Steve's Hialeah Idea.

I went once before it was closed. The pictures show its architectural splendor. Alas, the plant was never updated and it had the retro feel of a 50's- 60's feel. The horsemen loved it and felt it was a safe place to run. I heard the barns were torn down this year, so they would have to build some and or ship them all in. The location of the track is also in a very iffy neighborhood. The owner, Brunetti is also a very difficult character to deal with. While, I understand Steve's sentiment, the reality of the thing is if the BC comes back to Florida, it should go to Calder, which has a large plant, barns, etc to handle it. I'd love to see a "boutique meet" for Hialeah for the spring ,shoulder season at the end of the Florida Derby weekend, March 31st, this year. Gulfstreams last 3 weeks in April will be just going through the motions, as northern stables ship north and the calder trainers take over.

The same thing happens at Belmont park in NY after the July 4th weekend. Saratoga should be open the week after July 4th and a couple of more weeks, but only 5 days a week instead of 6. The addtional weeks and reduction of days per week would have a net effect of only a couple of total days to the Saratoga meet.