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    <title>At the Races</title>
    <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords</link>
    <description>Zast's TrackWords column by HorseRaceInsider.com contributing writer, Vic Zast </description>
    <dc:language>en</dc:language>
    <dc:creator>Vic Zast</dc:creator>
    <dc:rights>Copyright 2009</dc:rights>
    <dc:date>2009-05-31T05:30:00-05:00</dc:date>
   
    

    <item>
      <title>Remembering Esposito&#8217;s</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/remembering&#45;espositos/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[Once, this was Esposito’s Tavern, quite simply the best racetrack bar ever, anywhere. You knew the whiskey in the bottles was something other than the labels suggested, that the lines through which soda, water and beer flowed were cleaned with something less than rigid regularity and the popcorn that came in institutional&#45;size plastic bags was made at some point just after Man o’ War won the Belmont. But the bar was three&#45;deep in people who would eventually be inducted into &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[Once, this was Esposito’s Tavern, quite simply the best racetrack bar ever, anywhere. You knew the whiskey in the bottles was something other than the labels suggested, that the lines through which soda, water and beer flowed were cleaned with something less than rigid regularity and the popcorn that came in institutional&#45;size plastic bags was made at some point just after Man o’ War won the Belmont. But the bar was three&#45;deep in people who would eventually be inducted into &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-05-31T04:30:00-05:00</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>In the interest of vanity &#8230;</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/in&#45;the&#45;interest&#45;of&#45;vanity/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[And then, he will breed Rachel Alexandra to Curlin, a historic mating to be sure. This is not an accomplishment but a transaction in the style of IEAH Stable or Arab nobility. The Kentucky Oaks winner is in Steve Asmussen’s barn now, one of hundreds scattered at racetracks from Louisiana to New York. Hal Wiggins, her former trainer, feels the loss more than acutely than Asmussen will celebrate the addition to his arsenal. He trained Curlin and scores of stakes &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[And then, he will breed Rachel Alexandra to Curlin, a historic mating to be sure. This is not an accomplishment but a transaction in the style of IEAH Stable or Arab nobility. The Kentucky Oaks winner is in Steve Asmussen’s barn now, one of hundreds scattered at racetracks from Louisiana to New York. Hal Wiggins, her former trainer, feels the loss more than acutely than Asmussen will celebrate the addition to his arsenal. He trained Curlin and scores of stakes &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-05-10T03:29:00-05:00</dc:date>
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      <title>The last Saturday of April</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/the&#45;last&#45;saturday&#45;of&#45;april/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[The new race at the Jockey Club south of Louisville was patterned after the English Derby, the concept born from Colonel M. Lewis Clark, and embraced immediately by the leaders of Kentucky society. It has become something else entirely but the Kentucky Derby has endured the ages and evolved into the world’s most famous horse race – the American classic, which has blossomed with unique traditions become a two&#45;minute race upon which the first four months of every year is &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[The new race at the Jockey Club south of Louisville was patterned after the English Derby, the concept born from Colonel M. Lewis Clark, and embraced immediately by the leaders of Kentucky society. It has become something else entirely but the Kentucky Derby has endured the ages and evolved into the world’s most famous horse race – the American classic, which has blossomed with unique traditions become a two&#45;minute race upon which the first four months of every year is &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-04-26T03:27:00-05:00</dc:date>
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      <title>Mullins debate: Peering through the smoke</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/mullins&#45;debate&#45;peering&#45;through&#45;the&#45;smoke/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[Considering Mullins long and less than illustrious record, built primarily in California and other western states, where he is known as “Milkshake Mullins,” giving him benefit of the doubt out of the question, a possibility only for the naïve who would consider the remote possibility the Mullins is telling the truth. If Gato Go Win required a “cough drop” before a race, he should not have been running on Saturday. It would require an unreasonable leap of faith to believe &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[Considering Mullins long and less than illustrious record, built primarily in California and other western states, where he is known as “Milkshake Mullins,” giving him benefit of the doubt out of the question, a possibility only for the naïve who would consider the remote possibility the Mullins is telling the truth. If Gato Go Win required a “cough drop” before a race, he should not have been running on Saturday. It would require an unreasonable leap of faith to believe &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-04-12T05:17:00-05:00</dc:date>
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      <title>Sooner or later &#8230;</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/sooner&#45;or&#45;later/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[The Derby is an important objective for the Sheikhs who race in the various noms de course, Godolphin, Darley and Shadwell and while many Americans believe that it is not possible to prepare a horse in Dubai for the Kentucky Derby but it was considered until recently implausible to win the first leg of the Triple Crown off a five&#45;week layoff. Now it has been done twice in three years. All trends are eventually reversed and sooner or later a &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[The Derby is an important objective for the Sheikhs who race in the various noms de course, Godolphin, Darley and Shadwell and while many Americans believe that it is not possible to prepare a horse in Dubai for the Kentucky Derby but it was considered until recently implausible to win the first leg of the Triple Crown off a five&#45;week layoff. Now it has been done twice in three years. All trends are eventually reversed and sooner or later a &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-03-29T07:50:00-05:00</dc:date>
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      <title>A little sport, a whole lot of gambling</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/a&#45;little&#45;sport&#45;a&#45;whole&#45;lot&#45;of&#45;gambling/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[If racing were pure sport there would no need of betting. Huge crowds would pay admission but there would be no more than a few dozen race cards held during the year. It would again be a sport only for the elite wealthy with the means to breed and race a handful of horses, like present day steeplechase and the show horse circuit. The breeding business would all but disappear. Everyone would wear tweed. But it doesn’t work that way. &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[If racing were pure sport there would no need of betting. Huge crowds would pay admission but there would be no more than a few dozen race cards held during the year. It would again be a sport only for the elite wealthy with the means to breed and race a handful of horses, like present day steeplechase and the show horse circuit. The breeding business would all but disappear. Everyone would wear tweed. But it doesn’t work that way. &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-03-22T03:26:00-05:00</dc:date>
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      <title>Report: At least the governor is happy</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/report&#45;at&#45;least&#45;the&#45;governor&#45;is&#45;happy/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[“Belmont Park is an enormous asset for economic development in New York,&quot; Paterson said in a statement. &quot;I commend all of the participants for their thoughtful analysis and commitment to the Belmont Park redevelopment study recommendations. In these times of fiscal crisis, it’s important that we move forward with projects like Belmont, which can create new jobs, generate additional tax revenue, and bolster economic development in the surrounding communities in Nassau and Queens Counties.” Yeah, right. The chosen operator of &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[“Belmont Park is an enormous asset for economic development in New York,&quot; Paterson said in a statement. &quot;I commend all of the participants for their thoughtful analysis and commitment to the Belmont Park redevelopment study recommendations. In these times of fiscal crisis, it’s important that we move forward with projects like Belmont, which can create new jobs, generate additional tax revenue, and bolster economic development in the surrounding communities in Nassau and Queens Counties.” Yeah, right. The chosen operator of &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-03-01T13:00:01-05:00</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>The numbing chill of winter in New York</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/the&#45;numbing&#45;chill&#45;of&#45;winter&#45;in&#45;new&#45;york/</link>
      

