Folks have been shoveling dirt on the grave of horse racing for several years now. Problems with Historic Horse Racing Machines have clouded the future of the sport in the Gem State. There are a couple of signs that the sport is not dead yet. The Kentucky Derby drew a record 170,000 for the annual start of the Triple Crown. I was in Portland, Oregon for Derby Day and Portland Meadows had nearly 10,000 people for the derby with no live racing. Locally, Les Bois Park had 2,700 for their derby party, again with no live racing.
The local live racing season begins this Saturday at Les Bois. Saturday will also mark the second leg in the Triple Crown as the Preakness Stakes will be run in Baltimore. It will be interesting to see the size of the crowd crowd and the availability of horses for the season, which was in danger of being cancelled just a few months ago. American Pharaoh will try to repeat his Kentucky Derby win, and keep the chance of a Triple Crown alive.
