7/18 (PNL): Lansing S.
 

Not the biggest stakes race on the calendar, but the first thoroughbred race in Detroit for a decade:

1st (2:30 ET)
Lansing Stakes

6 Furlongs | Dirt | Statebred Colts | 3-year-old Stakes | Purse: $50,000

Post # Horse Jockey Weight M/L
1 Hot Chili Houghton TD 122 2/1
2 Dance in the Sea Mata F 122 8/1
3 Corporal Glover Gonzalez IR 122 20/1
4 Bishop Casey Molina T 122 12/1
5 Equally Good Barrios R 122 10/1
6 Kick the Breeze Knott RL 122 5/1
7 Berry's Pride Gonzalez LA 122 3/1
8 With Wings Stanley AO 122 9/2

Any idea what takeout is at Pinnacle?

I believe it is the same 17%/20.5% split that Great Lakes Downs had last year, but I'm not 100% sure.

are you really from Royal Oak? i lived there a couple of years, right by the RO theatre.

Yep. I live right off 11 and Campbell.

i know that area, I went to Hazel Park High going way back in time. oak park, hazel park, ferndale, royal oak, those were my stomping grounds.

i'll be curious to see this new track. hope to get there in the next few weeks.

I used to go to the Royal Oak Music Theatre quite a bit back in the day ;) I remember Iggy Popp being booed off stage....

If anyone goes to Pinnacle, please post about it when you get back. I'm not going to be able to get back to Michigan until next summer.

Depending on the weather, I might go out tomorrow for the first couple races, but my wife and I are definitely planning to be there Saturday.

Check out the pix in the slideshow attached to this article under "related content":

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs...389/1409/METRO

What's done so far looks nice!

Pinnacle Review
 

For being a track that they threw together in less than six months, Pinnacle is pretty nice. It was PACKED on opening day, so much so that the cops blocked off the road to the track because the parking lot was full. I had to work my way around the traffic jams, found the side of a dead-end country road to park on, and walked the half-mile to the track. I might have been the only guy who was happy about the starting gate malfunctions because I made it there just in time to see the first race.

The Corporate Pavillion is serving as a temporary clubhouse. It will be great when it is just the corporate pavillion, but with almost 10,000 people trying to stay out of the sweltering heat it was packed pretty tight. I tried going in after the first race and it was jammed packed. After the seventh, it was less crowded and I was able to walk around and check it out. It was pretty nice in there-- lots of clerks, a couple of bars, flat screen simulcast tvs-- it looked first class.

I spent most of my time on the apron and next to the paddock, which is between the corporate pavillion and the grandstand. They have a temporary grandstand there for now until they can start work on the clubhouse.

The only drawbacks of the day were the starting gate and the tote board. Like I said, they had some malfunctions with the starting gate that delayed the first race by about 30 minutes, and for some reason it seemed like it was taking forever to get it into position before the remainder of the races. That was causing unnecessary delays that hopefully will be ironed out in time. The other drawback was the tote board-- it's obviously a temporary tote board because it showed odds and times, but it had no spots for pool information and payouts. You had to check the simulcast tvs if you wanted that information.

There wasn't much of a sound system either. Unless you were in the pavillion, you really couldn't hear the race call. I know that they want to replicate CD, but maybe they wanted to add the Keeneland experience as well ;) Again, I am sure this is temporary and will be fixed when the construction is complete.

The track itself was good. It's a synthetic surface, and after 7 races it seemed like it was favoring horses in the middle paths instead of horses on the rail. I would probably also give a slight advantage to off-the-pace types and closers. The pace tended to be a little slow and there weren't many (if any) winners that went wire-to-wire.

All in all, it was a great experience. What they have in place now suggests that the rest of Pinnacle is going to be a terrific track when it is completed.

Pinnacle has a dirt track Zippy.



Also, from their website:

"In addition to traditional horse racing, facilities will include areas for picnics and tailgating (Phase II)"

You gotta love a track that encourages tailgating....

I drove the 45 minutes on Friday and waited another 40 minutes on the entry road. We were turned away from the parking lot with 10 minutes to post race 1 (turned out to be 40 minutes). Not much in the way of signage or police helpfulness

I will give them a pass and if they really got 9,000 + for the temporary accommodations, I can understand. It was 74 & smoky inside hazel park.

You're right, Bigs-- the track is dirt. The initial reports about the track indicated that it was going to be poly, but I'm glad to see that they chose dirt instead.

I was back at Pinnacle on Saturday and it seemed as if they had the kinks worked out. The starting gate was working fine and it was moved into position without delays. The sound system was functioning well and you could hear the race call from everywhere on the track.

its always smoky in there. that is about the dingiest smelliest place I've ever been to. Their non-smoking section is a joke. at least they make up for the smoke with their pleasant tellers.:rolleyes:

When did HP get pleasant tellers? Does Patrick the fireman still moonlight there? And what did they build in place of that tall grandstand they tore down?

That Pinnacle dirt track -- it's dirt's answer to synthetic. 8 feet of base & cushion. It's dirt done right.

I read in the local paper the J.J. Gracie is the manager of the stable area. I'm assuming this is the same J.J. Gracie who hosted At the Races before Steve took over.

Dunno, but it's in this article:

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs...807190374/1004