zenyatta’s connections have made it clear they have no desire and see no reason to take Zenyatta out of California’s synthetic cocoon. She runs Saturday in the Grade I Vanity Handicap at Hollywood.
Speaking of Rachel’s achievements this year, her campaign tantalizes as it could mean she’ll run in any combination of the Whitney Handicap, Jim Dandy, Coaching Club American Oaks or even the Travers Stakes. She figures to take on the boys again, as long as Jackson feels the Preakness win against males was not enough; and remember, these three-year-old males are really maturing at this time of year. So maybe the Preakness should be her last race against the males.
With Jackson, you never know, and it’s hard to figure how his ego will keep him away from the Breeders Cup with a horse the caliber of Rachel Alexandra.
Fireworks Fiasco
It’s a tradition, but why do they have fireworks at Arlington Park every July 3rd? I realize you can put a lot of people there, but it has got to scare the hell out of the horses. And aren’t the horses the point? This year, they’re going to charge everyone to get in, run the races late, then have the fireworks. Previously, they would have a regular card and then clear the place then let people in for free for the fireworks.
So now, many of these horses will be worked up from having just run and the artillery will begin. Wanna bet on a run on horse tranquilizers? I don’t believe it’s humane. At all.
But I put on the same level people’s fascination with fireworks as that of the Chicago Fire Department personnel who light off bombs and rockets in front of the station house next to my place every July 4. Mrs. O’Leary’s barn is within walking distance. Senseless.
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Thomas Chambers is the Beachwood’s man on the rail. He brings you Track Notes every Friday. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on June 26, 2009