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Post by Hellcat on May 2, 2009 0:42:45 GMT -5
The Kentucky Derby takes place later today, and I am really excited. This is my favorite time of year. I love horse racing, and the Derby is a very special day for me. I'm not into the mint juleps and the fancy hats -- for me, it's all about the race.
This year's race promises to be a real thrill. There are at least four horses who have a legitimate shot at winning it. It was hard to make my picks, but I eventually settled on my top three:
I Want Revenge Friesan Fire Papa Clem
For a longshot bet, I like Hold Me Back.
I don't know if I'll watch the entire day's coverage. They tend to repeat the same stories over and over, which can be boring. I just hope that NBC's coverage of the race won't be as hard to watch as Bravo's coverage of the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. Bravo had this bimbo named Nancy (I don't remember her last name) who yammered on about how she makes her picks by watching the post parade to see which horse has the best butt. It was painful to listen to. Couldn't Bravo find a woman who actually knew something about horse racing? If she's part of the NBC telecast, I might switch to something else until the race is about to go off, especially if she starts going on about horses' butts again.
But that's a minor quibble. Once the gates open and those horses charge out, I'm going to forget about everything but the race. I just hope and pray that there are no accidents this year.
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Post by Hellcat on May 2, 2009 11:26:58 GMT -5
Damn. I Want Revenge has been scratched due to an ankle injury. Probably a soft-tissue injury. I'm disappointed, but I'm glad that they caught the problem before he went into the race. After what happened to Eight Belles last year, the last thing the sport needs is another catastrophic injury on a big day.
Well, that puts Friesan Fire at the top of my list now.
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Post by Hellcat on May 2, 2009 23:45:16 GMT -5
Well, I definitely didn't see that coming. Mine That Bird, a 50-1 shot, wins it all. And my pick, Friesan Fire, who was supposed to like the mud so much, finishes next to last. I'll never figure this game out if I live to be a hundred.
Still, though...that was one hell of a stretch run. Calvin Borel should patent that rail move of his. He won the Derby using almost the exact same move that he used with Street Sense two years ago. Very exciting to watch.
I'm a little disappointed that my bets didn't pan out. But I get another shot in two weeks, on Preakness Day.
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Post by Truck Farmer on May 3, 2009 1:27:41 GMT -5
I was working during the race, but I listened to it on the radio. About 10 minutes before the race Jerry Bailey mentioned that the rail was the place to be because the horses who had won earlier in the day were on the rail. As soon as I heard that I thought about which horse Bo-rail was riding. If I had been at an OTB when I heard that I would have drop a couple of bucks on him.
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Post by Hellcat on May 15, 2009 23:40:20 GMT -5
The rail was definitely the place to be two weeks ago. I wonder what things will be like in the Preakness later today.
Time to move on to the second leg of the Triple Crown. A different race, a different track, and some new shooters. There's some buzz about this race because the filly Rachel Alexandra is in it, and she figures to be the favorite. Two weeks ago she won the Kentucky Oaks. Well, "won" is putting it mildly. She blew away her competition. She may well be the best horse in this three year old crop.
I like her, and I'd be very excited to see her win, but I won't bet on her to win because of her short odds. I may use her in my exotic wagers, but for a win bet I'll look elsewhere. I'm leaning toward Papa Clem and Pioneer Ofthe Nile, because they finished pretty well in the Derby. I don't know what to do with Mine That Bird. His Derby win was thrilling, but he had an enormous amount of racing luck, not to mention the magic of Calvin Borel. He won't have Borel this time (the jockey defected to Rachel Alexandra). How much of a difference will that make? Difficult to say. I may incorporate him into my trifecta, just to be safe.
These kinds of questions help make this game so perplexing and exciting. I can't wait to see how things turn out.
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Post by Hellcat on May 18, 2009 0:33:26 GMT -5
That was a great race. It really lived up to the hype. Looks like Rachel Alexandra is the real deal. And Mine That Bird turns out to be a solid contender, too. This could make for an interesting Belmont Stakes, if the connections decide to run these horses. I didn't win any money this time out, either. Didn't figure on Musket Man. Maybe my luck will change at the Belmont, when things move onto my home turf.
I did experience some good luck, though. My TV chose to crap out on Saturday morning. For a while I thought I was going to miss out on the race, but then I was able to find a repairman who makes house calls. He came by, did his magic, and my TV was up and running again by 3:30 pm. It works better than ever. The picture is so bright and clear, it's as if I have a brand new set. And the fee was very reasonable. A very satisfactory resolution to the problem.
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Post by Hellcat on Jun 6, 2009 0:08:59 GMT -5
Wow, that was a fast three weeks. In a few hours it'll be Belmont Stakes Day. I'm going to make a day of it: buy a Racing Form, make some bets on the undercard, and just chill in front of the TV with some beer and snacks, watching the races. Maybe I'll even win some money!
As for the race itself, I'm looking for value. I have a lot of respect for Mine That Bird, because he's really shown his stuff. But the odds are going to be short, which makes him an unattractive win bet. I'll probably use him in my trifecta with the other hot horse everybody's talking about: Charitable Man. And then round it out with a longer priced horse. Maybe Miner's Escape.
I see that Calvin Borel is guaranteeing that he and Mine That Bird will win the Belmont. It's nice that he feels so confident, but he's been around long enough to know that this game will humble you if you get too full of yourself. Was he not paying attention last year, when Rick Dutrow did practically the same thing, only to see his horse Big Brown flop? (Although Dutrow was a dickweed, and it was perversely satisfying to see him knocked down a peg.) Hey, I hope Mine That Bird wins. It'd be a great story, and horse racing could use a few of those. I just cringe a bit whenever I see somebody make a guarantee in a horse race.
