6/1/2009..I’m just not gonna be able to do this without bringing up the lop-sided battle to get VLT’s in Texas, so if your tired of hearing about it, you might want to head for the exit. But I sure hope you stay, this might get good… I really would like to Salute the Oklahoma legislator’s for enabling the Horse Racing Organizations just north of the Red River to pull off a tremendous comeback from near collapse, by passing legislation to allow slots in their State in 2004.
..5 Years later.. Remington Park in Oklahoma City has just completed their 2009 Quarter Horse Meet and with the view from down here in Texas, it looked like a “Shock and Awe” campaign.. Huge purses for overnight races, a condition book full of Stakes Races that looked like they had been bankrolled by Jed Clampett and enough entertainment and gourmet food on hand to keep everybody smiling and rubbing their bellies.. The real stars though were the horses, along with the high profile owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys that swarmed around them.. Week after week the programs read like an all-star roster with superstar runners from around the country circling like buzzards, want’n in on the loot.
Red Cell Oklahoma Distance Challenge: Dustin Orona Photography
..I can’t imagine anybody that’s been keeping up with racing over the last few years, not applauding what just went on up there.. Maybe the one event that stands out to me, amid all the excitement, is what turned out to be a match race they managed to pull off in the Red Cell Oklahoma Distance Challenge.. The 870 yard fight to the finish, that will be talked about for years between Snowbound Superstar and Gone To The Mountain.. I’m still watchin the replay of that one, there were no losers in that race.
..So I guess what’s left me scratchin my head is, what’s the downside to any of this?.. There must be something to it ‘cause that’s all we hear from our Legislators down south of the Red River.. Some have decided that this VLT business is so bad for us, they need to block it from getting out to a public vote, in every session it comes up in.. So bad apparently, that all of us down here in Texas need to just forget about it and move on.. Just for kicks I checked, and I didn’t read anything about any recent spikes in criminal activity, or influx of suspicious characters hangin around the street corners of OK City. There were however, reports of a lot of happy people watching some World Class Horse Racing.. Word was, they might have filled up a hotel or two and bought up the supplies at some of the local businesses, though.. As it turns out, you’ve probably got a better chance of running into some of that suspicious activity we keep hearing about, in Austin come session time.
..Once again, hats off to the Legislators of Oklahoma and the folks at Remington Park for what you’ve accomplished..
Stretch/440post
