It really was something! I truly don't remember a non-Breeders Cup crowd that big in a long, long time. It was the largest opening day attendance figure since 1994......there may have been a Big Cap or Santa Anita Derby day crowd somewhere in that time that came close, but nevertheless, the place was packed!

When I went out and looked over the apron and the infield, and up into the stands, I guessed 44,000, and I wasn't too far off. In the Clubhouse Mezzanine, where I hang out, the concessions are on one side of the room and the windows and machines are on the other, and through most of the day, the lines for each were backing up into each other across the room. It sort of made navigation a little difficult, to say the least!

One thing that struck me while looking at the sea of humanity was remembering back to my first decade in the sport, the 80's, when Santa Anita would have been disappointed in an opening day crowd less than 60,000, and 70,000 wasn't all that unusual. Heck, the Big Cap of 1985 drew an astonishing 85,000 people! And I was there! Now, we get a crowd of 45,000, and we feel like we can't move....just because we're just not used to it. It made me wonder where on earth did they put the other 20,000 or so people back then!

Of course, due to the calendars, opening day attendance at Santa Anita is going to be impacted to some degree by spinners. I'm sure that a few thousand went through the gates more than once. I was good for two admissions myself. But trust me, that final number wasn't all that inflated. There was an awful lot of people there.

It was amazing!