Coons the name brings back many memories
The Coons family has had a long history of building racetracks and maintaining them
(In addition the 2 sons were also starters...one , much better than the other , one thought he was , the other was humble and did the best job)
One night at Pompano in the early 90s..the classy Hall of Famer was invited to Pompano for a special presentation.
To compliment his evening , he was named to drive competetive horses in consectutive races
In the first race he laid just off the gate as it hit the backstretch.....b ut to his surprise..the gate excelerated...and he was beat 10 lenghts at the start
Next race , he learned from the 1st race ..and was close to the gate coming off the turn..
he had the horse right on the gate......and when he assumed the gate would accelerate..it didn't and he hit the gate , making a break.
Returning to the pddock , he met the starter who always left the car to get food...Del asked him if he was NEW at this position>
And now we move to Delaware..late 90s......it rained so hard Sunday , races were cancelled...late closers and stakes carried over...the 3 Coons worked 15 hours a day..to get the track raceable.....Mond ay..not bad....more rain Tuesday.....not good ...Wednesday..the y raced but track was not perfect on the turns..needed build up
Thursday....a great day of racing..track was super
And now we move to Jug day...races are finished..despite all the rain..fast times
Roger , this time was right in his comments
He spoke of the great day of racing, and said , "none of this would have been possible were it not for the work of the 3 Coons "
Meantime , the camera was focused on the track, where 3 "guys" were raking the track.
You can figure out the observation...... .....today Roger would be barred from racing forever
