Mike Repole Piece

ghostzapper said:
My top ten tracks I visited in my lifetime in order and why I rated them where I did.

1) Hialeah in Miami back in the day. Before being destroyed by a series of awful decisions made by the state of Florida around racing, this was the best place ever to go to the races. Beautiful on site aviary, Wild Flamingos prancing around the facility, gorgeous Spanish style grandstand with amazing sightlines, beautifully manicured dirt and turf courses and landscaping with botanic garden like floral designs and spectacular Palm trees and so much more. Horse Racing heaven!!!

2) Belmont Park - Big expansive views with amazing sightlines, a spectacular backyard, one of the best paddocks ever, tons of great parking, and tons of great seating, wonderful high quality race cards and great dirt and turf courses. Watching races there live is pure unobstructed joy. I personally am dreading the new Belmont Park which will return in 2026. Given the awful reconstructions of many racetracks (see Gulfstream, Fair Grounds etc.) my expectations are very low.

3) Monmouth Park - On a day like Haskell Day when the races are of high quality there is no better place to see the races live then Monmouth Park, the intimate grandstand does not have a bad seat anywhere, the paddock is well designed and the walking ring is a great place to watch the horses parade. There is no better place than Monmouth Park for viewing the races live and having a train from Penn Station to go straight to the track is incredibly convenient. My great sadness is during their 2007 Breeder's Cup Monmouth was hit by a monsoon that turned what should have been a glorious two day coronation for them into a Messy quagmire nightmare!

4) Gulfstream Park before the awful reconstruction. Going to the Breeder's Cup at Gulfstream in 1989, 1992 and 1999 enhanced my love for the Hallandale facility. While Gulfstream could not match its South Florida showplace counterpart Hialeah in beauty or ambiance (who could) it was still far better than most other places to go to the races to watch the thoroughbreds. Why they rebuilt this into the Shopping Mall and Casino like facility that exists now is anybody's guess but for racing enthusiasts no one I know bothers to go there anymore.

5) Santa Anita with the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains in the background! Santa Anita (the great race place) is a terrific place to go to the races. Rich in history, great racing, a good paddock and the wonderful Clocker's Corner to hang out at during morning workouts; Santa Anita is a must go stop for any racing fan.

6) Keeneland: The best things about Keeneland is being in Lexington, Kentucky where the center of racing, breeding and the Thoroughbred sales industry are all right there. The track is really nice and it is a good place to watch the races. The architecture and the landscaping are really great and if you can time a trip to be there when the sales are happening it is a must see. The sales experience and the on track sales pavilion are the best thing ever.

7) Arlington Park after the fire. I never attended Chicago's Arlington Park before the fire that destroyed it in 1985, but had the privilege to go there in the 1990s after it was rebuilt under the brilliant direction of Richard L. Duchossois. It was as good a facility to go to the races as there was. Beautiful architecture, great sightlines, spacious and really well designed and had everything that a preeminent racetrack should have. Sadly the facility stopped live racing and this state of the art modern facility was torn down in 2023. I am glad that Duchossois who lived to be 100 died in 2022 a year before his monument to Midwest racing was destroyed.

8) Woodbine in Toronto Canada, I went to the races several times at Woodbine. Including one time for Queen's Plate Day in 1990 and also for the Breeder's Cup in 1996. These were both wonderful days there. I must confess that I climbed a lot of stairs to go between the paddock and my seat but I was still under forty then and was in good cardiovascular shape. The track was large like Belmont Park and although the viewing was not nearly as good as Belmont Park it was still a very good place to watch the races live. The track has been redone since with the turf course now being the outermost course and the dirt track being replaced by an artificial surface and a second turf course inside of the artificial surfaced oval.

9) The Fair Grounds in New Orleans before the fire. Like Hialeah this was a great place to go to the races with a classic outdoor Grandstand, and the best food at a racetrack ever. A fire destroyed the facility in 1993 and my return there in 2000 found a terrible glass enclosed facility that made it impossible to have a good viewing experience of the races.

10) Longchamps in Paris France. During my one trip to Paris in September of 2012 I had the opportunity to go to Longchamps for Arc preview day. What a great experience!! The Paddock Area there simply was wonderful (probably the best of any track I was ever at). Watching races with the large expansive race courses was not the easiest thing to do but being there and seeing world class horses in the paddock and was very thrilling. Since then the whole facility has been redone and I heard it is far better now, but have not had the chance to go back.

