Saturday, November 21, 2009

A WARM WEEK OF RACING IN CHILE

SANTIAGO, Chile--One of the problems with taking a two-week vacation around late October is the possibility that you could be traveling during the Breeder's Cup. Such was our fate this year.

The upside to such a trip is the chance to visit new racetracks.

We flew to Santiago, Chile, on the Thursday night before the Breeder's Cup (thankfully, the Yankees had won the World Series in Game 6, precluding a Game 7 that would have been played while we were in the air). Our ultimate destination was Vina del Mar on the Pacific coast with a long Spring weekend back in the capitol. We arrived in Chile on Friday morning and drove west immediately so that we got to Vina in plenty of time to see Friday's racing from Santa Anita.

However, the only place where we could have watched all the races was at the local off-track betting parlor called Teletrak. Even the most die-hard horseracing fan would be hard pressed to spend a sun-splashed afternoon in a resort beach town indoors watching the BC events after a nine-hour flight from Miami. Especially since the questionable charm of any sterile, off-site betting location translates even as far down toward Antarctica as Chile. We took in the local sites instead.

Certainly, Saturday's races would be broadcast on the ESPN Chile channel. They were not. We spent the early part of the afternoon channel surfing in hopes that at least one of the six cable sports channels would show the BC races. Instead, we had our choice of soccer, polo, soccer, tennis and soccer. At least we had a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean from the balcony.

Finally, the welcome sight of the post parade for the BC Classic appeared on our television screen. In a cruel twist, the network audio feed was supplanted by Spanish-speaking analysis.

The only distinguishable English word that we heard repeatedly was, "can-TOE-key" as each horse was introduced and the announcers cited where they had been foaled.

At first blush, one might characterize seeing only one Breeder's Cup race as disappointing. Those who saw the Classic would disagree with that assessment. Zenyata's performance was one for the ages. Her devastating kick down the stretch was awe-inspiring in any language.

Horse fans should feel a pang of disappointment for the connections of Quality Road, considering the promise of his season prior to the Kentucky Derby. After missing the Derby, he ran into more trouble at Santa Anita. Rarely has a top-flight horse balked so violently against being loaded into the gate. The assistant starter did a fantastic job of controlling the horse so that he didn't break through the starting gate prior to the stewards' decision to scratch him. Reports out of New York are that Quality Road refused to be loaded into the airplane and had to be vanned back to the East Coast. Astoundingly, the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct is under consideration.

Any lingering sadness about our inability to watch the BC was erased over the next week as we had the privilege of visting two racetracks--Valparaiso Sporting Club S.A. in Vina del Mar and then Club Hipico de Santiago. The track in Vina could be equated to a track like Charles Town (only with a marble clubhouse and no slot machines) while Club Hipico is a beautiful, majestic facility with the Andes mountains serving as a backdrop.

Surprisingly, neither track charged admission. In fact, the smaller Valparaiso didn't even have a toteboard or any concession stands. Racing fans bought impromptu picnic supplies at a nearby grocery store and then enjoyed their mid-afternoon meals on the grass near the track apron or in the grandstands. Our cab driver on the ride to the track mentioned that Jose Santos is from Vina and began his racing career there.

The total value of the 15 races on the Valpo card amounted to the equivalent of $47,000. The races were run counter-clockwise at distances ranging from 1,000 meters to 1,800 meters. There was a healthy array of exotic wagers offered, but the difficulty of deciphering the past performances in Spanish precluded us from placing anything except unsuccessful win bets.

At Club Hipico, they ran an astonishing 18 races clockwise over a maze of four courses (two dirt and two grass). The featured 14th race was contested at 1,200 meters for a purse of roughly $8,900 worth of Chilean pesos. American racing fans might be surprised to learn that the sheer number of races forces horsemen to bring their horses to the paddock to be saddled for the following race while the horses competing in the current event warm up on the track.

The 7th race was a testament to the fact that there exist certain universal truths in racing. It was a Maiden Special Weight (or "no ganadoras") with 15 3-year-olds entered to be run at 1,200 meters. A well-bred first-time starter named Indy Kada was the odds-on favorite at post time. It takes an exceptional horse to win first time out. When compounded by the challenge of running against 14 other horses, many bettors would be reluctant to take short odds on a horse making its debut.

Even Secretariat ran off the board the first time out (it was his only off-the-board finish) because Lucien Lauren wanted to try to cash a bet at Saratoga so he gave a bug boy a leg up. Lauen gave fellow Canadian Ron Turcotte the mount in the next race and Big Red galloped into history.

Indy Kada finished off the board in his debut. Whether running at Churchill or Club Hipico, an odds-on favorite running out of the money in a large field lights up the toteboard.

That toteboard at Hipico certainly looked terrific framed by Los Andes in the background.

 

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