Yes, I am rooting for Jim Thibert. He is trying to save a tiny jewel of a racetrack. He does not want to toss aside 115 years of history. He wants to preserve a piece of our quality of life. What's not to root for?
Thibert is the tall, balding, can-do CEO of Fort Erie racetrack. It was a tough job even before the provincial government, in a head-scratching move, in April closed the on-site slot machines - costing the track its annual $5.6 million slice.
Which means this may be the last August for the only thoroughbred track within a two-hour drive of Buffalo. If the place went permanently dark, I think it would be our loss.
We have a high quality of life, with the lake and pro sports and more culture than most of us have time for. Part of the pleasure of living here, to my mind, includes having a thoroughbred track in our backyard.
The appeal goes beyond betting. One of life's small pleasures, in my view, is standing along the paddock fence on the back lawn and watching these magnificent animals stride past, within an arm's length, on their way to the starting gate.
The track over the years staggered under waves of dollar-sapping assaults, from lotteries to casino gambling to a tougher border crossing.
Even though adding slot machines in the late '90s swallowed most of the glorious back lawn, it seemed like an acceptable price to keep the place up and running.
The track got a second wind four years ago, when a nonprofit consortium took the reins. Thibert makes a buck a year as CEO. He told me in his office Wednesday that the track's take (not including slots) is up 15 percent over last season.
"The potential is there," Thibert told me, "if we can survive long enough to get other things in place."
Thibert brings more than a dollar and a dream to the track-saving battle. By day, he runs the town's economic development arm. A pragmatist, he sees salvation in developing the racetrack's empty acreage and getting the provincial government - which gets a cut of the racing take - to kick in on purses.
To some, horse racing is an anachronism in our instant-gratification society. With a race barely every half hour, there is not the bop-bop-bop adrenaline rush that comes with pounding a slot machine. Then again, the track has never been purely a gambling proposition. Races are entertainment, an athletic event, with barely 100-pound jockeys atop onrushing half-ton animals.
Beyond that, any self-respecting horseplayer would argue that handicapping is more science than luck.
Success is at least theoretically based on an ability to analyze everything from pedigree to past performance. Or, failing that, you can - like the lady at the betting window next to me Monday - pick the horse with the cutest name. (For the record, I later saw her cash the ticket).
Fort Erie racetrack may lack the big-city hum of Belmont or the 19th century charm of Saratoga. But with its pond-and-gardens infield and folksy appeal, it is a sweet, understated place to spend an afternoon - our modest connection to the "sport of kings." Losing it would, to me, mean losing a piece of what makes this community special.
Thibert does not want that to happen. It may be a long shot, but my money is on him.
