Having spent a lot of time at Fairmount as a child, I can really only say one great thing about it — it made Bay Meadows look really lively and classy by comparison. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy going there (and there is no ‘other’ track anywhere nearby to fill the gap if it closes), but it probably needs more investment than it could possibly return financially. I find it hard to imagine that any developer has their eyes on the property, though — it’s certainly not like Bay Meadows from a desirable real estate perspective.

In cheerier news, Carter’s Grove is to become a breeding farm. This is good news on several levels, but I am most pleased by the fact that the new owner, CNET founder Halsey Minor, will be allowing Colonial Williamsburg to continue doing research on the site. Since this is essentially what I would do with the site, it gets two thumbs up from me.

Finally, enjoy new year’s eve; I recommend a little Pliny the Elder. See you in 2008!

The impact of the track’s closure on staff and fans is considered here; while Bay Meadows has been long beyond its heyday for many years, they have been attracting new fans with concerts and themed events and it’s a shame to finally see it close.

Beyond that, there’s the though that if they really wanted to maximize the value of the real estate, they should have sold out ten years ago when any idiot could get venture capital for their dot-com and was willing to pay up for offices with sliding frosted glass doors on each cube. (Yes, I actually interviewed with a company in Foster City back at the height of the dot-com boom that had sliding frosted glass cube doors. They went under not long after while I went to a different tech company that was moderately less insane, but at least I had a fun interview).

There’s another nice article on tomorrow’s Lane’s End focusing on trainer Helen Pitts and her charge For You Reppo, as well as former trainee Curlin. Her assistant trainer, Hanne Jorgensen, describes their dismay at losing Curlin when he was sold:

Jorgensen, like Pitts, was crushed when their brilliant colt, Curlin, was sold and sent to trainer Steve Asmussen.

“I galloped Curlin and I cried my eyes out when they sold him” Jorgensen said. “We babied him for such a long time. He was a little weak-boned. He bucked his shins and we tried to get him through it and worked with him. And then, one big race, and he’s gone. I understand that it’s hard to turn down that kind of money, and they did keep a piece of him, so it’s not hard for them. But it’s hard for us, because you get so attached to them.

It seems that we rarely hear about that aspect of the business, yet it’s a common-enough occurrence this time of year. Here’s hoping they keep this prospect!