MINOR OPTIMISTIC ON HIALEAH
John Brunetti gave Halsey Minor an extensive tour of Hialeah Park, the racetrack Brunetti bought 30 years ago, and the two men then held extensive discussions about what it would take to have the South Florida track reopened after being shuttered since May 22, 2001.
The meeting – the first face-to-face talks between the two men since Minor announced his interest in buying Hialeah Park and bringing back live racing – took place on Wednesday morning. Minor described it to the Paulick Report as “a surprisingly good meeting” and said we are now “in discussions.”
“I didn’t know whether he would reject the idea out of hand, but I can honestly say that if we can get through the complex financial and emotional issues that John has a result of 30 years of ownership, that we can get Hialeah Park back running.”
The two men drove around the facility, Minor said, with Brunetti telling stories about different places where things used to be and historic events took place. “The man genuinely loves the place,” Minor said of Brunetti. “We were all the way up in the stands, at the top level, and I literally could imagine horses crossing the finish line below us. I said to John, ‘Sometimes when I’ve looked at houses that I’m interested in I want to run because it feels so bad, and sometimes it feels like home. There is something about this place, something incredibly special.’ John told me, ‘Yes, sometimes it makes you want to cry.’ I said, ‘This place has to come back. It’s too special. There aren’t many places on earth like this. It has to be brought back.’”
Brunetti and Minor returned to the office Brunetti maintains at Hialeah (he spends most of the year at his home in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), Brunetti gave him an old promotional brochure, and the two men agreed to continue the dialogue.
“I really tried to pin him down on what does he want his legacy to be,” Minor said. “From a development standpoint, he can’t develop the property, and he really doesn’t need the money, either. I said, ‘John, I know you don’t want your legacy to be the demise of this track. I’m here to help. There are not many people like me who are young, have done projects like this or have built companies, have the financial resources, who have the deep underlying passion for the Thoroughbred industry, and who are willing to take on a project like this. I think he genuinely appreciates what I’m hoping to do. He senses the commitment I have in doing this.”
“He (Minor) was as forthright as possible, and he has the same dream I have to re-open Hialeah,” Brunetti was quoted at Bloodhorse.com as saying. “We talked about how he might temper his idealism, in view of the realities of the political and economic situations.”
“I think there was a breakthrough and my feeling after the meeting is that he sincerely wants to see the track running again, but he’s struggling with how to make a deal that makes him feel good,” Minor told the Paulick Report. “He has a lot of complex emotions and feelings at work, but I think his most favored outcome is that we find a way to let me go ahead and rebuild the place. I don’t think he enjoys that drive into his office there, going through a place that’s been hit by a hurricane and sustaining the kinds of damage that time brings on.
“He referred to the fact that I’ve done my homework,” Minor continued. “There are probably certain things I believe he thinks are going to be harder than I think they are – the pari-mutuel license for instance. There have been conversations with various people who have led me to believe that if the track is put back together it won’t be much of an issue. His response did not refer to me as unsophisticated.”
Minor told Brunetti that it’s not just a financial issue. “I am scared to death with what’s happening in this industry right now,” he said. “We are teetering on the edge. Look at what’s going on with the Magna tracks…California, Florida and Maryland. When I was ‘chicken little’ in 2002 (Minor worked on a proposal for a national horse racing league because he felt the industry was in steep decline), this is precisely what I feared, and I feared Magna more than any other negative trend in the industry. Unfortunately, my instincts proved correct.
“The rebirth of Hialeah could be some good news in a downpour of bad news.”
Minor also met Wednesday with Hialeah city officials, including Mayor Julio Robaina, and local preservationists and other government officials. “The mayor of Hialeah was incredibly supportive,” Minor said, “telling me that the city of Hialeah will do whatever it can to help bring the track back. The community and political support has been absolutely terrific, and I think I have an owner in John Brunetti who wants to find a way to work with me, and that is the best news of all.”
Brunetti and Minor will continue to talk by telephone, Minor said. “We are now in discussions and we’ll start to identify what the issues are and to look for solutions. In the meantime, I’m doing a lot of parallel work. There’s a lot to understand: the physical infrastructure, the landscaping, all the various and different legal ramifications to bring it back online, and then of course building a business plan and operating plan.
“I like to think about what Hialeah Park was like so many years ago, and I’ve seen what it looked like in so many pictures in its heyday. This is an overstatement, but it’s like wandering around ancient Rome and wondering what it would have been like during that time. The pink flamingos are still there; it’s the only place in America where they actually breed. There’s still so much of that place left, it doesn’t take that much imagination, and it’s not hard to imagine the track running again.
“I call myself a pessimistic optimist,” Minor said. “Things happen, but they usually take longer and are more painful. That’s probably what the case is here.”
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Tags: florida racing, Halsey Minor, Hialeah Park, Horse Racing, john brunetti, Paulick Report, Ray Paulick
August 8th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
This is great news and a great column. Unfortunately, this industry has a track record of not rewarding optimism or hope…
August 9th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Julio…The quote about the flamingos came from Halsey Minor. I didn’t verify that it’s true, but he said it, and he is quoted directly.
I’m afraid you’re a little mixed up in your use (and misspelling) of “plagarized.”
August 10th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
Please let this happen. If you were ever at Hialeah to see Run Dusty Run and Silver Series hook it up or Time For a Change’s Flamingo then you know where I’m coming from
August 25th, 2008 at 7:08 am
[...] CNET founder Halsey Minor continues his efforts to purchase Hialeah Park from current owner John Brunetti, he also has contacted financially troubled Magna Entertainment [...]