Depending on your point of view, Philly Park has either been a handicapper’s nightmare or a longshot lover’s dream the last few days. On Tuesday, what surely can be considered a racing rarity occurred — back-to-back horses that paid more than $135 for a $2 ticket.
Yes, in Philly’s 3rd and 4th races, two mega-bombers blew up the toteboard. In the 3rd, the Pat Farro-trained Rymar came home to the tune of $135.60, followed in the 4th by the Diane Day-trained Out of Ireland, who returned $136.80.
Philly Park has been the site of many strange events over the years — remember jockey John Bisono, who was hit in the head by a flying goose, or the starting gate that was left sitting in the middle of the track when the tractor that pulled it ran out of gas? — but this pari-mutuel peculiarity really takes the cake.
And speaking of Philly, word from management is that the reason children are barred from the building during simulcast hours, and are only allowed in the picnic area and fifth-floor restaurant on live race days, is because slots players were letting their kids roam around the fifth floor unsupervised while they pumped quarters into the slot machines.
What I want to see is how the track handles the crowd on Kentucky Derby day, which always packs ’em in despite the fact that the Derby is a simulcast. Let’s hope the weather is nice and the betting machines and televisions are working properly out in the picnic area. In the past, I’ve always enjoyed hanging out there, but it’s a little smaller now since the slots construction took place, and some of the trees were hacked down.
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