Just as a major college should consider someone other than an ex-football coach as athletic director, racetrack executives should know more than to compose a graded line.
I have covered horse racing for more than 40 years without learning how linemakers balance the opening odds, their goal not, I discovered, to pick the winner but determine the likely post-time numbers in the win pool. Someone in the business can detect a "bad line" at once, and rage. Computer betting eases a bettor's task, although not necessarily making him smarter.
Through the years, I found that most mutuel clerks are competent, some perhaps in line for employee-of-the-month recognition. It is with sadness one hears that Mike Browning, a former city golf champion, is retiring after decades in the press box and throughout the plant. One can see him as racing manager for longtime friend Terry Brennan.
Charles J. Cella made a five-star hire in 1978 with appointment of Eric Jackson as Oaklawn's first operations director. The track then was becoming a national concern, though long before simulcast racing and casino gambling came to 2705 Central Ave.
Cella, track president for almost 50 years, a man from St. Louis with a background in theater and racing, long worked in harness with J. Sweeney Grant or W.T. Bishop as general manager. Bishop, a Kentucky hardboot if one ever existed, known within the trade as "the man who built Keeneland," smoothed rough spots for his then-youthful boss (I found Bishop to be a thoughtful man and valued his friendship).
Although he might not be first choice to mark my daily program, Jackson knows enough about racing to carry on a conversation and then some. Growing up in Hot Springs, with his father (since deceased) distributing Daily Racing Form, the sport's Wall Street Journal, Eric became more attuned with his hometown's major export even if Oaklawn raced only 30 days some years.
A Hendrix College education filled in the gaps and Jackson's natural attention to details made him invaluable in many walks. Calling Jackson only a racetrack executive is to minimize his sphere of influence. I remember his early efforts with the running community and what became the Arkansas Spa 10K. His presence dignified many community boards, all the while boosting his employer's image.
Jackson became general manager upon Bishop's death in 1987, and Cella turned to Maryland for another racetrack lifer as operations director. Chick Lang Jr., gone from us much too soon, and Jackson formed the Lennon and McCartney of an expanding operation with Chick's father synonymous with the Preakness and for a time serving the cantankerous late Bill Hartack as jockey agent.
This is a different Oaklawn than the one that Jackson entered a new phase as senior vice president, working under another Cella, son Louis succeeding his father and answering in the affirmative any questions about the plant's future.
Jackson's lasting gift to this community is Instant Racing, the electronic game that in 2000 revived Oaklawn's fortunes after a turbulent decade. Cella, a racing purist, softened his thinking on many things, most certainly in adding a revenue source once restricted to Las Vegas or Atlantic City.
Gaining trust in the governor's office -- Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose father when governor was cool to the place -- presented the winner's trophy at the 2024 Arkansas Derby -- Louis Cella prescribed a historic face-lift. Oaklawn became a year-round entertainment center with a trackside hotel-resort and sports betting among the amenities. No turf course but 2-year-old racing is back during December dates, the season stretching to early May.
Jackson joins the Oaklawn wing of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame this week with induction ceremonies Friday night. Earlier this year, the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame accorded him a similar tribute. He and wife Lynda, gracious souls, deserve every accolade. Eric and I have known each other since he sold racing forms on Central Avenue. Both of us have lost hair but not an understanding of what the other man does. E.J., as friends call him, is a true civic treasure.