An ode to much-maligned Aqueduct as sun sets for good on historic Queens track
“Good morning yesterday.You wake up and time has slipped away.
And suddenly it’s hard to find the memories you left behind.Remember.
Do you remember?” — Paul AnkaNo racing at Aqueduct on Monday.Or ever again.
Born Sept.27, 1894, the racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, will run its last horse race Sunday.Not many race fans will be reaching for the Kleenex box when the thoroughbreds load the starting gate for the ultimate nightcap.
OK, maybe after the race if their 32-1 shot loses by a nose.But for some, like this aging handicapper, it will mark the end of a lifetime of memories.If you asked 100 fans what their favorite racetrack is, you may hear two or three tell you Aqueduct.
And you would look at them as if they hadn’t quite heard the question.Saratoga is grand hats.
Aqueduct is backward baseball caps worn by fans trying to figure out if the speed will hold in the late double.Santa Anita’s backdrop? The scenic San Gabriel Mountains.The Big A? Mounds of dirt left by construction crews.
Churchill Downs? Mint juleps.Aqueduct? Beer.
Cold if you wait until Race 3.Gulfstream Park has flamingos.
Railbirds rule at the Big A.Three things you can count on: death, taxes and three or four maiden claiming races on every card.But Aqueduct is where Secretariat made his career debut — a loss on July 4, 1972.
It’s where Seattle Slew won the Wood Memorial before going on to win the Triple Crown.It’s where Pope John Paul II prayed for peace.
And where Tony Soprano and his gang prayed for Pie-O-My to win.I was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens — 115th Street between Rockaway Boulevard and Sutter Avenue.A furlong from Aqueduct.
From our attic, with the help of a pair of binoculars, you could see a part of the main track.From the street, you could hear the crowd roar.
We imagined — no, knew — it was for us as we played Wiffle ball in the yard.Watch the races on Fox Sports? That school you see in the distance? It’s P.S.100, where I learned to r...