OPINION | REX NELSON: The Cella way
by
Rex Nelson
|
Today at 1:46 a.m.
I fell in love with thoroughbred racing at a young age. By my freshman year in college, I was using my job as sports editor of the daily newspaper in Arkadelphia as an excuse to drive to Hot Springs each day during the Oaklawn race meet. In 1981, I covered the Kentucky Derby for the first time. I ve been to eight of those spectacles.
In 1982, at age 22, I covered every day of the race meet for the Arkansas Democrat. The sport of kings has been part of my life for decades. One of the pleasures of being an Oaklawn regular was getting to know the late Charles J. Cella, the track s owner. Newspaper writers are attracted to colorful characters, and they didn t come much more colorful than the man associates referred to simply as CJC.