For those of you who may be looking for a New Jersey connection to this year’s Kentucky Derby, look no further than the winner of today’s Florida Derby — Scat Daddy. The son of Johannesburg is owned by Rumson resident Jim Scatuorchio, a retired Wall Street broker and a regular at Monmouth Park for many years. Scatuorchio said that Monmouth Park was the place where he took his wife Terry on their first date.
Scatuorchio has had plenty of success with his thoroughbreds lately. He also owns the top turf horse English Channel and several years ago campaigned the good 3-year-old More Than Ready.
The one and only time I walked "the walk" from the backstretch to the paddock with the Derby horses at Churchill Downs was in 2000, the year More Than Ready competed. And it was More Than Ready’s entourage with whom I strolled over, right in front of the eventual winner, Fusaichi Pegasus. That was an experience I’ll never forget, and I’ve always closely followed Scatuorchio’s horses since then. More Than Ready has become a very successful sire, too.
Scat Daddy looks like he’ll be a force to be reckoned with on May 5, and luckily for Scatuorchio he’ll have another chance to see and hear the big crowd and view the Twin Spires atop the grandstand at the historic Louisville racetrack when he "walks the walk" again. I’ll certainly be pulling for him.
On a completely different topic, can you believe that an off-track wagering facility has FINALLY opened in the Garden State? It was over seven years ago when enabling legislation was signed in the library at Monmouth Park, but legal mumbo-jumbo and governmental red tape delayed the opening far longer than it should have. The first parlor, christened "Favorites in Vineland," opened on Delsea Drive in that town, and it’s owned and operated by Greenwood Racing Inc., the folks who bring you Philly Park and its six Turf Clubs. The second OTB will open either in Woodbridge or Toms River.
Speaking of the Toms River site, it has encountered some opposition from the local community, since it’s being constructed very near a senior citizen development. They fear the OTB will bring crime and a spike in compulsive gambling, but personally I think those fears will be soon be put to rest once it opens.
When I retire, I hope to live near a racetrack or OTB, ’cause I know it’ll give me plenty of excitement in my "golden years."
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