Honorable mention to Saratoga. The amazing town, the opportunity for immersing oneself in racing culture and personalities there, the great restaurants and the bars and the pastoral country setting makes Saratoga the perfect place to go to the races. Unfortunately, the antiquated Grandstand has some of the worst sightlines ever to watch a thoroughbred horse race from. There are very few places in the whole facility where you can actually watch the races live with an unobstructed view. Also, although the backyard is a great hang out spot, the Paddock area is very poorly designed and keeps the fans at too far a distance from the horses. That said, it is still a must go to destination spot for Horse racing lovers.

Most overrated facility award: Hands down this goes to Churchill Downs! Besides the insanely overpriced seating and parking on Derby day, the track is essentially a dump in the middle of a bad neighborhood in Louisville. I get that the Derby is the signature racing event in the country but the customer service there stinks, the facility is impossible to navigate, it is a bad place to watch races at (unless you can somehow find your way up to Millionaires row) and the people that run the place are pretty arrogant in general. Caveat Emptor!!!
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Excellent writeup! You should write an article for the Racing Form. You must not be a big fan of Ubs arena. Personally, Belmont ranks 3rd on a list of Nyra tracks
 
carmineabbatiello said:
Excellent writeup! You should write an article for the Racing Form. You must not be a big fan of Ubs arena. Personally, Belmont ranks 3rd on a list of Nyra tracks
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Look, everyone has different things that they value. Saratoga is the gold standard for New York racing for so many really great reasons but when I am going to the track I am very focused on seeing the horses up close and watching races live and not on video monitors. I have a beautiful Big Screen TV at home and do not go to the track to watch races on screens. I love being in the paddock area and Saratoga's Paddock is designed for the owners and not for the fans. Belmont's Paddock is amazing and I have hundreds of pictures of Hall of Fame racehorses that I have taken in Belmont's Paddock area.

BTW you are right I am not happy about the UBS arena being shoehorned in next to Belmont Park. I never really understood why they did not use the huge abandoned parking area behind the backstretch to put up that arena, although someone once told me that the Town of Floral Park nixed that idea.

I have heard Del Mar is wonderful but have only been to San Diego once and it wasn't during racing season.
 
The village of Floral Park is run by Ranger fans who were afraid of Islander fans taking over their streets. Their crying did get us a nice train station that saves Islander fans a lot of aggravation and money, so for that I am thankful to them.

Once the NYRA crooks get done with botching up what is left of the once grand park handed down to them, the hockey arena will be the only venue worth attending.
 
Alumni Hall said:
I’ve been to many of the tracks you listed in addition to many harness (Roosevelt, Yonkers, Goshen, Freehold, Liberty Bell, Saratoga Harness) as well as Tbred like Garden St Pk., Calder.
I went to Gulfstream Pk last month for the Fountain of Youth Stakes day. Had a great day there. Parking and admission is free, food was great, paddock area is excellent, easy to watch the races either in their backyard, sports racing book or on the rail.
Agree with Churchill being a dump, except for their racing Hall of Fame Museum. Love Keeneland (heading there this month) and Santa Anita. Next year I’m scheduling trips to Oaklawn Park and Fairgrounds.
For 12 years I was also a thoroughbred horse owner with West Point Racing, and other outfits. It was great as my owners license was accepted everywhere for clubhouse seating. Was part owner of 18 horses over my career. More than 20 Wins at Belmont, AQU, Saratoga, Keeneland, Churchill, Ellis Pk, And Gulfstream. Several black type wins along the way too in graded stakes. Trivia: who is the horse behind mine in the purple and grey silks…he beat mine at Belmont and went on to be pretty famous. My colt was post time favorite and got smoked!View attachment 2527
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Funny Cide- Sackatoga silks
 
ghostzapper said:
My top ten tracks I visited in my lifetime in order and why I rated them where I did.

1) Hialeah in Miami back in the day. Before being destroyed by a series of awful decisions made by the state of Florida around racing, this was the best place ever to go to the races. Beautiful on site aviary, Wild Flamingos prancing around the facility, gorgeous Spanish style grandstand with amazing sightlines, beautifully manicured dirt and turf courses and landscaping with botanic garden like floral designs and spectacular Palm trees and so much more. Horse Racing heaven!!!

