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For Sale: Former Balmoral Park, Now Show Jumping Facility, Listed At $4 Million

Balmoral Park in Crete, Ill., hosted its final race in 2015 before the property went into bankruptcy. Purchased for $1.7 million in 2016, it was then transformed into a show jumping facility by New York-based Horse Shows in the Sun, or HITS, which hosted its first horse shows in 2017.

Now there are 10 arenas, renovated stables, and the racing grandstand with 4,400 seats still on the property.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Balmoral property is back on the market with an asking price of $4 million.

The 2016 deed for the 200-acre property prohibits gambling until 2026, but HITS confirmed last year that it had a pending deal with real estate developer Phil Goldberg, who planned to reintroduce harness racing and build a casino. Neither Goldberg nor HITS commented on the listing.

Balmoral was built as Lincoln Fields in 1926, and the name change to Balmoral came with a sale in 1955. The track has hosted both Thoroughbred and harness racing during its history.

Failed Pinnacle Race Course Property Set To Become New Site For Amazon Warehouses

What was previously Pinnacle Race Course is currently under construction to become two new Amazon warehouses. According to The Detroit Free Press, Amazon plans to bring about 1,000 jobs to the two warehouses being built south of Detroit Metro Airport.

John Enos, the township's community development director, said construction appears to be moving very fast. The warehouses being built on the one mile race track could be finished as early as next summer.

“One is going to be more warehousing, one will be more technology and separation and sorting,” Enos said to Detroit Free Press's JC Reindl. “They are pretty much located on the track, which is interesting to see from my standpoint as a planner and builder guy. There were a lot of very expensive soils put into that racetrack, different layers of sand and gravel, specifically put there for horses to run on.”

Christopher Girdwood, executive director of the Detroit Region Aerotropolis Development Corp., said that Amazon only plans to use 100 acres of the 650 acre site, leaving room for more development.

“This is not the only thing you are going to see at Pinnacle,” Girdwood said. “This is a large piece of property, and this project is just a small piece of it.”

At least $50 million in capital was sunk into the racetrack that opened in 2008 in the middle of the recession. It closed in 2010 with operational losses.

Normandy Invasion To Be Retrained For His Next Career As A Sport Horse

The National Thoroughbred Welfare Organization (NTWO) announced this week that former Spendthrift stallion Normandy Invasion has been gelded and will be retrained and rehomed by the organization.

NTWO farm manager and trainer Tayja Smith said that the multiple graded stakes placed earner of $551,900 is doing better than she had expected with the adjustment after she was warned he could have some aggressive tendencies.

“We pulled him off, and he was dead quiet,” Smith said. “He had his head right where it needed to be, walked super respectful in, settled right into his stall, and rolled and relaxed.”

Smith said that she is planning on trying group turn out soon after giving him some more time to get adjusted.

The 10-year-old son of Tapit has not begun any training yet. Smith said that she wants to allow him to pick up some herd dynamics as well as pass a veterinary check before she begins training with him. She plans to start his training on the ground and go from there.

“They kind of tell you what to do, I think,” Smith said. “I do everything by feel.”

Smith said it usually takes a week or two to get a horse where she wants on the ground, and then she starts the under-saddle training. When asked about what she might look for in a potential adopter for Normandy Invasion, Smith said that most importantly it should be someone who has experience with a stallion and someone who really bonds with him as a horse instead of just wanting him because he is well known.

“While he's very, very well mannered,” Smith said. “If he ever does decide to show stallion tendencies, I would rather it be somebody who is going to be confident with those tendencies.”

“I kind of want him to choose.”

Normandy Invasion was runner-up in the 2012 Grade 2 Remsen Stakes and the 2013 G1 Wood Memorial Stakes. He was bred in Kentucky by Betz/Kidder/Gainesway/Graves/D.J. Stable/Cole and is out of the Boston Harbor mare Boston Lady. Normandy Invasion was a $230,000 purchase as a 2-year-old by Fox Hill Farms, which campaigned him throughout his racing career with trainer Larry Jones. Fox Hill's Rick Porter is the founder of NTWO. Normandy Invasion is the sire of 13 winners from 43 starters, and his first foals are 3-year-olds of 2020.

