May 5, 2007 - Boston Globe
The grandstand was always packed. Every day at Suffolk Downs was an event when the East Boston track was in its prime, as crowds came to spend the day watching the country's top thoroughbreds.
The track, which opened in 1935, has been in a slow, steady decline, hitting bottom last year when the stands were nearly deserted, the stables were shabby, and horsemen and trainers were scarce. It looked to many of the discouraged crew on the backside that the track might not have another meeting.
But on April 3, New York businessman Richard Fields, the primary developer of the Seminole Hard Rock Resort & Casino locations in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla., bought a significant interest in the track (estimated to be between 40 percent and 50 percent). Yesterday, under a blue sky bright with hope, riders, trainers, and horsemen were settling in on the backside, full of an energy that has been missing at Suffolk for years.
Fields was on hand, primarily to meet and greet employees as they prepared for today's Opening Day, and to pass on the word that he expects to spend the time, energy, and money to restore the luster to the historic track.
Fields knows that gaming revenue is vital for today's racetracks and said he would support a move to allow casino gambling in Massachusetts, a topic Governor Deval Patrick recently convened a group to study.
Read the rest of the article referencing Richard Fields at the Boston Herald.
"Technology has given us opportunities to make the product more exciting; we have to work to make it more accessible," said Fields. "Most people don't know how to pick a horse; they do it by color, by number. We have to make it more understandable. I've looked at this for the last few years and we've made a decision as a company and as a family to recommit and to reformat racing [at Suffolk]."
Encouraging words from Fields, increased purses, and a few coats of paint on the barns, as well as smoothed-out roads inside the facility, have Suffolk veterans expecting good things.
Read the full article about Richard Fields Leading the Suffolk Downs Rebirth.