2) Belmont Park - Big expansive views with amazing sightlines, a spectacular backyard, one of the best paddocks ever, tons of great parking, and tons of great seating, wonderful high quality race cards and great dirt and turf courses. Watching races there live is pure unobstructed joy. I personally am dreading the new Belmont Park which will return in 2026. Given the awful reconstructions of many racetracks (see Gulfstream, Fair Grounds etc.) my expectations are very low.

3) Monmouth Park - On a day like Haskell Day when the races are of high quality there is no better place to see the races live then Monmouth Park, the intimate grandstand does not have a bad seat anywhere, the paddock is well designed and the walking ring is a great place to watch the horses parade. There is no better place than Monmouth Park for viewing the races live and having a train from Penn Station to go straight to the track is incredibly convenient. My great sadness is during their 2007 Breeder's Cup Monmouth was hit by a monsoon that turned what should have been a glorious two day coronation for them into a Messy quagmire nightmare!

4) Gulfstream Park before the awful reconstruction. Going to the Breeder's Cup at Gulfstream in 1989, 1992 and 1999 enhanced my love for the Hallandale facility. While Gulfstream could not match its South Florida showplace counterpart Hialeah in beauty or ambiance (who could) it was still far better than most other places to go to the races to watch the thoroughbreds. Why they rebuilt this into the Shopping Mall and Casino like facility that exists now is anybody's guess but for racing enthusiasts no one I know bothers to go there anymore.

5) Santa Anita with the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains in the background! Santa Anita (the great race place) is a terrific place to go to the races. Rich in history, great racing, a good paddock and the wonderful Clocker's Corner to hang out at during morning workouts; Santa Anita is a must go stop for any racing fan.

6) Keeneland: The best things about Keeneland is being in Lexington, Kentucky where the center of racing, breeding and the Thoroughbred sales industry are all right there. The track is really nice and it is a good place to watch the races. The architecture and the landscaping are really great and if you can time a trip to be there when the sales are happening it is a must see. The sales experience and the on track sales pavilion are the best thing ever.

7) Arlington Park after the fire. I never attended Chicago's Arlington Park before the fire that destroyed it in 1985, but had the privilege to go there in the 1990s after it was rebuilt under the brilliant direction of Richard L. Duchossois. It was as good a facility to go to the races as there was. Beautiful architecture, great sightlines, spacious and really well designed and had everything that a preeminent racetrack should have. Sadly the facility stopped live racing and this state of the art modern facility was torn down in 2023. I am glad that Duchossois who lived to be 100 died in 2022 a year before his monument to Midwest racing was destroyed.

8) Woodbine in Toronto Canada, I went to the races several times at Woodbine. Including one time for Queen's Plate Day in 1990 and also for the Breeder's Cup in 1996. These were both wonderful days there. I must confess that I climbed a lot of stairs to go between the paddock and my seat but I was still under forty then and was in good cardiovascular shape. The track was large like Belmont Park and although the viewing was not nearly as good as Belmont Park it was still a very good place to watch the races live. The track has been redone since with the turf course now being the outermost course and the dirt track being replaced by an artificial surface and a second turf course inside of the artificial surfaced oval.

9) The Fair Grounds in New Orleans before the fire. Like Hialeah this was a great place to go to the races with a classic outdoor Grandstand, and the best food at a racetrack ever. A fire destroyed the facility in 1993 and my return there in 2000 found a terrible glass enclosed facility that made it impossible to have a good viewing experience of the races.

10) Longchamps in Paris France. During my one trip to Paris in September of 2012 I had the opportunity to go to Longchamps for Arc preview day. What a great experience!! The Paddock Area there simply was wonderful (probably the best of any track I was ever at). Watching races with the large expansive race courses was not the easiest thing to do but being there and seeing world class horses in the paddock and was very thrilling. Since then the whole facility has been redone and I heard it is far better now, but have not had the chance to go back.

Honorable mention to Saratoga. The amazing town, the opportunity for immersing oneself in racing culture and personalities there, the great restaurants and the bars and the pastoral country setting makes Saratoga the perfect place to go to the races. Unfortunately, the antiquated Grandstand has some of the worst sightlines ever to watch a thoroughbred horse race from. There are very few places in the whole facility where you can actually watch the races live with an unobstructed view. Also, although the backyard is a great hang out spot, the Paddock area is very poorly designed and keeps the fans at too far a distance from the horses. That said, it is still a must go to destination spot for Horse racing lovers.

