Kudos to the NY Times for getting people good and stoked for tomorrow’s Belmont Stakes.
“NEW YORK LAGS IN EXAMS OF DEAD HORSES”, goes the lead story in today’s Sports section, while the dek reads “Necropsies are expensive, but veterinarians say they yield valuable information.”
Uh, couldn’t you just lead with something about Calvin Borel’s upbringing, and how he learned to speak that peculiar Creolnglish dialect he speaks? Give us a nice big pic of a glistening thoroughbred or something?
In fact, the paper does not offer a single story about tomorrow’s races.
The LIRR is of course offering numerous train options out to the 141st running of the Stakes, with 18 eastbound trains from 10 a.m. to 4:10 p.m. First race is 11:35.
The railroad says it’s enforcing a no-alcohol policy on the train, and Belmont Park won’t let you bring in booze either.
Bags and coolers are subject to search prior to boarding Belmont Park trains at Penn Station and at Jamaica Station. On Belmont Stakes Day, no alcoholic beverages of any kind will be permitted to be brought into Belmont Park. The restriction regarding alcohol has been enacted in the interest of patron safety and in an attempt to make sure that people drink responsibly.
All I can say to that is, wow. At least I have fond, if fuzzy, memories of Sweet Pete mixing Bloody Marys out of a giant Hefty bag from his perch on an LIRR five-seater. They can take my booze away but they can’t take my memories.
[image: sanibelcaptivadaily.com]