David Cassidy on the Web
Out of the gate
July 28, 2005
www.saratogian.com
By Paul Post and Christopher Diakopoulos
SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Three horses lost their mounts in the first race, and a system failure shut out bettors in the second race.
Only one of four video screens worked properly in the infield, and the weather was hot and sticky.
Without a doubt, the Saratoga Race Course season got off to a bumpy start on Wednesday, but the bottom line quite simply is that the track is back in business, as a crowd of 25,819 turned out for the 2005 season opener.
'It means Saratoga's alive again,' said socialite Marylou Whitney, who hosted a gala luncheon at the track's Carousel Restaurant. 'I love seeing the streets full of people and all the shops doing well, people waiting in line to go into a restaurant. It's just wonderful.'
But two power surges shortly before the second race kept many people from placing their bets on the track's new electronic tote system. Lines quickly backed up with angry, frustrated patrons. The problem kept an estimated $200,000 from being wagered, said Bill Nader, the New York Racing Association's senior vice president.
Machines went down, came back up and quickly went down again. Track officials didn't delay the race because the second surge occurred just as horses were in the gate, he said.
'At that point, it wouldn't have been fair to the horses,' he said.
Some fans, just happy for the start of a new season, took the incident in stride, while others weren't quite so understanding.
'Shouldn't they have handled this before Opening Day?' asked Amanda Rogers of Saratoga Springs. 'They have had 46 weeks to fix problems. We were pretty upset.'
Tony Uzailko of Syracuse said, 'They should have had these machines all tested before the meet began. I drove 3½ hours to get here. Next year, I'll just go to OTB.'
One group of bettors waited by machines for more than hour while the races went on. Their vouchers were stuck in the machines, and they had to wait for power to come back in order to retrieve them.
'I liked the old machines better,' said Matt Carpenter of Fort Ann. 'I'm a novice. They were easier to use.'
Even veteran handicappers such as Long Island's Mike Campanile voiced displeasure with the new tote system.
'The new machines are high-tech. They have video of live races, but we don't need that,' he said. 'We've got (television) monitors all over. What we want is a teller substitute that will make it easy for us to complete the transaction. That's all we want. We don't need bells and whistles.'
Campanile said the new machines are more complicated and confusing because more steps are involved.
'Some people are walking away from the machines without the bets that they thought they made,' he said.
Such problems aside, the day had all the fanfare and festivity that people expect from the colorful and historic track. At 1 p.m., announcer Tom Durkin invited everyone to join in with a traditional call as the first race got under way.
'And they're off, at Saratoga,' he said, with thousands of people chiming in.
Men chomped on cigars while women paraded about in sundresses and broad-brimmed hats.
In no uncertain terms, Opening Day marks a second start to summer in Saratoga Springs.
'There's an atmosphere here that you get nowhere else in the world,' said Beau Cassidy, 14, the son of musician and actor David Cassidy. 'You go up here for the summer and you're taken back in time. Nothing compares to it.
'It's a getaway from a lot of other things. When I'm tired of school, I say to myself, 'I can't wait to get to Saratoga. I can't wait to go to the track.' It's a passion that for me will never go away.'
The teen works for trainer John Contessa, cleaning stalls and hot-walking horses each morning. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of his famous father as an entertainer. But like his father, Beau Cassidy said he also wants to be a thoroughbred owner and breeder.
'I've always felt a link with them. I've always loved being around them,' he said. 'It's been one of the greatest experiences of my life.'
Whitney said she's been coming to the track since 1959. The racecourse and city have undergone a major renaissance in those 46 years.
'When I first came here, they used to say you could throw a basketball down Broadway and you wouldn't hit anyone,' she said. 'Look at the difference.'
Track attendance and wagering has skyrocketed during the past decade as the city's reputation as a thriving business, cultural and entertainment center has grown.
Whitney has no trouble picking her favorite date on the race calendar.
'Well, I like the Whitney (Handicap), of course,' she said. 'It's one time I know I'm going to be in the winner's circle. What could be better than that?'
This year's $750,000 Whitney Handicap is slated for Saturday, Aug. 6.
After more than four decades of racing highlights, Whitney said her greatest thrill came last summer, when her horse, Birdstone, won the $1 million Travers Stakes.
'We only had one win last year, and it was a pretty big win,' said John Hendrickson, Whitney's husband.
Mother Nature did her best to make Wednesday's opener a success. The race program got off to a sunny start, but dark clouds rolled in as the afternoon moved along.
Anticipating heavy rain, maintenance crews 'sealed' the track surface before races 6 and 7, then returned to harrowing the dirt before the eighth race as skies brightened again and the storm threat passed.
A drop in temperatures shortly before the ninth race also provided some relief from high heat and humidity that persisted for much of the day.
'Opening Day was fine,' said George Phinney of Queensbury. 'There was a problem with the machines. But overall, it wasn't a disaster.'