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 <![CDATA[The quality of winter racing at Aqueduct is now the best argument for a break in the New York schedule. So, like many others, winter racing is observed from a couch in the living room and wagering, what little there is, is carried out on the Internet. This eliminates exposure to both the first&#45;level clubhouse at Aqueduct and the Belt Parkway. But living with the Long Island cable system that carries the NYRA feed is not the ideal alternative to &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[The quality of winter racing at Aqueduct is now the best argument for a break in the New York schedule. So, like many others, winter racing is observed from a couch in the living room and wagering, what little there is, is carried out on the Internet. This eliminates exposure to both the first&#45;level clubhouse at Aqueduct and the Belt Parkway. But living with the Long Island cable system that carries the NYRA feed is not the ideal alternative to &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-02-22T04:14:00-05:00</dc:date>
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      <title>The comfort of timelessness</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/the&#45;comfort&#45;of&#45;timelessness/</link>
      

<description>
 <![CDATA[Racing in Lexington, Kentucky, continued, with understandable interruptions, throughout the Civil War. In Louisville, the sport was halted for the first two years of the war, but was resumed before it ended. Federico Tesio, the legendary breeder, owner and trainer of a legion of champion horses and two legends, Nearco and Ribot, observed that, during World War II, the horses at his Dormello Stud, in the north of Italy, became oblivious to the explosions of bombs that fell nearby. The &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[Racing in Lexington, Kentucky, continued, with understandable interruptions, throughout the Civil War. In Louisville, the sport was halted for the first two years of the war, but was resumed before it ended. Federico Tesio, the legendary breeder, owner and trainer of a legion of champion horses and two legends, Nearco and Ribot, observed that, during World War II, the horses at his Dormello Stud, in the north of Italy, became oblivious to the explosions of bombs that fell nearby. The &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-02-08T04:59:01-05:00</dc:date>
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    <item>
      <title>What exactly is racing&#8217;s &#8220;new media?&#8221;</title>
      <link>http://www.horseraceinsider.com/at&#45;the&#45;races/01112008&#45;what&#45;exactly&#45;is&#45;racings&#45;new&#45;media/</link>
      

<description>
 <![CDATA[Many newspapers will, in some form, endure the current storm of change but in a form unfamiliar to those of us who grew up reading great sportswriters and columnists of the last century and who aspired to follow. Eventually, racing and other niche sports will be forced to develop industry supported news agencies to service publications no longer capable or willing to expend the resources necessary to cover the even major events. No American newspaper outside Kentucky or New York &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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<![CDATA[Many newspapers will, in some form, endure the current storm of change but in a form unfamiliar to those of us who grew up reading great sportswriters and columnists of the last century and who aspired to follow. Eventually, racing and other niche sports will be forced to develop industry supported news agencies to service publications no longer capable or willing to expend the resources necessary to cover the even major events. No American newspaper outside Kentucky or New York &#8230;<br/><br/><a href='http://www.horseraceinsider.com/Zasts-TrackWords'>MORE...</a>]]>
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 <dc:date>2009-01-11T04:41:01-05:00</dc:date>
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