Playfair Gears Up For Winter Racing
How the public takes to the first winter season in the 60-year history of Playfair Race Course remains to be seen.
But as Friday’s scheduled opening draws near, the people whose livelihoods are at stake are diving into the challenge of putting on a cold-weather race meet on short notice.
As skies cleared Tuesday the tote board was lit up, track superintendent Earl Doidge was spreading salt on the groomed sand that is the racing surface, the Turf Club was heated and entries were listed for Friday’s six-race card.
The concern Tuesday was the absence of a temporary safety rail on order from Bay Meadows in San Mateo, Calif. The rail was scheduled to go up over the weekend.
Without a safety rail, horses have not had formal workouts. Director of racing Ted Martin has said the rail project will be completed prior to Friday’s opener.
Presiding steward Bob Lightfoot of Spokane is impressed with what he sees despite the weather.
“They haven’t pulled it off yet but there’s a good shot,” Lightfoot said. “They’ve worked their tails off day and night. I’ve seen lights on here at 3 a.m., if you can believe that.
“They had to grade (the track) and haul in sand. They put in a drainfield. Putting up the (new) outside rail took quite a while.”
Jockey Marty Wentz of Badger Lake said, “This - racing in Spokane - is what we live for. I’ve been a lot of places. I don’t want to leave town.”
Wentz said jockeys will ride as “long as we can make it around, as long as the surface is safe.
“We’re all in this for the long run,” added Wentz, a former Playfair riding champion. “If we can make it through this winter I’m sure we’ll get better dates in the future.”
The state racing commission ruled that Yakima Meadows, the state’s normal winter racing facility, would not race this winter.
Wentz said in the last four days horses have been trailered into Spokane “left and right.”
“There are 250-300 horses on the backside with more coming in all the time,” he said.
Jay Healy, an owner, trainer and leader of the Organization to Preserve Horse Racing in the Northwest, said horsemen are determined to make the winter a success.
“I’m really proud to be associated with these horsemen,” Healy said. “They’re really tough. Usually the Phoenix rises up from the ashes. This time it has risen through the ice and snow. It’s a tribute to how intense these people feel.
“We’re going to get it done.”
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Playfair opener Friday’s first post is 1 p.m. Fans can bet on six races in Spokane four thoroughbred events, two Arabian races - plus the full card from Emerald Downs in Auburn.