The Canadian Sportsman
November 05, 2009
Shepherd rebounds from accident with terrific night in Ottawa
The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column…
Robert Shepherd stood in the winner’s circle for the second time Sunday night in Ottawa, an irrepressible grin stretching the width of his face.
Nearly eight months to the day, the 29-year-old driver from Cambridge lay sprawled on the frozen track at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, his leg severely broken, after a scary chain-reaction accident March 2 that left seven other drivers injured.
Click on the words “Guelph Mercury” to read the article in its entirety.
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October 29, 2009
Will slots mean The Red Mile will be moved? Can you move hallowed ground? George Segal thinks so.
The recent announcement that Grand Circuit week at The Red Mile will be moved a couple of weeks later in the calendar next year (Oct.13-23) to accommodate the World Equestrian Games set to take over Lexington (Sept. 25-Oct. 10) jogged my memory about an interview I did with Segal at The Red Mile during this year’s Grand Circuit meet.
Segal not only owns the famed Brittany Farms. He also is a part-owner in The Red Mile. There’s no question the famed track is struggling without other forms of gaming.
On Oct. 9, Segal said he was optimistic slots or some other form of gaming will come to Kentucky tracks, pegging the odds at 2-1 it will happen in the next five years.
“I believe the environment, politically and economically, is better than ever,” Segal said.
Then Segal said something very interesting: “We’ll have gaming at racetracks in Kentucky. Whether this track will be on this ground at this spot I don’t know.”
Segal pointed to traffic congestion in downtown Lexington as a major impediment. We already know the land The Red Mile occupies is valuable, especially since it abuts the University of Kentucky.
Segal said, “Racing will always exist in this city. The Red Mile will always be here.”
But by “here” he means in the greater Lexington region. Not necessarily at its current location.
Which on some levels is sacrilegious given The Red Mile’s rich history. But Segal said the red clay can be moved.
“We’ll move the ground. We’ll make new hallowed ground,” he said.
Not sure about the Stable of Memories, but if it means it’s the only way racing will continue in Lexington, so be it.
October 26, 2009
The Canadian horse-of-the-year debate is interesting in the aftermath of the Breeders Crown.
The U.S. horse of the year award belonged to Muscle Hill long before his romp in Saturday’s Breeders Crown at Woodbine.
I contend the O’Brien Award for Canada’s top horse was very much up for grabs prior to the Crown and may be even more so after it.
It all comes down to the main criteria for O’Brien Award voting, to choose the horse that made the “greatest contribution to Canadian racing.”
To many, prior to the Crown, that meant two-year-old phenom Sportswriter, who is based in Ontario and owned, trained and driven by Canadians.
Even through the world champion colt fell from the thin ranks of the undefeated with a loss in the Crown, for many his game stretch battle in a heavy headwind with All Speed Hanover did little to tarnish Sportswriter’s reputation.
Still, he is only two. I believe voters should be hesitant about naming two-year-olds above all others. The three-year-old and older divisions are much tougher tests.
Still, Sportswriter has been incredible and deserves to be in the equation. As a two-year-old, Somebeachsomewhere shared the nation’s horse of the year award with Tell All and The Beach certainly proved worthy of such a lofty honour.
For sure, Sportswriter will be the two-year-old pacing colt of the year and his prospects are bright for O’Brien Awards in 2010.
Well Said, who has a Canadian owner, likely took himself out of the running for our country’s horse of the year award with a fifth-place finish in the Crown.
I say Canada’s horse of the year should be Muscle Hill. He was, clearly, the most dominant trotter of this and probably any year. His trainer, Greg Peck, is a native Maritimer.
But I worry our Canadian bias might trump everything in a debate that should be more about greatness more than nationality.
Should it matter that Muscle Hill is American-bred, he was based in the United States and his connections are almost entirely, American? Should it matter that he raced just three times on Canadian soil — albeit, brilliantly? Not when he was, far and away, the best horse that raced in 2009. Not when he more than qualifies as having made a great contribution to Canadian racing by gaining fairly major mainstream media attention.
What do you think?
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