- NERUD: No Stilling Racing's Greatest Voice
If having the understanding afforded three-quarters of a century around racing means anything, shouldn't we be listening to John Nerud? The soon to be 95 year old legend sounded off on "At the Races" with me December 17 on the NYRA situation, the Breeders' Cup and synthetic surfaces, and on every topic, Nerud remains authoritative, prescient and correct.
Nerud knows that the New York Racing Association owns Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga because he was in the room in 1955 when the franchise was formed as the Greater New York Racing Association from the four entities that had been running the game in the Empire State independently up to that time. And as he told me in 2005, his discussions with top NY judges and attorneys confirm it.
In his view, the state has wasted a tremendous amount of time and energy pretending that they have any claim to the property, and now stand at a precipice that threatens to tear asunder the already delicate balance that constitutes the equine breeding and racing industry in New York, and nationwide. Nerud acknowledges that many of NYRA's problems are of their own doing, but lays the majority of blame for the current miasma at the feet of Albany for the logjam mentality that permeates state, and in his opinion Federal, government.
He also adds culprit status in the current mess to the state's OTB Corporations who have turned their mandate as a service branch of New York racing into odious fiefdoms of political patronage. At the same time, Nerud, who tried at Hirsch Jacobs' urging to get NYRA to involve itself in the establishment of OTB, notes that the Association missed the opportunity at the outset to have control of the off-track side of the business 35 years ago.
In his comments to me on and off the air, Nerud explained that the franchise can NEVER be profitable under the current structure of NY racing, which was supposed to be the focus of this unending franchise debate, but has in fact gone largely unaddressed. Besides being ridiculously saddled with a competitor in OTB, Nerud believes that NYRA can never make money trying to maintain the three gargantuan and inordinately expensive facilities in Elmont, Ozone Park and the Spa City.
He has a simple plan that can make the franchise work:
1.) Build a new state of the art, all season Belmont Clubhouse/Grandstand/VLT parlor on the backstretch side (Southern Exposure) of the track with main, turf and synthetic surface ovals;
2.) Race at Aqueduct while the new Belmont is being built and then sell the Big A to developers to pay for the reconstruction;
3.) Race 10 months at Belmont; 2 months at Saratoga;
4.) Incorporate the OTB operations into the franchise.
Or does that make too much sense?
SYNTHESIZED SYNTHETICS
While the rest of racing carries on about the "innovation" of synthetic racing surfaces represented by Polytrack, Cushiontrack and Tapeta Footings, there's nothing new about alternatives for dirt to Nerud. He was working with 3M on the topic as part of his responsibilities at the helm of William McKnight's Tartan operation in the 60's. The testing at Laurel Raceway (harness) in 1965 and installation of Tartan Track at Tropical Park in 1966 were the earliest experiments with dirt alternatives in North America.
Nerud had long believed that a safer surface could be created to protect horses, but wasn't satisfied with Tartan Track then and isn't satisfied with the latest "jelly cabled" calamities now. While a number of veterinarians and horsemen believe the new surfaces inhibit injuries in runners by preventing the slight slide of hooves on dirt, Nerud believes the opposite. His take is that by planting the hoof on the synthetic, the change in concussion throughout horses' bodies has been responsible for the rash of new and different aches, pains and sprains synthetic track runners are reportedly experiencing.
While Nerud doesn't think the installation of Poly, Cushion and Tapata is a negative, the trainer of Dr. Fager will take a wait and see attitude about the future. In his view, California was crazy to mandate the switch to synthetic main tracks when a simple overhaul of the bases at Del Mar, Hollywood, Santa Anita and Golden Gate would have achieved the result desired of safer ovals. Renovating the deep base and refreshing the cushion top of dirt strips is all that is needed in Nerud's opinion to assure the game of safe racetracks.
BC... OR THE WBC?
Nerud doesn't need to wait and see about the value of adding races to the Breeder's Cup: He says it's a mistake that guarantees the ruination of the "World Championships" as an important event. Here too, it's difficult to argue with Nerud's view given that he mulled and massaged the concept with BC patriarch John Gaines for several years before its' introduction.
His take on adding days and obscure specialty distances to the Cup, and attempting to create meaningless new divisions, is that it ultimately takes away from the significance of the main event: the original Saturday features. Nerud likened the BCL's new wrinkles to boxing's sad decline into confusion via the alphabet soup of Councils, Federations and Associations that dilute the importance of the title bouts that for decades celebrated instantly identifiable champions.
John Nerud turns 95 in February, and he's still breeding and racing winners. Although he jokes about the mistakes he's made in his career, those that know him and his accomplishments well say that you can count on one hand the number of times his opinions or decisions came out on the wrong side of the ledger. While everyone in racing has their own view of how things should be done or what can be attempted to improve the sport, it's hard to find someone whose vision takes in as much as Nerud's. And it's impossible to find someone whose version of things should be taken as seriously.