This month, I wrote a piece on the jockeys’ life at Arapahoe Park. The experience reminded me why I’m pulling for horse racing’s survival and revitalization in Colorado.
As a green reporter, I covered Centennial Race Track in Littleton during hockey’s offseason. I enjoyed it, both because of the racing and the Runyonesque cast of characters I encountered.
In my travels since, I’ve visited many tracks across the country, including Belmont, Gulfstream, Pimlico, Santa Anita, Longacres and Bay Meadows. I don’t claim to be an expert, and relatively speaking, I’m a $2 player. My wish list still includes Del Mar, Churchill Downs and Saratoga.
This is the era of simulcast wagering, with tracks and other facilities taking bets on races shown from across the country. Without that, the sport would be dead, including at Arapahoe Park, where Mile High Sports and Entertainment runs the live meeting as a loss leader. The state requires that from Mile High in exchange for the right to take the simulcast wagering on other tracks.
For all the sport’s warts — and there are plenty — the experience of watching live racing from the rail or the clubhouse is irreplaceable. That’s everything from checking out the paddock and the post parade to the races themselves. It’s also “people watching” as you notice that no matter where you are, the same characters (figuratively speaking) are at every track, griping about the horse and the jockey’s ride, bemoaning their decision to leave the 7 horse out of the exacta box, and using what legendary Chicago newspaperman Dave Feldman pointed out were the sport’s three most prominent words: “woulda,” “coulda” and “shoulda.”
When Arapahoe Park opened in 1984, it seemed halfway to Kansas from downtown Denver, mainly because there was no fast way to get there. (Centennial, at Federal and Belleview, once seemed halfway to New Mexico.) Now, Arapahoe is just a quick hop off E-470. The physical facility is decent, but track management should provide more benches or grandstands outside the sterile, glassed-in building so fans get a better feel for the live experience without having to stand.
Arapahoe Park plans to add three more live racing dates next year, getting up to 39. I’m not shilling for the track management here, but for the Colorado folks in the horse-racing community who can’t get the sport out of their blood: It’s worth a look. Up close and personal.
Terry Frei: 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com
