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Best Laid Plans of Horse Lovers Often Miss the Boat

By GREG MELIKOV

Every so often there's talk of resurrecting Hialeah Park, the crown jewel of South Florida racing for decades. But each time the dialogue fades to a whisper, and then disappears like the racetrack did seven years ago.

The latest initiative warrants this warning first penned in 1785 by poet Robert Burns in his To a Mouse:

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

Translation: The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray; broken promises leave us with grief and pain.

I was heartbroken when once beautiful Hialeah died because I enjoyed many afternoons there since the '50s.

In '21, cattleman James H. Bright and aviation pioneer Glenn H. Curtiss donated property for community use and helped acquire land and money for buildings, including a racetrack. A year later, the Miami Kennel Club opened America's first greyhound pari-mutuel track.

In '24, the Miami Jockey Club constructed a racetrack and grandstand adjacent to the greyhound facility. On Jan. 15, 1925, Hialeah Park opened.

After buying the racetrack in '30 and transforming it into the most visited South Florida tourist attraction, Joseph E. Widener imported a flock of Cuban flamingos for the infield and gardens. Some have been relocated, but many still reside in their sanctuary on the infield.

Hialeah has always been noted for its turf course, the first in this country built in '33.

But its demise came as no surprise for several reasons.

As the center of the Miami-Dade County population moved northward and Florida horse racing was deregulated, Hialeah was caught between a rock (Gulfstream Park) and a hard place (Calder Race Course).

I wrote this shortly after the track was no more:
"Hialeah has survived hurricanes, losing the lucrative middle racing dates and declining attendance. Simulcasting the last several years still made Hialeah profitable. Without live racing, however, simulcasting is lost."

Lets return to yesteryear, just months after Hialeah went dark, when I received this astute e-mail:

"Hialeah owner John Brunetti and New York Racing Association chairman Barry Schwartz have had preliminary talks about NYRA running the 2003 Hialeah meeting. Brunetti and Schwartz confirmed they discussed the possibility. Brunetti said he contacted Schwartz twice recently about NYRA supporting a race meeting this winter.

"If Hialeah Race Course doesn't run a meeting in 2003, after failing to open this year ('02), it would be in jeopardy of losing its pari-mutuel license. If the 2003 Hialeah race meeting takes place, it will run from Jan. 3 to April 13, dates very similar to Gulfstream Park's. The last time two tracks went head-to-head in South Florida was in 1989, when Hialeah and Calder raced opposite one another for 27 days before Hialeah gave in."

Then I wrote: "There is a chance Hialeah Park, once considered one of the world's most beautiful tracks, will hold a meeting in 2003, but don't bet your last $2 on it. It's unlikely because the odds are stacked against such a rebirth."

The track remained dormant. Then the Save Hialeah Park movement fanned the fires of hope several years ago, but interest waned until this year.

Internet entrepreneur Halsey Minor, multimillionaire founder of CNET Networks, and Hialeah landlord John Brunetti met in August and discussions were called good.

Minor, a Virginia thoroughbred owner and breeder, is eager to fork over big bucks to restore Hialeah. It won't be cheap.

After their first meeting in August, Brunetti and Minor each said they expected it would cost upward of $40 million to refurbish the track. If Minor wants to buy the track that would cost upward to $40 million -- Brunetti agrees to sell.

When deregulation kicked in six years ago, Brunetti declined to race because the only uncontested day sandwiched between Gulfstream's winter meeting and the start of Calder's spring meeting was an afternoon in April.

The odds remain high that the track will host racing again. At least I have pleasant memories that includes quite a few winning days,

I'll always remember May 22, 2001, when I was among the 3,280 that attended Hialeah's swan song.

You might make a buck or two in trivia wagers if you know Cheeky Miss captured the 10th race when it joined the parade of tracks passing into the sunset.

Alas, poor Hialeah, I knew ye well.