{"id":3571,"date":"2013-04-25T11:12:35","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T18:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/?p=3571"},"modified":"2013-04-25T11:12:35","modified_gmt":"2013-04-25T18:12:35","slug":"first-post-thursday-april-25-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/2013\/04\/25\/first-post-thursday-april-25-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"First Post: Thursday, April 25, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ACRC\"<\/a>

Mays Landing or McKee City?<\/p><\/div>\n

Frantic City opens today; thank you, Lord, for keeping this place alive somehow. This place and Delaware Park, even with the slot banditsz. You can burn down and demolish both Garden States, renovate Keystone, make hipstersz wonder about Liberty Bell & Brandywine (chariotsz!), but please don’t knock down dear old Atlantic City Race Course. It has to survive.<\/p>\n

New Jersey Racing back in the day. Before people understood Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, Frantic City was the World’s Playground. You could look it up. They had a stakes race here called the World’s Playground. As well, there was the Kelly-Olympic, the Boardwalk, the Margate, the Somers Point, the Miss America, maybe even a Marvin Gardens, but the recollection is unclear on that last one; the ones before it, however, yes, absolutely. Nowadays the races have sponsors. Nowadays Don Trump has to come in and be the Saviour of Miss America. This is called Progress.<\/p>\n

And then there is Memory. You would go out to the walking ring at night, the air heavy from its being July and August and nighttime but also cool from its being close to the ocean. The cigar smoke was allowed, even outdoors, in those days, and you would look at the horseys parade through the walking ring. If it was a big night, you would whisper all starry-eyed to your Dad next to you, “Hey, there’s Angel Cordero, there’s the Ant-Man, there’s Jonathan Sheppard.” But he wasn’t interested in celebrity; only in the three horses to box in the exacta — all the races were the same to him! You couldn’t uncorrupt him. And he was a Physician, for crying out loud! He wasn’t one of these Gen X lo-fi indie slackers! Yet he knew it was folly to think of racing as anything close to resembling a “science”. Smart guy. He deserved more-grateful offspring — pity. Rest easy, Dad! Do not follow our selections! We are artistes<\/em> over here!<\/p>\n

The wiseguys on the apron would train their binoculars toward the Club House Dining Room, searching for the signal from Mr. Levy. Robert & Blanche P. Levy, owners of many fine Thoroughbreds, some of whom would debut at Atlantic City, which they also owned; sometimes even their great established runners would deign to make an appearance even though it was summer and far away from Monmouth, Belmont, Saratoga. The binoculars would look for Mr. Levy to get up from his table and stroll to the windows. The binoculars would then spin 180 degrees to the totalisator board in the infield. Yes! There was confirmation: $10,000 to win on the flashy Levy first-timer, or even on Bet Twice. The wiseguys shook their head!<\/p>\n

Or else later in the walking ring, Levy wearing the appropriate summerweight poplin or seersucker, belly sticking out from consumption and an appreciation of many good meals, trying to instruct a hapless Howard Eskin (yeah, that expert, Howard Eskin) on what the racetrack was all about. Eskin had no chance. He looked like an Abbot in a Brothel. It was funny, but you felt sorry for him anyway. Eskin & Trump, probably they are top friendsz, Both of Those Guys Know EVERYTHING. For them, micromanagement and control proved to be a successful strategy, just like it was for Mayor Nucky Thompson. Never saw Trump at the races, anywhere, thankfully. That does not mean it never happened. He was too busy downtown, taking care of his fruit machines and burn cardsz and surveillance cameras. We should have liked to see an Iron Cage Death Match between Trump & Nuckols, with Eskin serving as Referee. Maybe Lucy the Elephant would have been introduced into the ring at halftime and all three of them perished! What a fantasy! How do you come up with this stuff and still be allowed to roam the streets of Studio City during Pilot Season? It’s a miracle. Amtrak & Conrail should have put a stop to it on Jan. 4, 1987. Too much luck for one lifetime, really, no matter anything else.<\/p>\n

God bless you, Frantic City, Atlantic City Race Course. We hope we die before you. We don’t want to Live in a World where Eskin & Trump outlive you. We don’t want to be around if you go before us. Thank you.<\/p>\n

Free<\/a> ones<\/strong>: Rundown…<\/p>\n

Frantic City<\/strong> 1, 2, 4, 5, 6<\/em>
\nCalder<\/strong> 8<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday, Al Pacino, 73. Never married! You give hope to little guysz everywhere.<\/p>\n

Pay-side<\/a><\/strong>: Today…<\/p>\n

Keeneland<\/strong> 2, 4<\/em>, 6<\/em>, 7<\/em>, 8<\/em>, 9
\nPimlico<\/strong> 2, 3<\/em>, 7, 9<\/em>
\nGolden Gate<\/strong> 5
\nLone Star<\/strong> 1, 4<\/em>, 6<\/em>, 7<\/em>, 9<\/p>\n

Today’s Stakes Pageantry<\/strong>: Kee 8<\/strong>, the Grade III Bewitch<\/strong>, on the pay-side. <\/p>\n

BFHollyPark opens today, and of all the Southern California tracks, it’s the one with the modernist, Googie-style architecture. Santa Anita is Art Deco, Del Mar is Mission, Pomona is 1950s Leave It To Beaver<\/em> and BFHollyPark is googie, like the zigzag overhang at Dodger Stadium, the trapezoid of the DiamondVision, the same zigzag patterns found in the pancake houses and carport designs throughout Los Angeles. Check it out. Maybe #4 No Contingency<\/strong> in the Henson<\/strong>, Race 7<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Yesterday’s Activity<\/strong>: Not bad again on the complimentary page. Sometimes…<\/p>\n

WMF Report<\/strong>: <\/p>\n

Early<\/em>
\nCalder 6f<\/p>\n

Nocturnal Submission<\/strong>: Maybe EvD 3<\/strong> (7:30 p.m. EDT \/ 4:30 p.m. PDT) can get #12 Haliluke<\/strong> or #7 Emotional Cat<\/strong> home at a price. …Likewise the ninth<\/strong> there (10 \/ 7) for #3 Dusty’s Player<\/strong>, #8 B. J.’s Leroi<\/strong>, #1 Mirror Bay<\/strong>, #5 Onda Fast Track<\/strong>. …PennNat 5<\/strong> (7:49 \/ 4:49): #5 Kathleens a Coach<\/strong>, #2 T. M.’s Treasure<\/strong>. …And #7 Lady Kee<\/strong> can survive the sixth at Prairie (9:44 \/ 6:44). …<\/p>\n

Thank you. Best wishes. Goodbye. So long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frantic City opens today; thank you, Lord, for keeping this place alive somehow. This place and Delaware Park, even with the slot banditsz. You can burn down and demolish both Garden States, renovate Keystone, make hipstersz wonder about Liberty Bell … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,4,5,3],"tags":[8,13,7,6],"class_list":["post-3571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-picks","category-stakes","category-wmf","tag-analysis","tag-commentary","tag-longshots","tag-track-bias"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pavW5M-VB","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3573,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3571\/revisions\/3573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cynthiapublishing.com\/hp_wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}