Most overrated facility award: Hands down this goes to Churchill Downs! Besides the insanely overpriced seating and parking on Derby day, the track is essentially a dump in the middle of a bad neighborhood in Louisville. I get that the Derby is the signature racing event in the country but the customer service there stinks, the facility is impossible to navigate, it is a bad place to watch races at (unless you can somehow find your way up to Millionaires row) and the people that run the place are pretty arrogant in general. Caveat Emptor!!!
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Generally, agree with your assessments but still disagree with your sightline comment about Belmont.The only dirt race that starts in front of the grandstand is the 1 1/2 Belmont, All the other dirt races start on the backstretch which is at least a mile away. Again unless you are watching with binoculars the horses are mere specks. One track I would add to your is Ascot Park in England, another spectacular racecourse. It is my understa nding that the redesigned Belmont grandstand will be an amalgam of Longchamps and Ascot.
 
ghostzapper said:
Look, everyone has different things that they value. Saratoga is the gold standard for New York racing for so many really great reasons but when I am going to the track I am very focused on seeing the horses up close and watching races live and not on video monitors. I have a beautiful Big Screen TV at home and do not go to the track to watch races on screens. I love being in the paddock area and Saratoga's Paddock is designed for the owners and not for the fans. Belmont's Paddock is amazing and I have hundreds of pictures of Hall of Fame racehorses that I have taken in Belmont's Paddock area.

BTW you are right I am not happy about the UBS arena being shoehorned in next to Belmont Park. I never really understood why they did not use the huge abandoned parking area behind the backstretch to put up that arena, although someone once told me that the Town of Floral Park nixed that idea.

I have heard Del Mar is wonderful but have only been to San Diego once and it wasn't during racing season.
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The best thing about Belmont used to be the $3 half shell clams served with the $2.50 Becks can. I'll bet you don't like Pimlico much either. See your write-up on Churchill.
 
ghostzapper said:
Look, everyone has different things that they value. Saratoga is the gold standard for New York racing for so many really great reasons but when I am going to the track I am very focused on seeing the horses up close and watching races live and not on video monitors. I have a beautiful Big Screen TV at home and do not go to the track to watch races on screens. I love being in the paddock area and Saratoga's Paddock is designed for the owners and not for the fans. Belmont's Paddock is amazing and I have hundreds of pictures of Hall of Fame racehorses that I have taken in Belmont's Paddock area.

BTW you are right I am not happy about the UBS arena being shoehorned in next to Belmont Park. I never really understood why they did not use the huge abandoned parking area behind the backstretch to put up that arena, although someone once told me that the Town of Floral Park nixed that idea.

I have heard Del Mar is wonderful but have only been to San Diego once and it wasn't during racing season.
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one of the worst decisions NYRA made was when they built the paddock at Saratoga restricting the access of the public to the racehorses. It used to be that they paraded the horses around trees in the backyard which had #s posted on them corresponding to the horses # in that race. You could walk up to about a foot of the horse and watch it be saddled. It could have been a claimer or a stake horse- no difference. you could have been within a foot of Damascus,Ruffian or any of the other greats that raced at Saratoga at thst time. Quite an experience that is no longer available.
 
jackfro said:
Generally, agree with your assessments but still disagree with your sightline comment about Belmont.The only dirt race that starts in front of the grandstand is the 1 1/2 Belmont, All the other dirt races start on the backstretch which is at least a mile away. Again unless you are watching with binoculars the horses are mere specks. One track I would add to your is Ascot Park in England, another spectacular racecourse. It is my understa nding that the redesigned Belmont grandstand will be an amalgam of Longchamps and Ascot.
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Again this is an opinion thing but my love about Belmont is that you can watch the whole race from a great angle with zero obstructions. At Pimlico for the Preakness or Churchill for the Derby all you see are Tents and when they aren't running behind the damned tents then you are being blocked by the beams that hold up the stands. The angles at Churchill are horrible and the only place to watch a race live without significant obstructions there is on millionaire's row.

I have heard great things about both Ascot and the new Longchamps.

That said, I have very low hopes for the new Belmont. From seeing the artist's rendering there are very few seats outdoors (looks to be quite a bit less than a thousand to me) and watching horse racing behind glass is a brutal experience (see the Meadowlands, Parx, Lone Star, the new Gulfstream and the new Fair Grounds). I don't want to be indoors to watch racing. Even on the coldest days I was always outside to watch the races at the Big A.
 
jackfro said:
one of the worst decisions NYRA made was when they built the paddock at Saratoga restricting the access of the public to the racehorses. It used to be that they paraded the horses around trees in the backyard which had #s posted on them corresponding to the horses # in that race. You could walk up to about a foot of the horse and watch it be saddled. It could have been a claimer or a stake horse- no difference. you could have been within a foot of Damascus,Ruffian or any of the other greats that raced at Saratoga at thst time. Quite an experience that is no longer available.
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That is interesting. I think my first time at Saratoga was in 1983 for the Travers and I don't know if the paddock was restructured back then.

