Well, yesterday clinched it. Lucky Jim is scary good. I expected yesterday to be the day that Lucky Jim's streak would come to an end but once again, Lucky Jim put on an impressive performance to win the Titan Cup in 1:51.4. What is the limit for Lucky Jim? Who knows, but if he heads to the midwest Grand Circuit stops after the Meadowlands closes, the world record for aged trotters of 1:50.1 is in jeopardy.
The Jersey Cup was notable in who did not race. Passmaster Hanover was scratched injured from the race. At this time there is no news regarding his injury; hopefully it is not serious. As for the William Haughton Prep, Won the West pulled off a shocker winning the race in 1:48.4 Mister Big finished 3rd. Despite Won the West winning this prep, I expect Mister Big to provide a better account of himself in the final as he has a history of coming up big in finals.
The NYSS 3yo pacers were on display at Historic Track. While there were no stand out individual performances yesterday, there were some nice horses racing. To see a horse race in the eliminations of the NA Cup (Hay Goodlooking) then show up at Goshen shows the strength of the NYSS program where you have big time trainers sending their charges to race in $15,000 races. Today, the NYSS 3yo trotters take the track.
For further evidence racing done right is still popular, there was standing room only at Goshen yesterday. The grandstand was full and people were two and three deep along the whole stretch enjoying the races. My guess is there were about 2,500 people in attendance. Take a look at your local track yesterday and how many people were there watching the live races? Goshen puts many of them to shame.
Why does Goshen and Delaware draw such big crowds? It is because the racing is an event; part of an entertainment package. This is something you can't get when you race year round. While the economics of racing dictate you need longer meets, we need events to get people in and get exposure. Earlier I had proposed a Harness Racing League; basically a NASCAR model where you have two weeks of super stakes and entertainment surrounding the racing; something to get the people in and interested. Standardbred Canada is introducing Adrenaline Fest this year. If we could get each track to have an Adrenaline like program surrounding their two weeks of super racing, we can get people in to experience racing and grow our fan base. In the meanwhile, I would advise track management to talk to the people who run Historic Track and the Delaware County Fairgrounds to see what they are doing right.
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