9 Exciting Tracks! 6 Exotic States and Provinces! 9 Thrilling Storyettes!
Warning! The 2009 stories are mostly pictures, and not for the faint of bandwidth!
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Well, finally it became a reality. The Village of Cicero finally got things straightened out as to how the shuttered Sportsman's property was going to be used, and final demolition started. The big picture below is the last day before the wrecking ball started in on the grandstand, and the gallery shows progress throughout March and April.
Read more: Final Goodbye to Sportsman's Park
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So it was the middle of winter in Chicago, and I needed somewhere warmer ... let's say, Austin. As long as I was there me and McChump #2 decided to go down to Retama Park for a bit of live racing. It was deadsville. Friday night utterly and totally dead. The worst I have ever seen it.
Oh well, at least we had some fun in Austin.
Just pictures.
Read more: Quiet Night at the Old Race Track. Too Quiet.
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It was an okay Winter/Spring of racing at Hawthorne. I went a bunch of times. We even had a halfways decent Illinois Derby, won by Musket Man, with local hero Giant Oak in 2nd.
Just pictures.
Read more: Hawthorne 2009/Illinois Derby
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Somehow I found myself in Phoenix in mid-April, fleeing Chicago winter again, and somehow me and McChump #2 decided to drive over to Santa Anita for closing weekend of their meet and the big San Juan Capistrano that closes it out. Three big days of racing. And three profitable days for me, too, as for some unexplained reason I could see things so clearly in the pp's, and the horses were obliging by running into my bets. One of those weekends when you think you have it all figured out Until the next weekend comes along.
Read more: A Warmer April Somewhere Else
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Road trip to run down to Phoenix and pick up/throw away some crap that had been sitting there for far too long. Why not stop at Yavapai, as long as it was more or less on the way? And what the heck, why not the Grand Canyon, too, it's right there ... but was unfortunately very hazy.
Pictures only.
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Went out on a September afternoon. Admittedly a Thursday. Crickets.
Couple pix only.
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Not sure what went with my track pictures from this trip. But I did get better non-blue cheerleader pix at the Titans/Texans game the next day!
Read more: Kentucky Downs/Nashville 2009
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It was a Sunday in October. A Sunday like any other Sunday. A card full of maiden claimers, cheap claimers, and maidens, with one IL-restricted N2X allowance to spice things up. It promised to be usual.
But what's this, chump? At the track there's this TVG presence, like something special is going on.