Had a rather exciting Thursday morning today at Pimlico. I got to meet Tex Dulay and Cindy Pierson Dulay from horse-races.net. Great folks – they made me feel right at home even though I was totally overwhelmed at the spectacle before my eyes. It’s not often as a common horse racing fan that you get to sit in a room with so many distinguished names in the sport. I probably looked like a deer in headlights. Thankfully Tex was kind enough to make sure I knew who was who and what was going on. That guy’s a bundle of energy – I can see why they are great photographers. If I spot them on Friday and Saturday I’ll be something of a cheering section for them while they ply their magic.
I also got to meet Amanda from turfangels, who was wonderful to talk horses with. I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t recall having checked out her blog before, but now that I have I’m very impressed. Let’s just say it’s an instant blogroll addition. I’m especially fond of the mission statement: “…dedicated to furthering the education of young racing fans. “
That statement got me thinking for a moment. That really is what I started blogging for as well. Just trying to reach as many folks as possible and share the love of the game. I’ve got some more ideas on this now, having been inspired a bit by Amanda’s blog. My friends at the Thoroughbred Blogger’s Alliance who have seen my latest email will know at least one of my half-crazed ideas for nurturing more fans of our sport. I’ll have more on that in post sometime later.
So what were the highlights of the morning? Well, I drank several free Black Eyed Susan’s – which means I also now possess a pair of the famed Preakness glasses the drinks come in. It’s so awesome to see Curlin listed amongst the winners. Ah, the memories!!! Last year’s Preakness…my god. Oh to live life at it’s fullest and feel that rush once more!
The program for the breakfast featured a very passionate article about the “Street Fight in the Preakness” between Curlin and Street Sense last year. Obviously I’ll treasure that forever.
Chris Lincoln hosted the Alibi breakfast, which is a tradition dating back to the 40’s at Pimlico, and was very entertaining. I’m told that’s usually the case. He gives out a rather funny “rat bastard” award to trainers who aren’t there to give a rundown on their horse’s chances. All of this in front of an Archbishop and the Little Sisters of the Poor, no less. It’s all in good sport and very tastefully done.
I really didn’t get a chance to snap any photos of note. Don’t worry though – with Tex and Cindy on the scene, there are workout photos-a-plenty on their site:
http://www.horse-races.net/library/preak08-thursday.htm
I don’t know about you guys, but two horses stick out to me in those pics. Big Brown obviously looks the part. He looked that way going to post in Churchill and doesn’t appear to be any worse for the wear. The other that really sticks out to me is Kentucky Bear. Hey Byrn, Macho Again, and Gayego also look pretty good to me.
ON my 800×600x16 display that turfangels site which uses a fixed width is unviewable. Have you ever looked at some of these TBA sites with Opera small screen mode or on a wireless handheld with slow connection speed or with GNU/Linux running Firefox? Cindy Pierson does good work with race recaps but she also apparently link schemes. She wrote a really good piece on Arc Weekend in France although I landed on that article purely by accident.
And now the rant:
I realize that Google page rank was probably designed from the outset to favor corporate controlled crosslinking schemes which allow those corporate interests to control the search rankings. It’s not a mystery what’s going on here.
Nick Zito was right when he stated that the horseracing game is bigger than all of us. The game is glued together by the tote machine, the horses, and the brains of those who participate. It can’t be cheated or sold or promoted in a purposefully deceptive manner. It will punish those who are not honest with themselves or others. Media writer (wannabe rock star) pragmatism or American cute-punk political correctness doesn’t work here the way it does in the real world. This is the key attraction that the handicapping game offers to those who are experienced in life – an escape back to democracy with the benefits of casual social interaction. Failure to realize this makes you just another punk American trying to scam off people.
Honestly, Don, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Have I scammed you somehow? Is that what you’re saying? This is most confusing to me because nothing is for sale here that one could be scammed into buying??
If this is about me linking back to folks, that’s pretty standard protocal from bloggers to bloggers. They’ve got a great community over there – especially the forums where a lot of horse racing discussion occurs daily.
No scams dude. I don’t make a red penny of this site, despite all the long hours that go into making/maintaining it. Just trying to share anything horse racing related I can.
If you think that by linking back to the blogs of people that I had the pleasure of meeting today I’m somehow scamming you, I’ve really no idea what to say. That just completely boggles my mind.
What in the hell?
Yeah, i don’t get that.
Well, Don’s been a great guy to have around here, so I”m going to guess that I’m just totally misunderstanding the situation. When we start getting into Google page ranking and such, I’m really out of my element and don’t know even know what we’re talking about.
I just happen to be fond of the blogs linked to above and the people that run them and wished to share….especially since I had just met and hung out with these folks. That seemed like a good thing to blog about. If that somehow offends anyone, my apologies, although I don’t really understand how it could?
I’m hoping for a slop track so Big Brown can get beat. I’m trying to put together two longshots in my last 2 game. Anyone playing it for the Preakness?
http://www.last2left.com/whatsinplay/preakness-horse-race-2008
If it’s a slop track, perhaps Giant Moon? He didn’t seem to like the wetness in the Gotham at all.
Edit: Oops – you weren’t looking for a last place finisher. For a winner? I’m thinking the track will be fast by post time tomorrow. Rain should stop late this afternoon, then just on occassional shower between now and then. It should be fast or good.
If it’s not – then Icabad Crane and Hey Byrn can move up a notch, theoretically. Icabad’s got a win over the track as well, so he’d probably be the longshot bomb play. It would still take the upset of the year for Big Brown to go down though.
Kevin! We got duped! That’s a spam comment!