Aqueduct

We seem to be having a lot of goodbye parties, funerals and pity parties in racing lately. I'm just not sure where to send the flowers.

FanDuel/TVG shuts down its television department, yet still wants you to bet with them. Aqueduct is closing its doors, soon to be leveled. And, as usual, the horseplayer is who barely gets a mention.

I've met all kinds of handicappers over the years. From the guy in Las Vegas who looked me straight in the eye and said, "You're good, but I'm better," to gentlemen like the late Brian Herrity. What a wonderful man.

Brian was a terrific handicapper. He played in all the major tournaments and always had a word of wisdom. Around 2011, he pulled me aside and asked, "Can I tell you how I play the races with your products?"

Of course, I was all ears. I respected Brian as both a handicapper and a person. If memory serves me correctly, he was in the candy wrapper business.

He started explaining how he used our selections.

"You see," he said, "a lot of players use your picks to validate their own. I don't. I want to know what you have that I don't."

Brilliant.

Then he smiled and added, "I hit a lot of horizontal wagers using that approach."

You could almost see the twinkle in his eye.

I had never looked at it that way. I always figured handicappers were a stubborn bunch. They knew best. Their picks were gold, yours were garbage. Not Brian. He wasn't looking for confirmation. He was looking for an edge.

There is a difference.

Brian passed away a few years ago. There was no fanfare. No industry-wide goodbye. No celebration of a man who poured a tremendous amount of money through the mutuel windows and represented exactly the kind of horseplayer this game was built on.

When people mourn Aqueduct, they aren't simply mourning a racetrack. They're mourning family traditions. Mothers, fathers, uncles, cousins, all gathering at Aqueduct on weekends, sharing races, stories and memories. That's what they're grieving.

I understand that completely.

For the De Julio family, it was Mission Bay in San Diego. Right off Interstate 5. Family and friends gathering every chance we got. Food everywhere. Bocce ball games that never seemed to end. Laughter. Stories. Life.

Even today, every time I drive by Mission Bay, I can't help but think about my teenage years and my twenties spent there with family and friends.

That's what Aqueduct represents to so many people. It's more than concrete and grandstands. It's nostalgia. It's tradition. It's part of who they are.

So yes, this is a funeral.

A funeral for Aqueduct.

And in many ways, it reminds me of saying goodbye to Brian Herrity.

Both gave this game something priceless. Support. Friendship. Memories.

There will never be another Aqueduct.

There will never be another Brian Herrity.

As for me, I'll miss Aqueduct. We filmed the pilot episode of Horseplayers there back in 2012, with Peter Rotondo, Jr & Sr, and Lee Davis, those memories will stay with me forever.

As for TVG.com?

I can tell you one thing for sure—I won't be making any wagers there. Period.

May Brian Herrity and Aqueduct both rest in peace.