The rebirth of Hialeah Park: Racing returns Nov. 28

By Michael Vasquez
mrvasquez@MiamiHerald.com
© Copyright 2009 Miami Herald
Thursday, September 15,2009

Opening Day at Hialeah Park in 2001, the last year of active racing there. Two days after Thanksgiving, historic Hialeah Park is planning to again come alive, offering three words a horse-racing fan can be thankful for: ``And they're off!''

After more than eight years of hibernation and decay, Hialeah Park has selected Nov. 28 as the first day of live racing under its new quarter-horse racing permit. Poker games are also expected to be offered at Hialeah, with the beeps and flashes of slot machines arriving a year or so later.'

Horses will run at Hialeah for 40 days, concluding on Feb. 2. State regulators must still sign off on the racing dates, but that approval is likely, as it hinges on Hialeah merely demonstrating that its facility meets basic public safety standards.'

State lawmakers this year paved the way for Hialeah's rebirth by allowing the track to install slots after holding races for two calendar years. Hialeah is knocking out that requirement all at once -- holding one 20-day race season in November and December, and another season in January and February. '

Hialeah's legal right to slots is linked to the ongoing gambling compact negotiations between the Seminole Tribe and the state of Florida, but track owner John Brunetti is confident that even if those talks collapse, lawmakers won't rescind the Hialeah Park slots provision that was included in the compact bill.'

The full restoration of Hialeah Park -- a national Historic Landmark -- could take years and $100 million or more. For now, Brunetti is focused on the essential repairs needed to host live racing in November. There's air conditioning and plumbing work to be done, handicapped-access upgrades needed, temporary stables to be built.'

``A lot of hard work and a lot of overtime,'' Brunetti said. ``But we're doing our best.'''

RENOVATIONS'

While the clubhouse will be used, other parts of the facility, for now, will stay closed to the public. Crowds, forthe most part, willbe accommodated intents -- similar to when Hallandale Beach's Gulfstream Park held races several years ago while undergoing massive renovations.'

Those who remember Hialeah Park's glory days -- the majestic Renaissance Revival architecture, the lush landscaping, the country's best horses -- will notice some differences when Hialeah reopens. Though still stunning in its beauty, the track bears the dusty scars of its eight-year closure. In some spots, the paint has peeled; in others, the roof sags. '

Hialeah's trademark pink flamingos still roam the property, however -- vibrant and eye-catching as ever.'

Brunetti readily acknowledged that the track's needed makeover won't be done by Thanksgiving.'

``It's going to look like a beautiful woman undergoing some plastic surgery,'' Brunetti said. ``Partially there, but not quite there.'''

The horses that will run this time around are likewise not as legendary as Citation and Seattle Slew -- horses that got their start at Hialeah and then triumphed in the Kentucky Derby and other marquee races.'

Those horses were thoroughbreds, while the races Hialeah Park will now host feature less-glamorous quarter horses. The horses are so named because they excel at sprint-like, quarter-mile races. '

Quarter horse races haven't been held in Florida since 1991, but the races gained new interest in recent years because quarter-horse permits were relatively easy to obtain -- and carried lucrative additional benefits, such as the ability to host poker games. '

LEADING THE WAY'

Several other quarter-horse tracks are in the works elsewhere in Florida, but none has yet submitted its race dates to the state. So long-shuttered Hialeah -- which once seemed destined for the wrecking ball -- will be the track that revives a long-dead brand of horse racing in the Sunshine State. '

``Ultimately, the goal is to get back into thoroughbred racing,'' said state Rep. Esteban Bovo, a Hialeah Republican who is also a former Hialeah Park employee. After that, the promise of slots revenue is fueling even bigger dreams.'

``You may end up seeing a Hialeah with a five-star hotel, a casino, a town center, restaurants, bars,'' Bovo said.'