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Post by Hellcat on Jun 8, 2009 0:00:39 GMT -5
See? You can't make guarantees in horse racing. Although I probably could have guaranteed that my bets were going to be less than successful. I never would have picked Summer Bird in a hundred years.
The day wasn't a total loss, though. I hit a nice longshot in the race after the Belmont. $22 payout for an investment of just two bucks = not too shabby. I wish my Roth IRA would do that well.
I'm kind of glad to see the Triple Crown come to a close. I love the races, but I don't love the hype that comes with them.
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Post by Hellcat on Aug 4, 2009 0:28:36 GMT -5
I watched Rachel Alexandra win the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday. All I can say is: Wow. She is one special horse. She's taken on colts twice, and she's beaten them twice. She didn't beat a bunch of mutts, either; on Sunday she faced a quality field, including the winner of the Belmont Stakes. In addition, the track was muddy, which can always lead to unpredictable results. Rachel handled it very well, though.
Horse racing can be unpredictable. That's putting it mildly. A horse wins a few big races and he has the potential to be a star. The game needs a big star, like Seattle Slew or Secretariat. A lot of horses have looked like they could fill that bill, but things went wrong. They broke down and were forced into early retirement, or, worse yet, were injured so badly that they had to be euthanized. And even if they made it through their three-year-old campaigns intact, their owners retired them and whisked them into the breeding shed.
And so, because of the game's often cruel unpredictability, I try very hard not to get too excited about the latest "wonder horse". Three years ago it broke my heart when Barbaro broke down, then later succumbed to infections. That was the last horse I really became excited about. But now when I watch Rachel, I start to get that old feeling again. She's lovely to watch. Nothing seems to bother her on the track. She wins so effortlessly, and she gives the impression that she hasn't even reached her peak yet.
There is one matchup everyone in the horse racing world is dying to see: Rachel vs. the undefeated mare Zenyatta. Zenyatta mostly races in California, and Rachel's owner doesn't want to bring her to California because the tracks there all have synthetic surfaces. I can see his point. Last year he raced Curlin in the Breeder's Cup at Santa Anita, and he was badly beaten on the synthetic track. No owner wants to be humiliated, and I think he wants to give Rachel the best possible chance to win. Unfortunately, his stance means that there will probably be no Breeder's Cup for Rachel this year, because the geniuses who run the BC have decided to hold it at Santa Anita in 2008 and 2009. I'll bet they're kicking themselves for that move now. Zenyatta's people are focused on the Breeder's Cup, and they don't seem particularly eager to leave California at this time. Right now nobody's committed to a course of action. But the clamor for a matchup is only going to get louder.
Somebody at some track in America has got to make this matchup happen. It would create so much excitement and publicity for horse racing. It might even create some (much-needed) new fans. These are the best female horses in the country right now. They may even be the best horses, period. It's only natural for the best to face the best. It would be an epic matchup, the kind that racing fans would talk about for years. I really would love to see it happen.
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Post by Hellcat on Nov 26, 2009 1:12:19 GMT -5
Been a while since I've posted here. I thought that with Thanksgiving just hours away, now was as good a time as any to revisit the old lair.
I've always loved Thanksgiving. In recent years it's had kind of a bittersweet quality to it. Since my mother died and my brother moved away to Houston I haven't had any family to celebrate with. It kind of sucks to be alone, but I try to make the best of it by planning a really nice meal. I don't cook a turkey because it doesn't make sense to cook a turkey for one person. Even if I bought the smallest bird available I'd still end up with way too much leftover turkey. This frees me to make whatever I want. (Three years ago I made a meatloaf!)
This year I decided to keep it simple: meat, stuffing and vegetables. After going through a lot of cookbooks and magazines, I settled on the following menu:
Chicken cutlets in an anchovy butter sauce Roasted vegetables (carrots, parsnips, turnips) Herbed sausage and mushroom stuffing For dessert: mince pie from my favorite neighborhood bakery To wash it all down: a nice chardonnay.
I'm really looking forward to this meal.
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Post by Hellcat on Apr 30, 2010 23:45:28 GMT -5
It's Derby time again! This is a hard one to pick. I liked Eskenderya, but then he was scratched. That's the second year in a row where my first pick was scratched just before the race. I like Lookin At Lucky, even though he has a difficult post. He's a tough customer. I will probably put him in an exacta with Ice Box and Super Saver. Then I might put a little money on Super Saver to win (because of Calvin Borel) and maybe one other live longshot. Might as well shoot for the moon. It's going to be a great race, no matter what.
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Post by Bix Dugan on May 1, 2010 17:05:59 GMT -5
(inserts lame "mudder" joke here)
Good Luck, Hellcat!
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Post by Bix Dugan on May 1, 2010 17:35:15 GMT -5
Super Saver!
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Post by ilmatto on May 1, 2010 22:08:32 GMT -5
Good luck Hellcat, don't put the electric bill money on the ponies.
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Post by Hellcat on May 1, 2010 23:52:54 GMT -5
Good luck Hellcat, don't put the electric bill money on the ponies. LOL! Nope, didn't have to put the electric bill money on the race. This time. Thanks for the good wishes, ilmatto and Bix. I had a great time watching the race. That Calvin Borel is some kind of magician. I even made a little money. I had the winner, and I hit the exacta for a cool $152. That was the best payoff I've had in over a year. Thank goodness Ice Box got up for second. On to the Preakness!
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