I’m rooting for these guys.
Several new racetracks within driving distance of the Cleveland metropolitan area have opened in recent years. Each one has registered high on my couldn’t-care-less meter. A new track inevitably opens because wagering on horses isn’t the only form of gambling the place offers.
That’s why I’m rooting for Pinnacle Race Track, which opened a 63-day season Friday, to succeed. What we have here is a thoroughbred track making its debut in a state where casino gambling at racing venues isn’t legal.
Pinnacle isn’t Presque Isle Downs, a place built specifically because the commonwealth of Pennsylvania legalized “racinos.” My excitement when Presque Isle opened was on par with my excitement when a new Wal-Mart opens.
Pinnacle is in Michigan, just south of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Yes, Michigan — the poster child for economic downturn. The Detroit area, which has taken an economic pummeling for almost 30 years, is where the big boys and girls are trying to revive a sport that has been written about for years, usually with the word “dying” in the first paragraph.
And no slots. Good luck, folks.
Well, I wish them good luck. Besides, they’re trying to insure that luck has nothing to do with it. They’ve already built a dirt track that industry experts say is as good as what you see at Churchill Downs. A turf track will be added. So will a corporate pavilion, a 4,000-seat grandstand, a clubhouse, a covered patio, a picnic area and nine (nine?!) restaurants.
And it will be part of what Wayne County is hoping will be a swath of development between the county’s two airports, Metro and Willow Run. Someone is thinking big here.
This is David against Goliath, or perhaps Don Quixote attacking windmills. Skeptics are everywhere. Even those in the industry are saying it might be foolish to open a racetrack without “other forms of gambling.”
I certainly do not want Pinnacle to take any customers away from Thistledown, and with no casino gambling and gasoline at nearly $4 per gallon, I doubt it will. Still, this is a test. Can horse racing make it on racing horses alone? Can young sports fans catch on to a great tradition? Or will the state eventually legalize on-track casinos, making it all moot?
But if Michigan does not come to the rescue and this place fails, this could be the largest Detroit-based disaster since the Edsel. The price tag for Pinnacle is a beastly $72 million.
This is worth watching.

Thistledown thoughts

Finally, a newbie breaks the veterans’ hold on a riding title.
Louis Stokes captured his first ever riding championship as the Summit-Thistledown Meeting ended Thursday.
Stokes, 29, won 38 races during the 56-day meet, despite being winless in three tries Thursday.
Weldon Cloninger Jr. and Jeffrey Skerrett, co-champs at the 2007 meeting, finished second and third with 36 and 35 wins, respectively. It was Stokes’ first championship at any track.
Jeff Radosevich won the Summit-Thistledown Meeting training title with 34 winners. Rodney Faulkner was second with 29.
It was the 12th championship for Radosevich at Thistledown. He is the only horseman in track history to be champion jockey as well as trainer.
Radosevich was the leading rider in 1988.

Northfield notes

Former Northfield trainer Craig Stein has made his name on the professional poker circuit. Last week he finished No. 39 in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, cashing for $154,400.
Stein, who considered selling his seat in the final, was quoted as saying, “I never really wanted to play against a lot of people. I’ve always played against smaller fields, but a friend of mine persuaded me to play the main event.”
He qualified for the WSOP main event in a $10,000 qualifier at Mountaineer Park.
• Keno debuts at Northfield Park on Aug. 4. The primary Keno area will be in the Trackside Lounge, winning numbers will be broadcast throughout the facility.
Games run every four minutes and patrons can wager between $1 and $20, selecting up to 10 of 80 numbers.
• Live Wednesday racing resumes at Northfield next week. With next week’s return to a four-night live schedule, first race post times each night will be 7 o’clock.
The track will return to late-afternoon and evening Wednesday simulcasting as well.
On July 26, Northfield hosts the $125,000 Summit County Fair Stakes and will open early for simulcasting.
The track offers wagering on 26 thoroughbred and 15 harness tracks that day with racing starting at 12:25 p.m. and continuing until about 1 a.m.
• The Little Brown Jug Future wager debuts next week at Northfield and other locations across the country.
Wagering is available Thursday-Sunday during regular wagering hours. Additional future pools will be available in August and the week before the Jug itself.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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