Space Invasion: Finger Lakes

Tweet It's not exactly Bushwood.

My inaugural visit to the B level track, Finger Lakes, was a successful one even though the racing was pretty chalky (the late $2 Pick 4 paid $42). Located in the heart of wine country just a few miles from one of the most beautiful finger lakes, Canandaigua Lake, the Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack made for a homey visit on Saturday afternoon. Having two of the better known NY based jockeys, Edgar Prado and Mike Luzzi in town, made it an easy decision to make the hour and fifteen minute jaunt down Route 90.

Unfortunately there is no turf course at The Thumb, so we were relegated to dirt racing. The grandstands and box seats were nice and it was pretty easy to find a seat close to the action. The paddock could use some work, it seemed old and tired with an odds board that wasn't functioning. I had a couple beers in the Paddock Room Bar where they had a number of simulcast televisions going and the staff was friendly. There seemed to be a mix of families and hardcore players enjoying the racing. They had a tee-shirt giveaway for the NY Derby (for those obtaining a "Rewards" card for the slots). I overheard a couple conversations, the funniest was some elder gents sitting behind me complaining on how hard it was to read the PP's and it would take a lot of work to learn this game (although he came back and said maybe when he retired he would take it up). Another group of guys in their early 20s seemed to be having a blast, cashing some tickets and enjoying the sunshine. Here's a few shots of my day....

A good look at the tote board at Finger Lakes. Lots of information (and all of the bulbs were functioning).











#5 Lil Champ pulls away from the #6 Rosalie's Dance. Notice the 7-7-7 on the scoreboard....Jackpot!











Here's a look at the box seat reserved area....cost to sit in here: $3. Pretty reasonable and nice seats.











I was forced to hedge my bets all afternoon...













Edgar Prado with Steve Asmussen's assistant (to be named later) prior to the Arctic Queen....












As there is no video board at FL, this is how you tell who's in the lead while they're running on the backstretch....











La Concerto with Prado up overtakes Gold For The Queen in the stretch drive to win the $50K Arctic Queen.











Mike Luzzi explaining how he's going to ride Ibboyee to victory in the NY Derby...












Ibboyee and Luzzi take to the track.













Edgar on Flying Zee Stables' Shrewd One (a Smarty Jones colt).












There They Gooooo....in the NY Derby.













And down the stretch they come.....













Ibboyee crosses the wire in front of Shrewd One to win the NY Derby and garner his 3rd straight win in 3 tries over the Finger Lakes strip.










It was a great day of racing in the Finger Lakes region and great to see some quality racing there....