Last call to post signals taps for Suffolk Downs

EAST BOSTON – It had to be a momentous occasion, because bugler Rich Garrick was doing the honors, blowing the call to post before all nine races Saturday at Suffolk Downs.?I go up and down the East Coast,” said Garrick, after playing the national anthem before the first post time at what could probably be Suffolk?s last day of racing. “I go to tracks for special events.”The special event at Suffolk was a sad one. After 79 years, the track, which lost out to Everett and Stephen Wynn for the area?s gambling license last month, will likely be shuttered in December and will only offer simulcast racing until then. Saturday was the last day of live racing at the track unless something happens between now and next year.?It?s been a rough couple of weeks,” said Lynn?s Jay Bernardini, 48, a trainer who has been involved with Suffolk in one way or another since he was 8. “But the (gambling commission) made the decision it made.”Bernardini sees the fact that the shareholders at Suffolk don?t seem to be in much of a hurry to sell the property as a good thing.?It?s reason to be encouraged,” he said. “The (New England Horsemen?s Benevolent Protective Association) is under new leadership; they are good people. They?ve applied for a racing license, and I really hope they can work out a leasing arrangement with the track.”Meanwhile, Bernardini will keep going on. As the day was unfolding Saturday, he was already planning on moving his 40 horses to a stable in Maryland for the winter.?I do this every year,” he said, “so for me nothing changes quite yet. I hope to be back here in the spring.”Even though the weather was gloomy, the atmosphere on the track was all business through the early races, from the gate crew charged with herding the horses to the starting line to the riders, sweepers and other assorted workers. “Some of those jobs are really fascinating,” said Dover?s Linda Grasso, who works in the Paddock area on Saturdays. “Just watch the gate crew. Those guys have one of the most dangerous jobs at the track. They have to wear protective jackets and helmets at all times.”There was Jessica Paquette, director of communications, running around all day long, maintaining balance on her blue stiletto heels, trying to keep her emotions in check, but giving in to them incrementally as the day wore on.Saugus? Jim Alcott, who is the director of pari-mutuel operations, will still have work to do until at least December because part of his job is to supervise the simulcasting operation. After that? Who knows??I?m hopeful (that something can be done),” said Alcott. “There?s just too much money involved for someone local not to get involved.”If not, though, he will – with great reluctance – look elsewhere.Alcott also said that the track has been skating on thin ice for a long time, and credits Richard Fields, who purchased the track in 2007, with going above and beyond to keep it running.?He kept all the people here (estimated at over 1,000) employed despite one of the worst recessions on record,” Alcott said.A quick tour of the facility Saturday saw many of the betting windows unmanned, even though a healthy crowd estimated at more than 9,000 flocked to the track Saturday.?Back in the day,” Alcott said, “all these windows were operational. Now, we can?t afford to have them open, even on a day like this, where they?re standing two and three deep.”Alcott ordered 2,600 programs for Saturday, and they were all gone before the first race even started.All of which caused Chief Operating Officer Chip Tuttle to call the day “bittersweet.”?It?s gratifying that so many people have come out,” said Tuttle, moments after being told the parking lot was filled to capacity. “It feels good. We wanted to give the place the proper send-off, which is why we moved the final day to a Saturday.”But while the patrons at the track were treated to video highlights of the track?s career, including a 1966 concert by the Beatles, and footage of both Seabiscuit and Cigar, who wo