Zenyatta draws big crowd to Apple Blossom, but business owners still long for Rachel Alexandra

Zenyatta brings big crowd to Apple Blossom

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Hot Springs’ hotels were full, the weather was beautiful, and shop and restaurant owners couldn’t help wondering whether business would have been even better if Zenyatta had run against Rachel Alexandra at Oaklawn Park.

The champion thoroughbreds were to have raced Friday for $5 million in the Apple Blossom. But Rachel Alexandra’s owners backed out, and Oaklawn dropped the purse to its original $500,000 for the 1 1/8-mile race for older fillies and mares.

Zenyatta overpowered a short field for her 16th win, a victory that put her in the company of Cigar and Citation.

Official attendance was 44,973. Last year’s crowd at Oaklawn’s final Friday was 21,782.

But even as traffic flowed steadily toward the track, restaurant owner Jack Strafaci lamented the loss of Rachel Alexandra from the program.

“It would have put Arkansas on the map. He (Oaklawn president Charles Cella) would have put racing on the map again,” Strafaci said. “But this is good. The town’s full.”

Strafaci, who owns Facci’s Italian restaurant near Oaklawn Park, stood amid mostly empty tables. But he and other business owners said they expected business to get better throughout the evening — even if it didn’t reach the spectacular levels envisioned when everyone expected Rachel Alexandra to run.

Bill Baswell had converted his Magic Spray car wash into a parking lot that could hold 135 vehicles. He was puzzled when he still had a few spots available after Friday’s first race.

“Bill, where is everybody?” asked one customer as she headed for the crosswalk to the track. Baswell shrugged.

“I was really anticipating a larger crowd,” he said.

If Rachel Alexandra had run, he would have charged $50 per spot, he said. Instead, he was charging $20, although some lots nearby were asking $40.

The Apple Blossom was pushed to Friday from the weekend before to accommodate Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra. The change put it the day before what’s ordinarily Oaklawn’s biggest race, the $1 million Arkansas Derby, a key prep race for the Kentucky Derby and the closer to Oaklawn’s live season. Business owners speculated the change would result in a bigger crowd than either individual race typically drew.

“I think they should keep them back-to-back,” Strafaci said. “The nice thing about this is you have two big races (on consecutive days).”

Franki Johnston, owner of The Fudge Factory on historic Bathhouse Row in the resort city’s downtown, said business was average Friday afternoon, but she expected it to improve and had extra help scheduled Friday and Saturday.

Hot Springs tourism director Steve Arrison said he was pleased with how the day shaped up: Restaurants were full Thursday night, and many of their customers had bedded down in area hotels. While there were plenty of cancellations after Rachel Alexandra pulled out, hotels were able to rebook, he said.

“The town is full, we’re just not over full,” Arrison said.

And with the Apple Blossom running in the early evening, there was still time for folks in Little Rock to make the hour-long drive in time to see the big race. With the temperature about 70 degrees, a nice breeze and a few wispy clouds, “you couldn’t ask for a better day,” Arrison said.

But Strafaci had a suggestion for improvement — have Rachel Alexandra run.

“That would have been really nice,” Strafaci said.