What with last week’s win coupled with finding the Top Bunk story… I finally pulled it together to “formalize” my Pony Up! program.

It’s my own personal program, but I would encourage y’all to create your own. Starting with you Swifty and your well paying exacta in the Blue Grass!

I will eventually make a little banner and give it a more prominent placement here at GbG, but what with all my pieces of Derby flair, it’s feeling a little too chaotic at the moment, visually speaking.

As I was reading the various takes on yesterdays preps it dawned on me that this is not the only Sunday where we’re left to ponder “what happened to (fill in the blank)?” and inevitably “what does it mean?”.

Let’s take a look back, shall we?

Blue Grass: Pyro, Visionaire, Cool Coal Man, Big Truck

Santa Anita Derby: El Gato Malo

Illinois Derby: Denis of Cork

Florida Derby: Fierce Wind, Elysium Fields

Rebel: Z Fortune

Tampa Bay Derby: War Pass

Louisiana Derby: Tale of Ekati

Gotham: Giant Moon

Fountain of Youth: Monba

What does this mean, other than this year’s 3yos seem to be a lot less consistent than last year’s? I’m going to throw out the Blue Grass for the no-showers because of the surface. It would be one thing if only one of them stunk, but they all got a big fat F.

Does this mean that the horses that haven’t thrown a clunker yet are more likely to on Derby day? Does it mean that those who have thrown a clunker have theirs out of the way? It would be great if it were that simple (and maybe in some cases it is). Monba, Tale of Ekati, War Pass and Z Fortune have all had nice comebacks off of their clunkers, could the same be true for the recent no shows?

Take War Pass, I thought his Wood performance was great… the old War Pass showed up, set insane fractions and gutted it out for a strong place. I don’t think there’s any shame in that performance. If he were my horse I’d wait for the Preakness and then save him for the summer as it’s clear he won’t rate and there’s a ton of confirmed speed going to Kentucky.

How about Big Brown? My biggest prove it to me point, other than his feet (which I think is a big point to prove), is that his real competition didn’t show up in the Florida Derby. Sure he’s got a ton of talent and I’m excited to see what he’ll do with it (if his connections don’t f-up his feet because of their Derby fever) but I can’t back at a horse at those odds with so little proven. It actually cracks me up how people go so bananas for a visually impressive performance and a 3 digit Beyer (on a speed favoring track). I’m still of the opinion that Pyro’s Risen Star was the the performance of the season.

And yes, speaking of Pyro, if he comes out the Blue Grass sound he’s still my fav… and even better for me that his odds will no doubt be much higher. As for the rest of them… I’m still mulling it all over and waiting to see how they train. I’ll definitely be updating my Derby Dating thoughts in the coming week as a girl has to keep an eye on all of her options!

Was just checking in with Swifty, who’s over at “The Office” to see if he had anything in Holy Bull. He had the trifecta… he’s on fire! I took a pass on the Holy Bull.

While we were chatting I could hear a low booming voice over the din of the simulcast over his cell phone.

Swifty: “You’re SO lucky you’re not here… you would be SO annoyed. There’s an older know it all guy spouting off about all the races. A table of 3 young professionals fawningly asked him if he had ever seen a horse as a good as Big Brown.”

Me: “EEEEEWWWWWWWW”

Swifty: “Yeah, wait… his answer “Secretariat“.”

Swifty calls me 10 minutes before the Blue Grass:

Swifty: “Who do you like?”

Me: “Big Truck, Monba and Halo Najib”

Swifty: “Really?”

Me: “Yeah, I’m going with the theory Pyro doesn’t have to win. Who do you like?”

Swifty: “Cowboy Cal”

Me: “Yeah, I think he’s interesting but I think he’s entered to ensure a good pace for Monba, who I’m expecting to do well. Look at their last work together. Monba did better.”

Swifty: “Interesting, I wasn’t considering Monba at all but you’re right.”

10 minutes later I call Swifty…

Swifty: “Thanks”

Me: “You had the exacta didn’t you?”

Swifty: “Yep!”

Me: “I’m an idiot…”

Well, it’s 3:15 on Saturday and I’ve just finished handicapping the Blue Grass… and it’s the first race I’ve finished. I’m pretty sure I can get through the Arkansas Derby and maybe even the Holy Bull if I’m lucky!

I could use the excuse that this race was really hard to figure out as the reason why I’m getting so little done, but that wouldn’t be the truth. However, that doesn’t detract from the fact that it was really hard to figure this one out!

