I Went To a Hockey Game and a Horse Race Broke Out

[RolloTomasi]

Sorry, there isn't a "comments section" on the Santa Anita website.

Another one for the Turf Writer's Hall of Fame...

This is a quote from the most recent stable notes at Santa Anita lauding the bloated performance of The Great One, who trounced a "field" consisting of 3 other maidens included some Baffert hype job that stopped to a walk as the favorite first time out. Apparently that makes him a major Derby contender.

Keep in mind, Santa Anita is located in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Gretzky, lest we forget, holds a host of hockey records that would fill a goalie’s net, and is not only considered by many the greatest hockey player of all-time, but in some quarters, the greatest athlete of all time, justifying his nickname, “The Great One.”

Gretzky, now 59, played for the Edmonton Oilers from 1978 to 1999...

Couldn't have prefaced this botch job any better than that condescending "lest we forget" lead-in.

Gretzky was the centerpiece of what has become known as "The Trade" in 1988 when dealt by the Oilers (after winning the Stanley Cup that year) to...you guessed it...the Los Angeles Kings! In fact a large junk of that 1978 to 1999, Gretzky was in a Los Angeles Kings uniform, which had been altered to a black and silver color scheme a la the Los Angeles Raiders. He was as big as Kobe Bryant locally in his day.

On top of that, but during his time in LA, Gretzky obviously rubbed shoulders with future white collar convict Bruce McNall, who happened to be the owner of the Kings. McNall got Gretzky hooked on horse racing for at least a brief period and Gretzky bought into several top horses. Those included Japan Cup/Arlington Million winner Golden Pheasant, Arc winner Saumerez, and Honor Grades.

I guess the only thing left to say is "Puck You" hack turf writer (no one took credit for this travesty) for promoting the sport so well.

[blackthroatedwind]

It's bad enough that their notes have a history of some surprising comments, but how about the outlets that just send them out verbatim without even reading them?

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

It's bad enough that their notes have a history of some surprising comments, but how about the outlets that just send them out verbatim without even reading them?

You're right; I just realized that the PR posted that filth the day it came out (Jan 24). However, they snuck in a correction.

I'm sure someone must have posted the gross error in the comments section before they actually figured it out.

When Mystic Guide won the Jim Dandy they had this as a headline: "Son of Ghostbuster wins Jim Dandy"...

Sad part is there was an opportunity to connect Gretzky with horse racing beyond just having a horse named after him but this supposed "insider" either doesn't remember or doesn't care...

[Alabama Stakes]

I always thought Jackie Gleason was the Great One ? Soldier in the Rain with Steve McQueen and the Great One was Awesome.

[Left Bank]

I just printed the card for today(1-30-2021) and it's only 16 pages. Small fields

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Left Bank

I just printed the card for today(1-30-2021) and it's only 16 pages. Small fields

Because they couldn't card any turf races due to weather

[jnunan4759]

Golden Pheasant was a nice horse. Won $2.5 million in the early 90's Won graded stakes in France, Japan and the US. Including the Arlington Million.