Flatter: Vacation is over, but racing still takes time off

I got back from a long vacation last weekend. Really long. I knew I was getting eager to return to work when, with about five days to go, I found myself at a Louisville bar with a couple friends. Instead of carrying on with our usual banter about beloved wives, partisan politics, bad baseball and dirty jokes, we actually talked about racing.

If only racing had returned from its own long break.

They threw a Grade 1 race at Churchill Downs for older horses last week, but no Grade 1 winners showed up. In truth, one actually did for the Stephen Foster, but Classic Causeway’s turf triumph two years ago at Belmont Park looks more and more fluky with the passage of time. Throw that out, and the field came in a combined 0-for-21 at the top level.

It could have been worse. Like Saturday, when the biggest, most expensive race on the North America calendar this long, holiday weekend drew a whopping five horses. That would be the $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational. Come to think of it, that was the Grade 1 race Classic Causeway won a couple years ago.

Also Saturday, the Nerud (G2) drew five. The Dwyer (G3) four. Thursday’s Victory Ride (G3) five. If I did not know better, I would say BAQ looked more like SA. Saratoga and Del Mar cannot start soon enough.

While we wait and see what happens on either side of the country during the honest-to-goodness, true summer of racing, we had holiday distractions Thursday. Like the new snit between the New York Racing Association and FanDuel TV.

Actually, it is an old snit. We have seen this before, even if it was not exactly NYRA and the artist formerly known as TVG. Who has not lived through some channel or streaming service being cut off because our internet provider or satellite service or cable company was digging in its feet to avoid paying a jacked-up fee?

Talk about a Friday news dump. This Thursday holiday time bomb was a pyrotechnic dud that was served up to horseplayers, especially if we avail ourselves to the alternatives to watch NYRA races or bet on them.

As one industry insider told me between picnics and fireworks, “Almost all of NYRA’s big deals sunset on June 30. They want to have the leverage heading into Saratoga.”

This is a familiar summer feeling. Every July and August there are NFL training-camp holdouts who put their fanbases in a panic over their potential absences when the games start to count. And every September, right around Labor Day, these holdouts sign contracts just in time to miss the drudgery of the preseason and still show up for that first day of real practice on the Wednesday before the real competition starts.

All this leverage is built on money. Of course it is. Just as Ohlmeyer famously told Kornheiser, the answer to all your questions is money. And my money says this NYRA-FDTV battle will be resolved before 1:10 p.m. EDT on Thursday morning. I will put the over-under somewhere in the middle of Andy Serling and Sara Elbadwi talking horses.

All this, however, was not the strangest signal that vacation was over and summer was not. That actually landed in my inbox late Thursday morning in the form of a news release from Churchill Downs on behalf of Ellis Park.

“Today’s opening day card at Ellis Park Racing & Gaming will unfortunately be run without patrons due to unscheduled grandstand maintenance issue.”

Who did not read that and think the ancient grandstand on the other side of the river from Evansville had crumbled to the verge of being condemned? What else were we to discern from the phrase “unscheduled grandstand maintenance issue”?

Then we found out it was a problem with a recent thunderstorm that caused a power outage that somehow drained the water supply that did not recover in time for the fans who might have wanted to, number 1, have a thirst-quenching drink and, number 2, go number 1.

Somehow, then, in corporate speak, the water supply translated to “unscheduled grandstand maintenance issue.” That was like saying the great Chicago fire of 1871 was a cattle-barn management issue.

At least we were gifted with a new catchphrase. It can go right up there with some of the iconic four-word utterances of all time. “Will you marry me?” “Have a good day.” “No guts, no glory.” “You only live once.” “We finally beat Medicare.”

Please forgive this heaping helping of cynicism. Even a long vacation cannot cure me of what that sage Conan O’Brien declared 14 years ago to be his least favorite quality in humanity. Conan may need a friend, but he will not be desperate to make my acquaintance.

Frankly, I was refueled by a visit with old friends in my hometown Chico, Calif. I got to see Lake Oroville filled up to the rim of the dam two weeks ago. Since I returned to Kentucky, I read now that the nearby area is on fire. Sigh.

I also spent time in San Diego, where I managed to tour an old aircraft carrier and miss Del Mar. Have Thoroughbreds, will travel. I will make up for it in four months at the Breeders’ Cup.

Sharing drinks with friends after returning home last month was a grand way to complete the time off. Nothing like consuming spirits to buoy spirits.

Here is a toast, then, to better days coming next week at Saratoga and in two weeks at Del Mar. And here is hoping all this anticipation is matched by the reality, and that commenters below have plenty of new grist for this mill that has been idle for the past month. Remember my snark, accurately.

Ron Flatter’s column appears Friday mornings at Horse Racing Nation. Comments below are welcomed, encouraged and may be used in the feedback segment of the Ron Flatter Racing Pod, which also is posted every Friday.