Editorial: Misty day brings close to state horse racing

When thoroughbred racing ended at the Three County Fair in 2006, horse owners shook their heads. The loss of even small yearly venues like the Northampton track made it harder to sustain their business.



The closing of Suffolk Downs last weekend turns decline into defeat for the state’s horse-racing community, separating Massachusetts from yet another element of its agricultural tradition.



The future of wagering is up in the air in Massachusetts. A referendum question to repeal the state’s casino gambling law will be decided Nov. 4. But at the storied dirt track in East Boston, where Seabiscuit once raced and Beatles sang, the last losing betting slips have been torn up.



After decades of losses, the odds for a time looked halfway decent for Suffolk Downs. With Mohegan Sun as a deep-pockets partner, the track’s owners applied to be chosen as one of the three casinos allowed under the state’s casino gambling law. Officials with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission instead picked a Wynn Resorts project for Everett, though that too could collapse if voters deep-six the 2011 law fashioned by lawmakers.



Last weekend, lines at the Suffolk Downs betting windows were long, but many were there to capture a final experience in a museum of thoroughbred history. A group of horse owners proposes to race at Suffolk Downs next year, but most consider Saturday’s swings around the oval to be the track’s last. The scene was shrouded in mist, as if this place was already retreating into history.



What are bettors to do? They can follow others who like to wager into casinos, which have been taking business away from all but the most glamorous tracks, like Churchill Downs, for a long time. “Suffolk Downs has been my mistress,” one track regular told a New York Times reporter Saturday. “I can’t tell you how much I’ve spent. It’s astronomical.” While betting habits will have to change, that problem takes a back seat to the loss of jobs at Suffolk Downs — an estimated 325, not counting hundreds more people who have supported the racing industry in Massachusetts and around New England. Suffolk Downs was the center of their world for 79 years and is now an equestrian ghost town.



The long service of Bob the horse



Another passing in the horse world deserves mention.



A few weeks ago, a big man on the campus of the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, a 34-year-old Belgian draft horse named Bob, lay down and didn’t get up. Students and staff are still mourning a long-time school personality known for his gentle nature. The day Bob fell ill of colic, a severe intestinal disorder, students gathered around him and kept vigil. After a veterinarian came to end his suffering, students offered tributes to a hard-working creature adored by decades of classes. “Nicest,” one said. “Sweetest,” offered another.



Rosie Sutton, a 17-year-old student from Westfield, said Bob seemed to read people’s emotions. “Even though he doesn’t talk, he would just be listening,” she told Gazette reporter Gena Mangiaratti.



The horse business is changing at Smith Voke, just as it did at Suffolk Downs. The school this summer sold two draft horses and is now renting others, given changes in its agricultural instruction program.



Bob was a teaching tool, but became more than that. Perhaps no one appreciated him more than Don Baker, an animal science teacher. While plowing a field with Bob and another draft horse, Ed, Baker fell forward in front of the blade when the implement struck a stone. Bob abruptly stopped, an act Baker thinks saved his life. Bob’s reward? A mint every day for the next 15 years.









