By T. D. Thornton
An ultra-long-distance race scheduled on the closing day of a season used to be a staple of North American racing, but these days only a handful of tracks still card (or attempt to fill) them.
Fort Erie is one of the few tracks that keeps this offbeat tradition alive, and the Ontario oval doesn't skimp on its version of a marathon: Tuesday's “getaway day” ninth race on the final 10-race program of the meet will go at 2 miles 70 yards.
Known locally as the “Tour de Fort,” what the starter allowance/optional claimer might lack in prestige and star power is more than made up for in terms of fun and novelty.
Last year's edition featured a wire-to-wire winner who amazingly stayed on by half a length despite opening up a visually arresting sixteenth of a mile lead on the field for the first of two passes under the Fort Erie finish wire. Two mares competing against a field of males accounted for the exacta.
The year before, the 2022 Tour de Fort was won by a gelding who rallied from way off the tailgate despite being charted 23 lengths last during the first of two laps.
It's unlikely that you'll witness the second coming of long-distance stakes specialist Next (Not This Time) in the Oct. 22 feature at the Fort. But a field of eight will test their staying power, and in a wide-open marathon that lacks a betting standout, Nonno's Little Boy (Giant Gizmo) has been tabbed as the tepid 3-1 morning-line favorite.
The 2 miles 70 yards track record at Fort Erie belongs to Parabola, who was clocked in 3:30.87 when demolishing the Tour de Fort field by 18 3/4 lengths over “good” going in 2010.
Recent runnings of the Tour de Fort have been timed in the 3:35 to 3:42 range, so there's a bit of wiggle room built into the “most entertaining 3 1/2 minutes” billing of this article's headline.
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