NEWS
A day seared in time
Posted: Saturday, September 15, 2001
Keeneland makes a difficult but correct decision to resume September sales one day after terrorist attack
Wednesday for Tuesday. Thursday for Wednesday. Friday for Thursday. The events of September 11 put life on hold. For the lucky ones, it was for only a day or two. For the innocent victims of terror and for those whose lives were irreparably changed by the events, one grieves.
When tragedy strikes, it forces everyone to take stock of what is important and what is trivial. Save for the value of life, everything is trivial.
In the grand scheme of things, Thoroughbred racing is a minor player though it provides livelihood for tens of thousands of people. What happens on the racetrack on any one day is entertainment, a leisure activity for tens of thousands of fans.
All sports occupy that same sphere on the American scene. In deference to the tragedy of September 11, virtually all major sports postponed their games. Major League Baseball games were canceled through September 16. Division 1-A college football games were canceled for September 13 and 15. National Football League games were canceled for September 16 and 17. The Professional Golf Association canceled its tournaments the weekend after the tragedy, and NASCAR canceled its auto racing for September 16.
Thoroughbred racing was canceled at all racetracks in the United States on September 12 and on September 13 at all but four tracks. Racing resumed at a number of tracks on September 14, and by the weekend racing was generally back to its normal schedule, though still appropriately postponed in New York.
Executives faced with the greatest dilemma were those with the Keeneland Association, whose 13-day September yearling sale started the day before the tragedy. The sale got off to a record start on Monday, September 10, and was set to resume the second of two selected sessions at 10 a.m. EDT on September 11, a little more than one hour after tragedy struck. The sale was immediately postponed.
The decision on when to resume an event after such a tragedy is one that no one ever wants to make, and the decision to proceed with the Keeneland September yearling sale with just a one-day delay was not an easy one. But it was the right one. The sale is not a sporting contest but a business enterprise, and most businesses around the country were operating that day. Breeders plan for several years on selling at that specific sale, and buyers had come from around the world. Getting buyers to return after a prolonged delay is not logistically possible.
So the sale went on. Tuesday's hip numbers were sold on Wednesday. Wednesday's sold on Thursday. Thursday's on Friday. All sessions were moved back one day for 12 consecutive days.
At Keeneland's sale the day after the terrorist attacks were Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai and Prince Ahmed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. Like everyone else in the sales pavilion, they did not want to be there but knew they must. Their participation was both symbolic and substantial. They said they are in Thoroughbred racing long term. They were not going to retreat.
Racing and sports in general must not retreat.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, there were strong arguments about delaying the resumption of sports. The argument for delay was to not engage in sports out of deference to the deceased and their relatives and friends. And for several days, that was the right thing to do.
But life goes on, and it is important for the nation to return to normal patterns of life and commerce as soon as possible. There is no better catharsis than being with other people, and sports, social events at their heart, play an important role at times of tragedy, giving people an opportunity to grieve with other people.
We find it interesting that sports hold such an exalted place in American life that the country watches what they will collectively do in the aftermath of tragedy. Why is there such a focus on sports that is not on other leisure activities? If people are worried about the image of Americans enjoying themselves while the country has suffered such a wound, then movie theaters and plays should be closed, only news broadcast on television, shopping malls closed, and all businesses except those offering essential services shuttered.
The day after the tragedy, the sale resumed. And 24 hours after such horrific events, Thoroughbred racing participants demonstrated that there is more optimism in this sport than in any other business in the world.
Mark Simon is editor of Thoroughbred Times.
