The grandstand now seats 15,000. In 1996 on Pacific Classic Day, when a horse named Dare and Go stopped the ballyhooed Cigar from setting a consecutive-wins record the track accommodated a record 44,181 fans. Including space in the infield, Harper says, the joint could pack in 60,000. The track s still enlivened by singers and dancers. And the crowds are big.
Celebrities still make the scene.
Conway is a mainstay. He brings Carol Burnett Show sidekick Harvey Korman to the track and often hangs out with Dick Martin, Bob Newhart, Dick Van Patten and Mel Brooks. Conway s been a regular since the mid- 80s. I ve liked horses since I was 12, he says. I really wanted to be a jockey.