A Stake In The Future

Which is kind of what the Florida racing commission had done to Hialeah . All week long, newspapers had run stories bemoaning the imminent demise of the beautiful old track. When the commission stripped Hialeah of the prime "middle" racing days (January to March) and awarded them to Gulf-stream Park for next season, visions were conjured of condos and shopping malls being erected on the historic grounds. Current plans call for Hialeah 's next meeting to run from Nov. 11 to Jan. 7, 1988, which would put the next Flamingo—if it's run at all—too early in the season to play its traditional role as a major Derby prep.

"I've been stabled here for 30 years," Stephens said as he looked around at the beautiful grounds. "It's a wonderful place to train horses. I'd say 80 percent of all champions have trained at Hialeah at one time or another. But |if they change the racing dates] I'd go to Gulf-stream to race, wait there 10 days and then ship to New York or Kentucky . They [the racing commission] may take Hialeah down, but they'll take themselves down with it."

Said John Veitch , who trained Alydar, "I'm afraid that the way things are going, Hialeah will not be able to survive."

So this year's Flamingo marked both a beginning and an end. While the fresh and eager 3-year-olds are off and running toward a meeting at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first Saturday in May. Hialeah may be racing toward oblivion.

But the Lukas clan appears headed for further glory. With Talinum's win in the Flamingo, the Lukases not only have the leading 3-year-old in the East right now, but they've also got the Kentucky Derby winter-book favorite, Capote, stabled in the West at Santa Anita. "We've never won the Kentucky Derby ," Jeff Lukas said after the Flamingo. "And it's been very frustrating. But our chances this year are outstanding."

Talinum's next start will be in the April 4 Florida Derby at Gulfstream, while Capote will probably make his first 3-year-old start in early April. When asked where he thinks the best horses are. in the East or in the West. Lukas replied. "Let's just say we're strong on both coasts and leave it at that. But we're going to keep on trying to win the Derby."

All the Lukases want, after all, is a chance to stop and smell the roses.