I'm going to be doing the weekend preview tomorrow, as there are several stakes races at Oaklawn that have not been drawn yet, I would like to preview them. Starting next Weds. until the end of the TC, Weekend Previews will be on Friday's and Stallion Spotlights will be on Weds.
Instead I'm going to be talking about Magna. This is the company that is run by Frank Stronch, who also owns Adena Springs in KY, FL and has a broodmare/stallion string in Canada. Unfortunately even though he is a good breeder who had bred some amazing horses (Awesome Again, Ghostzapper and Ginger Punch to name a few), as a businessman, Magna is struggling, big time. They are about to go bankrupt after defaulting on a few loans including one by the Maryland Jockey Club, link. They are also about to be delisted not only on the Toronto Stock Exchange, but possibly NASDAQ as well, link. The hugest blow of them all could be the closing of tracks. This is includes Santa Anita, and that would be a huge blow to Cali racing which lost Bay Medows over a year ago, link.
All in all, this is not good news for horse racing. It sucks that the economy is taking a hit on horse racing. But, then again horse racing is sadly not as popular anymore. Football is king in the US, with baseball and basketball not far behind. Could a Triple Crown winner fix that? It might be too little too late for that, but would possibly get racing back into people's minds. Either way, I'll be very interested in what the future holds for Magna. Lets hope it's for the better and not the worse.
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