BEYER: Hialeah visit pleases, raises hopes

[Kasept]

The old girl hasn't lost her looks
By Andrew Beyer

http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do...9&subs=0&arc=0

HIALEAH, Fla. - People who remember the glory days of Hialeah Park surely feel a sense of trepidation as they walk into the racetrack this winter. Out of business since 2001, Hialeah reopened in November as a Quarter Horse track. Instead of being a showcase for the greatest Thoroughbreds in the United States, Hialeah offers dashes for cheap horses that are known for their sprinting ability but that generate little interest and minuscule betting totals. A visitor might feel the way he would if he was about to meet an old flame after decades have passed. Are all of your beautiful memories about to be tarnished?

Yet when you step inside Hialeah's storied clubhouse, you can immediately see and remember why this was once the greatest racetrack on Earth. Owner John Brunetti Sr. spent some $8 million refurbishing the facilities for this Quarter Horse meeting, and the clubhouse is spic and span. It is an elegant building with grand staircases that give the place the atmosphere of a palace rather than a parimutuel facility. It is decorated with the silks of C.V. Whitney, George D. Widener, the Greentree Stable and the other patricians who campaigned their horses here every winter.

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