My friend worked for the Sid Watters Jr. barn and we were able to go back to the barn with her before the 1983 Travers and see Slew o' Gold. He looked absolutely tremendous and I was ultra confident he would win and bet him pretty heavily. Unfortunately he ran second to Play Fellow that day.

However, I stayed on the Slew o' Gold bandwagon and cashed some nice bets on him in the fall of 1983 in the Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup. He would have won the first Breeder's Cup Classic the next year in 1984 but had significant feet problems that compromised his chances that day. He is arguably the best son of Seattle Slew to have ever raced (although some good arguments could be made for A.P. Indy or Swale).
 
ghostzapper said:
Again this is an opinion thing but my love about Belmont is that you can watch the whole race from a great angle with zero obstructions. At Pimlico for the Preakness or Churchill for the Derby all you see are Tents and when they aren't running behind the damned tents then you are being blocked by the beams that hold up the stands. The angles at Churchill are horrible and the only place to watch a race live without significant obstructions there is on millionaire's row.

I have heard great things about both Ascot and the new Longchamps.

That said, I have very low hopes for the new Belmont. From seeing the artist's rendering there are very few seats outdoors (looks to be quite a bit less than a thousand to me) and watching horse racing behind glass is a brutal experience (see the Meadowlands, Parx, Lone Star, the new Gulfstream and the new Fair Grounds). I don't want to be indoors to watch racing. Even on the coldest days I was always outside to watch the races at the Big A.
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Did the same at Aqueduct when the race was about to go walked outside in the grandstand or clubhouse to watch the race. However. I did watch the races thru glass- the glass of my binoculars I believe they will have a glass enclosed grandstand at Belmont because besides Saratoga in the summer it will be the only track running thruout the year including winter racing. That is also why they are building an all weather track next to the turf course. Goodbye Big A!
 
ghostzapper said:
That is interesting. I think my first time at Saratoga was in 1983 for the Travers and I don't know if the paddock was restructured back then.

My friend worked for the Sid Watters Jr. barn and we were able to go back to the barn with her before the 1983 Travers and see Slew o' Gold. He looked absolutely tremendous and I was ultra confident he would win and bet him pretty heavily. Unfortunately he ran second to Play Fellow that day.

However, I stayed on the Slew o' Gold bandwagon and cashed some nice bets on him in the fall of 1983 in the Woodward and Jockey Club Gold Cup. He would have won the first Breeder's Cup Classic the next year in 1984 but had significant feet problems that compromised his chances that day. He is arguably the best son of Seattle Slew to have ever raced (although some good arguments could be made for A.P. Indy or Swale).
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My youngest sun who was 7 at that time would always bet any horse sired by Seattle Slew. He caught quite a few winners doing that while I was tearing my tickets in two!
 
Alumni Hall said:
I’ve been to many of the tracks you listed in addition to many harness (Roosevelt, Yonkers, Goshen, Freehold, Liberty Bell, Saratoga Harness) as well as Tbred like Garden St Pk., Calder.
I went to Gulfstream Pk last month for the Fountain of Youth Stakes day. Had a great day there. Parking and admission is free, food was great, paddock area is excellent, easy to watch the races either in their backyard, sports racing book or on the rail.
Agree with Churchill being a dump, except for their racing Hall of Fame Museum. Love Keeneland (heading there this month) and Santa Anita. Next year I’m scheduling trips to Oaklawn Park and Fairgrounds.
For 12 years I was also a thoroughbred horse owner with West Point Racing, and other outfits. It was great as my owners license was accepted everywhere for clubhouse seating. Was part owner of 18 horses over my career. More than 20 Wins at Belmont, AQU, Saratoga, Keeneland, Churchill, Ellis Pk, And Gulfstream. Several black type wins along the way too in graded stakes. Trivia: who is the horse behind mine in the purple and grey silks…he beat mine at Belmont and went on to be pretty famous. My colt was post time favorite and got smoked!View attachment 2527
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Owned Thoroughbreds most of my adult life. Won races at every track on the East coast except Saratoga.
 
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