I have never been to Saratoga, would love to though. I have been to Belmont Park and in fact saw the last 2 Woodwards with Ghostzapper and Saint Liams wins. I think the racing on the East Coast is steeped with a lot of tradition, I enjoy it immensly, but being from California I appreciate our racing here just as much. I have had the privelidge of watching some of the greatest horses in the world here in my own backyard, from Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Spectacular Bid to John Henry and Cigar. I think anyone who could question the quality or history of West Coast racing is just as stupid or uninformed as anyone knocking East Coast racing, essentially the best horses are usually from Kentucky breeding farms, it's their geographic locations that determine their careers in the long run.
I also have never been to a more beautiful track than Santa Anita, with the snow-capped San Gabriel mountains in the background, and anyone who thinks that Del Mar's atmosphere and ambiance is nothing, doesn't have a heart or doesn't know how to have fun, the view, the weather, the ocean proximity, the nightlife, it;s second to none, and seeing horses working in the ocean mist of the morning is our own version of heaven on earth.
|