THE ASPIRING HORSEPLAYER

Unbelievable - that’s the first word that comes to mind when I realize that November 13 marks one full year here at The Aspiring Horseplayer.  In some ways it feels like just yesterday that this endeavor was begun.  In other ways I can’t remember what I did with my spare time prior to creating this blog (spare time?  what’s that? Some mythical creation in the Harry Potter books?).

We’re in a bit of a lull right now in the horse racing world.  The championship races of the Breeders’ Cup are over.  The Triple Crown campaign from May and June now a distant memory.  Still, in the blink of an eye we’ll be talking about Kentucky Derby prep races and tracking the top performing 3-year-olds in the hopes of landing on a champion that will conquer the Triple Crown for the first time in over 30 years.  You can almost feel that excitement out there on the horizon, but it isn’t quite here yet.  Instead, what we have is a perfect time for reflection.

When I started this site, I honestly didn’t think many people would ever show up.  “Who’s going to care what I have to say,” was the thought running through my mind.  I’m not a professional handicapper, nor am I a professional journalist.  I’m just a guy with some opinions and an almost obsessive compulsion to write about those opinions as they relate to horse racing.  Thankfully, it turns out that’s really about all it takes to get up and going. Well, that and a healthy dose of luck.

Looking back over the past 12 months, it’s been a crazy ride.  I started out by being pretty straight forward.  My original blog posts were about the youtube videos I had proudly created featuring Curlin as the 2007 Horse of the Year and my greater amazement with the 2007 Triple Crown season at large.  Once those were posted, I really wasn’t sure what would come next.  Finally I settled on posting handicapping picks, since that was well within my comfort zone.

One of the absolute highlights of my year happened next - but it was one of those odd moments that gains in significance in retrospect.  It doesn’t strike you when it originally happens that it’s anything of note.  Only after the passage of time does it become important.  I’m talking of course about my first awareness of the amazing filly and possible 2008 Horse of the Year: Zenyatta.  It was November 22 last year when she made her debut on a Thursday afternoon at Hollywood Park in a Maiden Special Weight.  Who knew, right?  Who could’ve possibly seen what she would become.  It’s been special being able to cover her magnificent rise and continuing pursuit of perfection.  She’s the kind of horse that makes us lucky to be fans. 

Obviously I can’t start talking about horses that have had an impact here without giving a lot of love to my hero, Curlin.  Clearly there wouldn’t have been much to talk about if not for him.  At one point he even had me inspired enough to begin quoting “eye of the tiger” from Rocky IV.  It doesn’t take a lot to bring out the inner dork in me, but Curlin always had a habit of taking that the extra mile.  I’ll trust everyone remembers my “St. Cripsin’s Day” ode to Curlin before his grass debut in the Man O’ War?  

Shortly into this adventure, I was able to join the prestigious Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance.  I owe much to these guys, and in particular the tireless work of our fearless leader, Handride.  Coincidentally, he’s been busy updating our homepage and our main “feed” for those that prefer to read blogs in that fashion.  I owe it to them to mention that as folks have been toiling at making updates for quite some time now. 

Another special moment for me was being able to interview Ron Correll - a man who was perhaps the single biggest human inspiration in the creation of this site.  I’ll never be able to properly thank Ron for the hours he spent over email helping me fine tune my understanding of this incredible game. 

I also have to give a bit of a shout out to Tex and Cindy Dulay for helping me experience my first Alibi breakfast during the festivities leading up to Preakness week.  It was there of course, that Amanda of the “turf angels” gave me the information that led to the Preakness trifecta - namely that Gayego had not looked good since arriving and that Macho Again had appeared sensational during the morning drills.  Our Preakness selections and post-Preakness analysis were some of the most viewed posts on this blog for the entire year, and there’s simply no way I would’ve arrived on Macho Again (at least abstractly…truth be told he wasn’t part of my “straight up” prediction) for the Preakness itself without that information.  Tex and Cindy also deserve thanks for allowing me to use their pictures in posts.  

Along the way there’s been some serious moments.  Who could forget the tension and disgust when Eight Belles broke down after the Kentucky Derby?  It’s a moment that literraly spun the entire sport on it’s head.  Thankfully the NTRA, under Alex Waldrop’s direction, has used the moment as a clarion call for seeking sweeping reform of the industry and game. 

We also shared in many light hearted moments.  I still smile whenever I think of the few humorous attempts I’ve made to go slightly off-topic here.  In all truth (and somewhat surprisingly I must say), the “100 things about me” page continues to be one of the favorites for readers.  That’s something I slopped together in about 20 minutes time.  Conversely, the “beginner’s corner” - which I labored over for countless hours, receives almost 0 traffic.  Go figure.  That just goes to show that sometimes it’s not what you put the most effort into that achieves the most notoriety.

Speaking of which, I can’t possibly summarize this year without thanking the 87,000 + of you who have dropped over for a look, or the folks who have left one or more of the thousands of comments we’ve amassed here.  This site would be nothing without you. In fact, you’re probably the most important part of this blog, as without you it would just be my mindless ramblings and opinions.  With all of your participation, it goes well beyond that and instead becomes something of a community.  I’m forever indebted to all of you for that.  The word “flattered” doesn’t begin to do justice to the emotions it conjures inside of me.  Indeed, without the attention you all have seen fit to bestow up on me over this past year, it’s highly unlikely I would’ve had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas and participate in the NTRA online marketing task force - which was one of the more memorable experiences of my entire life.

So how do I begin to repay that debt and show a proper modicum of gratitude?  I think the best way to do this is by simply asking - what would you like to see in the coming year?  More handicapping picks?  More detailed explanation of how to handicap and make selections (especially for our beginners)?  More “news” related features?  Random musings?  I’ll put it to a poll and see how the results turn out. 

One thing is for certain, I won’t be going anywhere in the near future.  While a new addition to the family is suddenly just a few months away, and my duties at work require an ever increasing amount of my finite energy and capacity - I can’t picture a day where I wouldn’t want to be able to log in here, put some decent thoughts down (with a healthy dose of absurdity mixed in), and connect with all of you.  

With that in mind I raise the glass and offer a toast.  “It maybe for years, it maybe forever!” 

Thanks to all of you for making this one of the most incredible years of my life.  WIth any luck I’ll have a chance to meet even more of you hanging around the paddocks of Laurel, Pimlico, Delaware Park, Belmont, or any other track I have the good fortune of visiting.