Racing Can Provide A Diversion

In the wake of unspeakable tragedy Tuesday, September 11th in both New York City and Washington D.C.. Most racetracks have already returned to their normal schedules.

Whether this is right or wrong is open to debate. I am in the opinion of my colleague Steven Crist at the Daily Racing Form, that racing should have been postponed for at least a day or two after the tragic events of Tuesday. Some tracks took the lead in this endeavor and some dropped the ball completely. Belmont Park and the Meadowlands racetrack rightfully cancelled their race cards throughout the weekend. As they were the closest to the epicenter and were obviously the most affected by the events.

That being said, in the wake of all this tragedy and misery, racing can help provide a necessary distraction to all the pain. We do need some type of distraction from this crisis. After being completely engulfed in it from beginning to end, after watching countless hours of depressing television about the "Attack On America". We do need a diversion from all of this, we deserve a diversion.

We should never forget what happened to us on September 11th, 2001. We need to remember those lost and grieve for the dead and missing. We need to remember this event so it will never happen again. But we do need to go forward with our lives, as racing must go forward in the coming weeks.

I just hope that racing can provide us with a necessary diversion to these events and hopefully a little lift to us all.

- Runhorse.com 9-16-'01

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