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Bonita track packed with Derby watchers as Big Brown wins
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Kentucky Derby day
Scenes from the Kentucky Derby at the Naples/Fort Myers Greyhound Track on Saturday in Bonita Springs.
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The fuss was over horses, not dogs, Saturday evening at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita Springs.
Those would be the 20 horses that were set to run in the 134th Kentucky Derby on the dirt track at Churchill Downs.
Ahead of post time, the buzz among the crowd at the track in Bonita Springs was over which horses to favor, which bets to makes and which bettors were full of it.
“I’ve been researching all week,” Naples resident Tommy Carmon, 58, said with about 90 minutes to go until the biggest horse race of the year. “It’s come down to three horses I like: Big Brown, Adriano and Colonel John. See, Big Brown’s never been beat, and Colonel John, he’s a good closer. And then Adriano, I know the owner.”
As he got up from the table where he had a stack of marked-up statistics to place another bet, he added: “But everyone’s going to have a different opinion.”
His enthusiasm for Big Brown, at least, turned out to be justified. That bay horse came from a far outside post to finish first, running the mile and a quarter in just over 2 minutes.
For Carmon, who wore a T-shirt commemorating last year’s Kentucky Derby and who grew up about four hours from the track, this is a race to never miss.
He’s seen it in person about a dozen times.
“Everybody should go to the Derby once before they die,” he said. “Oh my God -- the flowers. It’s just beautiful. 150,000 people. It’s something else.”
At the dog track, he took a seat in a teal-colored vinyl chair on the first floor near a long line for the bar, surrounded by tables dotted with peanut shells, a floor covered in discarded tickets, and a view of a small television screen.
It’s not the same, but it’s still exciting.
“You still get the spirit,” he said.
As post time drew near, the crowd was dotted with women wearing floppy straw hats with flowers and ribbons. Cigarette and cigar smoke blended in the air. People jostled past each other holding plastic cups of beer and unfolded wallets, while even the mere mention of a favorite horse by an announcer led to piercing whoops, laughter and loud applause.
Even before any racing began, there were shouts of “Come on, baby, come on.”
In one case, baby’s name was Big Truck.
Picking which horse to cheer for was, well, nothing scientific for Port Charlotte resident Steve Zawacki.
“Sometimes it’s research. Sometimes you just bet on the names,” he said.
Or, as his 17-year-old son, Greg, reminded him, sometimes it’s simply seeing a horse on the screen.
“He’s here so he can watch and learn from my mistakes,” Zawacki said.
If Zawacki described the Derby as something to have fun with and not take too seriously, others explained their interest in it as unavoidable, given where they grew up.
“I’m from Virginia, and there’s a lot of horse breeding that goes on there,” said Judy Peters, a Cape Coral resident for the past six years.
Before arriving at the track in Bonita Springs, she’d been watching races on all five of the televisions in her home since the morning.
But she wasn’t at the track just to watch. She’d have some money riding on the race.
“Yes, yes. The horses are beautiful, and when you bet on something to win, it’s just, ooh!” she said, clenching her fists by her face and grinning. “It’s a lot of excitement.”
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The race was great until the filly fell and had to be euthanized.
The risk for serious injury to these magnificent animals is known, but still heartbreaking to see such a beautiful horse suffer such a tragic end. At least the jockey was out of harms way when he was thrown a good ten feet.
Good for Big Brown, but sad for the owners of the filly.
#1 Posted by BlueTonguedVole on May 3, 2008 at 9:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Who at NDN repeatedly decides to promote the dog track and why?
#2 Posted by Bramble on May 4, 2008 at 4:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I love horses, daughter is a trainer. But I hate races like the Derby where they run these to young horses. Joints and bones are not mature at that age (3) and so you see the horror of broken joints as in this years Derby. Why must they race them so young. So sad and makes no sense.
#3 Posted by HARTLAND on May 4, 2008 at 7:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It is SO DISGUSTING that people breed animals for their own pleasure without any real regard for the welfare of the animals. Ms. Wright choose, in her rah, rah article for the dog track, to avoid any mention of Eight Belles who ran herself to death on legs much to fragile to support her body bred for racing. Shame on you Ms. Wright.
Even more sickening was the spectacle displayed by Big Brown's owners who were absolutely giddy with greed.
As the Washington Post accurately reported:
"But thoroughbred racing is in a moral crisis, and everyone now knows it. Twice since 2006, magnificent animals have suffered catastrophic injuries on live television in Triple Crown races, and there is no explaining that away.
Horses are being over-bred and over-raced, until their bodies cannot support their own ambitions, or those of the humans who race them. Barbaro and Eight Belles merely are the most famous horses who have fatally injured themselves. On Friday, a colt named Chelokee, trained by Barbaro's trainer Michael Matz, dislocated an ankle during an undercard for the Kentucky Oaks and was given a 50 percent chance of survival.
According to several estimates, there are 1.5 career-ending breakdowns for every 1,000 racing starts in the United States. That's an average of two per day."
Shameful!!!
#4 Posted by irishmist20 on May 4, 2008 at 9:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The track is shameful and disgusting. Why does the NDN always give this miserable place positive press? The people who go to establishments like this are nothing but low life scum, the dregs of society. Thanks NDN for indirectly promoting animal cruelty-no, directly promoting it. I know what goes on behind the scenes at the Naples/Bonita track and it's not pretty. The track should be closed, but the state of Florida needs all the money it can get, no matter the source.
#5 Posted by Colorado on May 4, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The sooner the Naples-Fort Myers greyhound track is a thing of the past the better. This form of "entertainment" is much the same as in ancient Roman times as the Colleseum was. Using animals such as greyhounds and horses for human amusement is sick. One would think that in the 21st century this barbaric practice would be history but I suppose as long as there is a profit to be made it will prosper. Greed reigns supreme in Bonita Springs.
#6 Posted by ravenhawk on May 4, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Irishmist
Those horses get treated better than anyone in your family has ever been. The career ending estimates are pretty darn good. According to you that’s 150 career ending breakdowns out of 100,000 races. That’s a minimum of 800,000 horses racing. Out of those, 121 horses go to stud for the rest of their lives and frolic in wide open fields . Wow! Pretty good in my book. Out of 1000 NFL games they have 23% career ending breakdowns. Those guys only get to sell insurance and cars. I guess you bet on Irelands best “Denis of Cork” who came in third.
#7 Posted by Stugots on May 4, 2008 at 8:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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