Newsday handicapper Steve Matthews bids fond farewell to Aqueduct
Aqueduct Racetrack in Jamaica Queens on April 4, 2025. Credit: Newsday/Kendall Rodriguez
By Steve Matthewssteve.matthews@newsday.comSunday brings a close to the nearly 132-year run of Aqueduct.
It will join the ranks of Jamaica Race Track, Tropical Park, Hollywood Park, Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields, which have all seen the wrecking ball.
It opened Sept. 27, 1894, then rebuilt and reopened Sept. 14, 1959. The new Big A was hailed as “the world’s most modern and luxurious horse plant,” by The Associated Press.
It will always hold a special place in this handicapper’s heart. It was the first thoroughbred track I set foot in on April 12, 1972. I was one of nearly 25,000 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.
It was then that I became familiar with top jockeys Angel Cordero Jr., Jorge Velasquez, Braulio Baeza and Ron Turcotte and lesser known but still very capable riders, Larry Adams, Johnny Ruane and Robyn Smith. I cashed tickets on trainers such as W.P. King, J.P. Conway, Victor “Lefty” Nickerson, Bobby DeBonis and Tommy Gullo, among many others.
Those were the days when the Daily Racing Form was called the “Telly” and you waited on long lines to make your wagers at the windows in the front and collected your winnings at the ones in the back. Those were the days when you waited on long lines to make your wagers at the windows in the front and collected your winnings at the ones in the back.
It was straight win, place and show betting with the daily double on the first two races and a lone exacta wager in the eighth.
I’ve experienced many highs and lows since I got my handicapping education at Aqueduct more than 50 years ago and started my journey in solving horse racing’s never-ending puzzle.
Farewell Big A and thanks for a sensational ride.
