Once a Titan, Aqueduct Yields to 'Peppy Little Town'

The Belmont Stakes (G1) has been around long enough to have greeted the invention of the automobile and widespread indoor plumbing. World wars have come and gone without interruption of the race. The results of the first Belmont, in 1867, were broadcast by telegraph and a dozen New York City newspapers. The winner's name was Ruthless. She produced two foals, then was shot dead by a hunter. It has been well documented that the Belmont Stakes has been presented at Jerome Park and Morris Park before there was a Belmont Park, and then at Aqueduct Racetrack the last time Belmont Park was rebuilt. Now, with the creation of yet another version of Belmont Park on Long Island, Saratoga Race Course has been drafted into service June 8 for the third jewel in the Triple Crown. But what of poor Aqueduct? How the mighty have fallen. When the Belmont Stakes was shifted to Aqueduct in 1963, running the race at Saratoga was not even mentioned as an option. At the time, Aqueduct was a muscular part of the racing landscape, with an average daily attendance in 1962 of 30,924—behind only Hollywood Park's 31,406—and an average daily handle of $2,988,833, tops in the nation. The only real accommodation of the move to the Big A was the position of the starting gate to maintain the Belmont's 1 1/2-mile distance around Aqueduct's nine-furlong oval. The gate was placed on the backstretch, so that the timer could be tripped at the three-eighths pole. The turn came up quickly, and announcer Fred Capossella had to remind his audience that the field was coming into the stretch and past the stands "for the first time," to discourage cheers from those not paying attention. The Belmont Stakes lingered at Aqueduct for another four seasons. In 1963, Chateaugay, winner of the Kentucky Derby, won the Triple Crown rubber match against Candy Spots, hero of the Preakness Stakes. In 1964, a tired Northern Dancer could not close his Triple Crown deal and finished third to Quadrangle. In 1965, it was Hail to All in a thriller over Preakness winner Tom Rolfe, only a head separating them at the line. In 1966, another Triple Crown was shot down when Kauai King could not cope with the distance, finishing fourth to Amberoid. And in 1967, Damascus walked his beat to win by 2 1/2 lengths over Canada's gallant Cool Reception, who gave the winner a tough fight before cracking a cannon bone deep in the stretch. In his newsreel commentary on the 1963 Belmont, ABC's Chris Schenkel referred to Aqueduct as "a $33 million monument to Thoroughbred racing." Times change, and now Aqueduct is the shabby older brother who has been pressed into service for regular racing dates while fancy-pants Belmont Park is reimagined for the 21st century. When it came to the glittery Belmont Stakes, however, Aqueduct was deemed aesthetically unsuitable. The last time the Belmont Stakes needed a temporary home, the population of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was less than 20,000, and the town was decades removed from its glory days as a gambling mecca graced by the likes of Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russell. Hotels had gone vacant, the infrastructure was crumbling, and the 24 days of summer racing were vital to the local economy. By 1963, the massive Saratoga Springs Urban Renewal Program was underway, designed to "eliminate slums and blight; expand and strengthen the central business district; establish a central residential area; expand the tax base; provide off-street parking; and improve infrastructure and traffic patterns," according to the mandate of the Urban Renewal Agency. The director of the program was city planner Donald Veitch, and if the name sounds familiar, it should. "That was my father," said Michael Veitch, veteran racing journalist and currently working as official historian of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, located just down the street from the racetrack. "His father was Sidney Veitch, the former jockey and trainer, and Sidney's brother was Sylvester Veitch, the Hall of Fame trainer and father of trainer John Veitch, who is also in the Hall of Fame." For his part, Michael Veitch begat Matthew Veitch, a Saratoga County supervisor, and Greg Veitch, former chief of the Saratoga Springs police department. This is a long-winded way of certifying Michael as an authority of all things Saratoga, rather than listen to the long-range lobs of some goofball in California. "The '60s and 1970s were not good times for Saratoga," Veitch said. "And even though the concept of urban renewal would become a dirty word, it was not in those days. My dad had a great mayor and a great team, and they did a lot of things that we're still benefitting from today. "In 1963 this was a resort town, and racing was a big deal," Veitch continued. "For some businesses, the August meet was make or break. Today, it's just another part of our economy. Saratoga would not die without racing. It would hurt, certainly, but this is a peppy little city that does well all year long." Some of the merchants of that peppy little city see this week's racing festivities as manna from heaven. As Helen Watson, general manager of the Adelphi Hotel, told Bob Ehalt of BloodHorse in March, "It's going to be the summer meet on steroids." The Adelphi is charging about $4,000 a night for a three-night minimum, but price shoppers could get a room at a local Holiday Inn for about a grand. There is a reason steroids are illegal in horse racing. "It's not a good look for our city," Veitch said. "But I think I'm most upset at running the Belmont at a mile and a quarter." Like Aqueduct, Saratoga is a nine-furlong track. But rather than fashioning a start at the three-eighths pole for the Belmont's traditional mile and one-half, Saturday's 156th running will be shortened for only the second time since 1925 and commence in front of the grandstand. At least, Veitch noted, the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) will be run at its longstanding mile, even though the new Wilson Chute at Saratoga, with its hard left not far from the start, is hardly an ideal setting. "They were lucky to get only six horses in the field," he noted. "If it was much more, it would be very dangerous." The 1 1/4-mile Belmont still shapes up as an entertaining contest, with Derby winner Mystik Dan and Preakness winner Seize the Grey challenged by the talented Sierra Leone and Mindframe. And while the historian in Veitch might wince over a truncated classic—the Test of Champions Minus a Quarter of a Mile—he does wonder what this week's atmosphere would have been like had there been a Triple Crown on the line. Overwhelming comes to mind. "This may have been the first time they weren't rooting for the Derby winner in the Preakness," Veitch said.