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Equibase Analysis: Halladay Faces Tough Task In Ft. Lauderdale Stakes

The Grade 2, $200,000 Ft. Lauderdale Stakes this Saturday at Gulfstream Park drew 10 strong turf runners including Halladay, who won the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap this past summer at Saratoga. Bringing a perfect three-for-three record on the Gulfstream Park turf course into the race, Halladay earned his last four wins leading from start to finish, often running the field off their feet in the early stages then coasting along to the wire.

In the Ft. Lauderdale, Halladay draws the extreme outside post and should have a number of horses inside of him also vying for the lead such as Factor This (winner of the G2 Dinner Party Stakes in October) and Somelikeithotbrown (winner of the G2 Barnard Baruch Handicap in July). That makes for an interesting pace scenario which opens up the door for a number of other contenders.

Spooky Channel, who won the G3 William L. McKnight Stakes last January at Gulfstream Park, may appreciate the pace battle. So could Channel Cat, who won the G2 Bowling Green Stakes in the summer of 2019 and who returns from a nine-month rest. Breaking the Rules nearly won the G3 Canadian Turf Stakes over the course last March and may have a say. Largent won the Bert Allen Stakes when last seen in October and steps into graded stakes company for the first time, as do last out winners Doswell and Tide of the Sea. Last but certainly not least is Delaware, who won the G3 Shadwell Prix Daphnis in France last summer and who most recently was beaten a neck as part of a three-horse photo finish in the Artie Schiller Stakes.

Delaware may have turned a corner in his most recent race, his fourth since importing from Europe. After an eighth place finish at Belmont in June in a stakes race in his North American debut, Delaware finished second in a high level allowance race then shipped to Woodbine to run in the King Edward Stakes, where he was sent to post as the favorite but only managed to finish fifth. Given three months off, Delaware returned in the Artie Schiller Stakes in New York and proceeded to run his best race in the states to date, rallying late to miss winning by a neck and a head. The 107 Equibase Speed Figure is much higher than the 92 figure 2019 Ft. Lauderdale winner Instilled Regard earned and the effort is likely to be improved upon in the colt's second start back after three months away from the races. North American leading jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides Delaware right back after his big effort last month. With a contested early pace battle forecast between Halladay, Factor This and Somelikeithotbrown, it is very possible Delaware will be up in time to win.

Spooky Channel will likely be much further back in the early stages than Delaware, but he has the kick to post the upset, just as he did last January when winning the William L. McKnight Handicap. That effort earned a career-best 117, which he duplicated in May winning in a stakes quality allowance race. Jockey Julien Leparoux was aboard for both wins and rides again in the Ft. Lauderdale which portends well for Spooky Channel potentially to post the upset with a last to first rally.

Doswell has never finished worse than second in six career turf races, at distances ranging from seven furlongs to a mile and one-quarter. When returning from an 11-month layoff in August and after changing trainers to Barclay Tagg, Doswell ran the best race of his career with a 97 figure. Nearly two months later in October, Doswell ran even better, improving to a 104 figure. Since shipping to Florida from New York, Doswell put in a sensational workout of five eighths of a mile on turf in 58.6 seconds which was the best of 17 on the day at the distance, suggesting even better may be forthcoming in the Ft. Lauderdale.

The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Breaking the Rules (110), Channel Cat (108), Factor This (118), Halladay (115), Largent (109), Somelikeithotbrown (117) and Tide of the Sea (102)

Win Contenders, in preference order:
Delaware
Spooky Channel
Doswell

Ft. Lauderdale Stakes – Grade 2
Race 10 at Gulfstream Park
Saturday, December 12 – Post Time 4:40 PM E.T.
One and One Eighth Miles on Turf
3-Year-Olds and Upward
Purse: $200,000

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