Sooner Than You Think
The opening of the Casino at Hialeah Park will be any day now. Probably next Saturday, is the latest rumored opening. Meanwhile the new staff is being trained, there is a new cocktail waitress in the Mediterranean Lounge on the second floor and I spent a pleasant afternoon watching races from Saratoga, Louisiana Downs, an Monmouth Park.
The kind of updated lounge on the second floor of the was quite the place during "season" when Hialeah had horses like Citation, Seattle Slew, Devil's Bag, Alydar and others.
I could bet on races from home, over the internet, but I am both curious to watch the progress at Hialeah Park and figure I should support horse racing while I can. You don't know what you've got till it's gone might be a truism or a cliché.
In a few months I hope that Stolicknaya will be fast enough to visit Hialeah Park. Shortly, I will need to get an owners license to spend time on the backstretch as a member of the Thunderstruck Stable. Randy, who trains Stolicknaya has some other horses and the horse business can be interesting. The partnership I'm part of makes ownership affordable and possible. It has been an experience. Its had its sad moments, and priceless moments. Looking at the condition book for races, getting your picture taken in the winners circle and early mornings watching horses working out are some things that I will remember more clearly than hours in the office and on the road doing my job helping people find work and doing disaster relief work.
In 2010, I would have bet on Hialeah Park on becoming another industrial park, housing project,or just about anything other than getting another chance at being a race track even though it was just a feint to the right and left to get slot machines. From a jobs perspective there might have been better ways to invest money, but Miami is a tourist town where the weather is great from Octoeber to April and Hialeah Park will draw some tourists and provide some action to a part of the county that can use a shot in the arm.
I'm a bigger fan of race tracks than slot machines and the current marketing of casinos doesn't have much of a soul. I once won $1000 worth of free play and while it provided a chance to win even more money, pushing buttons repeatedly until I racked up 1000 points on my "players card" and could leave the minder with whatever was left on the machine. Boring, not fun, not a very freeing experience. Usually if one machine is cold you can go somewhere else on the floor where your luck might change. Be careful what you ask for.
In Miami the libraries in the face of budget shortfall will be cut back, fire rescue trucks moth balled, daily newspapers get smaller and the ocean floods many streets on Miami Beach even without hurricanes and tropical storms.
Lots of folks are worried about all the gambling in Miami these days. The area has a lot of unmet needs. Some of this stuff doesn't make any sense, except that as a population gets older they need to fill in some time doing something, getting out of the house before they can't get out of the house. Women will play slot machines and they will go the casinos and plunge their guts out as a solo activity even if they wouldn't go to the movies or out to dinner alone. Go figure.
I just hope I break even. I need the money.
The kind of updated lounge on the second floor of the was quite the place during "season" when Hialeah had horses like Citation, Seattle Slew, Devil's Bag, Alydar and others.
I could bet on races from home, over the internet, but I am both curious to watch the progress at Hialeah Park and figure I should support horse racing while I can. You don't know what you've got till it's gone might be a truism or a cliché.
In a few months I hope that Stolicknaya will be fast enough to visit Hialeah Park. Shortly, I will need to get an owners license to spend time on the backstretch as a member of the Thunderstruck Stable. Randy, who trains Stolicknaya has some other horses and the horse business can be interesting. The partnership I'm part of makes ownership affordable and possible. It has been an experience. Its had its sad moments, and priceless moments. Looking at the condition book for races, getting your picture taken in the winners circle and early mornings watching horses working out are some things that I will remember more clearly than hours in the office and on the road doing my job helping people find work and doing disaster relief work.
In 2010, I would have bet on Hialeah Park on becoming another industrial park, housing project,or just about anything other than getting another chance at being a race track even though it was just a feint to the right and left to get slot machines. From a jobs perspective there might have been better ways to invest money, but Miami is a tourist town where the weather is great from Octoeber to April and Hialeah Park will draw some tourists and provide some action to a part of the county that can use a shot in the arm.
I'm a bigger fan of race tracks than slot machines and the current marketing of casinos doesn't have much of a soul. I once won $1000 worth of free play and while it provided a chance to win even more money, pushing buttons repeatedly until I racked up 1000 points on my "players card" and could leave the minder with whatever was left on the machine. Boring, not fun, not a very freeing experience. Usually if one machine is cold you can go somewhere else on the floor where your luck might change. Be careful what you ask for.
In Miami the libraries in the face of budget shortfall will be cut back, fire rescue trucks moth balled, daily newspapers get smaller and the ocean floods many streets on Miami Beach even without hurricanes and tropical storms.
Lots of folks are worried about all the gambling in Miami these days. The area has a lot of unmet needs. Some of this stuff doesn't make any sense, except that as a population gets older they need to fill in some time doing something, getting out of the house before they can't get out of the house. Women will play slot machines and they will go the casinos and plunge their guts out as a solo activity even if they wouldn't go to the movies or out to dinner alone. Go figure.
I just hope I break even. I need the money.
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