After 131 years of racing, the historic Aqueduct track will be hosting its final day of racing on June 28. Aqueduct, also known as “The Big A,” first opened its doors on September 27, 1894, with grandstand seating that could host 2,000 fans. With such a historic track nestled in Queens, NY, we can’t tell you all of the amazing accomplishments and memories, but I will share one…
My fondest memory of Aqueduct racetrack was back on a beautiful sunny day in early April 1979, when I was saddling a maiden 3-year-old filly on a gorgeous spring day. My stable, The Buckland Farm 2nd division, was stabled in Barn 61 at Belmont under thetutelage of trainer O D Lee. Johnny Campo had the first division. There was a bit of a rivalry between the two trainers. Mr. Campo would come over every once in a while, with his assistant and foreman (that's when I first met Bruce Levine), and walk up and down the shed row. He would taunt O'D as to which horses he was going to ask Mr. Evans to send over to his barn. Soon after that, Mr. O D Lee would go into the barn office and raise hell with the boss and start throwing stuff around. You knew not to go anywhere near the office for the rest of the day.
Running at Aqueduct was a day-long adventure. If you had a horse entered, you would take the shuttle over with your horse to the receiving barn at The Big A. At that time, six or seven hundred horses were stable there, so there was a bustle of activity besides racing. That day I was stabled between Eddie Sweat sitting in front of Pearl Necklace to the right and an empty stall across the gap to my left that eventually would be overfilled with a giant horse by the name of Czaravich. Czaravich had just won 2 in a row and was on the New York route to the Kentucky Derby. At that time, as the media would put it, he was one of the talking horses. He was trained by Billy Turner.
It was a very sunny day, and I remember when he walked into the barn, the sun glistened off his copper chestnut coat. The shine on that horse's coat would actually make you squint with its brightness. He glistened so. You could sense his sheer power and presence. He was magnificent!! It took three guys to walk him into the stall. He had an iron halter, which is something they put over a halter to give a groom more control. It wasn’t working! One by one, Eddie and I would hear somebody scream and get thrown out of the stall. At that point, Billy Turner himself went in with the assistant trainer, got a hold of the horse, tied him to the back wall, and waited for their race later that day.
I had the memorable pleasure of sitting with Mr. Eddie Sweat for quite a few hours just talking horses. Secretariat came up in the conversation, but I sensed it was a tough subject for him, as anyone could see he missed him. So, my attention shifted to his latest star: Pearl Necklace, whom he referred to as Aunt Pearl. They were sitting in front of the stall of this gargantuan race mare; you could sense the love and affection he had for all horses. He even asked me about my filly and gave me some tips. My impression of Pearl Necklace was that she was a giant, powerful mare with a very kind eye and floppy ears, and boy, she could run.
I got my first call, put the bridle on my filly, and on the second call, we headed up to the saddling paddock.
This was my first time, saddling a horse in the Aqueduct paddock, and back then, it was down in a hole, and people were all around the paddock, looking down, leaning on a rail. There was no glass back then. Maybe because of this incident, they put up the glass. Angel Cordero was named on my horse, and I imagine (I’ll never know and I don’t remember), but he may have (what they call in degenerate gambling parlance) stiffed the favorite in the last race. Which of course he didn’t, but you wouldn’t tell all the people that lost money on the favorite in the previous race anything different. Anyway, I go to leg him up on my first time maiden filly, we’re taking a turn around the saddling paddock, and the expletives start, people cursing and yelling and calling him all kinds of names (which I won’t and can’t repeat here!) After that, are you ready for this? Empty beer cans showered down on us as we were taking a turn around the paddock. Yes, you heard me, a shower of empty cans, programs, and anything else they could get their hands on! I said to myself, "Welcome to New York!" It was unbelievable! Talk about passion, talk about mayhem, talk about crazy people, throwing cans, programs, and everything down into the paddock at Mr. Cordero as he prepares to walk up the ramp into the post parade. I was shocked, and I’m from New York. It sort of fits Aqueduct, a big day at the track, and passionate degenerate handicappers going nuts. My filly ran 3rd. She got quite the paddock schooling and still ran 3rd.
I recounted this story with Angel three or four years ago at the gap of the Oklahoma track at Saratoga, and we both laughed, and believe me, he remembered it. So yes, fond memories of the big A. I will miss her!