SportsFilter: The Saturday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
The local sports radio station 1010XL in Jacksonville gives its weekends over to one of the syndicated sports betting networks. Because of this I was very excited about Bad Larry to win number 9 at Saratoga. He would have been a scratch if the race was on turf but something changed and it wasn't going to be.
Fortunately my excitement did not extend to making a bet. He finished in third.
posted by rcade at 04:46 PM on June 11, 2024
A horse co-owned by former MLB star Jayson Werth won today's Belmont Stakes.
But that wasn't the main story.
The Belmont was held this year at Saratoga because Belmont Park is undergoing a huge multiyear $455 million reconstruction.
Horse racing being in a diminished state as a "national" sport and the Belmont Park property representing some highly valuable NY real estate, if I were a betting man, I'd bet 20 bucks on a lame horse long before I'd bet 455 million on the future of an aging facility and pastime.
I'd save the refurb millions, keep the race at Saratoga, and mint money on the Belmont acreage.
In 2026, they'll have a lavishly rebuilt facility at Belmont and even fewer people will be following horse racing than do so today.