Between the clear division of those with synthetic experience & those without + questionable pace scenario one could go back and forth about how things are going to shake out (and I did).

I’m going with the idea that Pyro, my current favorite for the Derby, will not win here. His works have been ultra consistent and his last work over the surface looks exactly like his last work before his last win + he’ll likely get the same kind of pace, but let’s face it, he doesn’t have to win. And as Valerie has pointed out, no Derby winner of the last 10 years has won this race (including Street Sense).

There are a couple items of note in this race. I’m guessing that Pletcher has entered the talented turf specialist Cowboy Cal not only to see what he’ll do here, but to create a nice pace scenario for Monba. It looks like they worked together last out and Monba did a touch better… it was a nice work for both of them.

Miner’s Claim and perhaps even Stonebird seem like they might be on or near the lead as well… while I’m not expecting anything close to the pace in the Wood, it could be a touch faster than we’ve seen in the majority of prep races.

Cool Coal Man looks great… his last work is a nice improvement at the distance, he’s proven at the distance and it bears noting that he’s in the same post position as his last two, which means he should set-up perfectly. However, he’s a total wild card on the surface.

Big Truck also looks great, even better than Cool Coal Man in my opinion because of that last work over the track + the same bullet pattern as prior to his last win. It looks like he’s gonna like the surface. Visionaire’s last work also seems to indicate that he’ll like the surface.

As for the proven synthetic runners Halo Najib looks like he could really improve here… if he runs on the pace I think he could be in the mix at the end. Could he be this year’s Dominican? Medjool looks like he could make some noise too.

I was just making the rounds this morning in preparation for looking at the Derby preps (i.e., procrastinating). I still haven’t decided if I’m going to play or just watch.

I made my way back to flickr to find out that the folks who rescued Top Bunk created a great Wiki entry about him as a part of their rescue effort.

Not only can you find out about Top Bunk’s racing career (which was impressive) and see a bit of the process they used to claim to the horse, but you can see what the life of a claimer is like in a little more detail than is available in a past performance. It ain’t pretty and this doesn’t even include any lurid details. I’m glad to know there are folks out there who are actively keeping an eye open for horses in need of help.

Also of note, there’s a link at the bottom of the page to a NY Times article from 2001 that mentions Top Bunk, it’s about a professional horseplayer… something I’ll never be if I keep procrastinating like this!

Brad Hennegan with the proverbial framed dollar bill from their 1st patron & my thumb (Railbird).

While reading my email this morning I got this message from Railbird, “I feel terrible you’re cut off — I must have been standing too close when taking this picture”. My reply was “I could tell when you were taking it that I wasn’t going to be in it… which was fine by me :)”

The cropped version is much better and I LOVE the look on the guy’s face (who’s name I can’t remember… so please leave a comment with your name if you’re reading this!). He’s a friend of John’s from college and the first official patron of the film!

It was a real premier with a celebrity and everything (even though I have to say I don’t know who she is, but she was attractive and well styled!). It was a nice turn out of supporters & well wishers and we were treated to a private screening of one hell of a great film.

I attended with Teresa, Jessica and Mr. Railbird, who’s not a horseplayer, but clearly knows at least a little something about racing by way of being Mr. Railbird! He gave the film the thumbs up as a well made documentary by anyone’s standards, not just for fans.

As we wandered aimlessly through the throngs of horses asses NYU students boozing away the out enjoying a quasi-balmy Thursday evening, we chatted about the film. The three of us Ladies had all seen the film a year ago when it was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival. We agreed unanimously that after seeing it again it made us feel great about racing.

The sense of emotion is so palpable in the film whether it’s the trainers being nervous before a race, family members elaborating on the struggles of the trainers or the inevitable outcome of the fate of Barbaro… you could feel it all. Everyone was all in at every moment and if that’s not a draw I don’t know what is.

Seeing it again reminded me that the first race I ever purposefully watched was the 2006 Preakness. Two weeks prior I was running errands in my neighborhood and walked by a hang out spot that was full of well dressed drunk people in the middle of the afternoon. I noticed there were a hell of a lot of hats. About a block a later it came it me, the Derby.

I had flirted with horse racing prior, occasionally happening upon a race being broadcast and being taken by how absolutely stunning & powerful horses are as athletes, how damn exciting a horse race is and how two minutes is as long as I can pay attention to any sporting event. However, without any guidance I could never find a way into racing as a fan. I knew that the Derby was coming up and wanted to wanted to watch it but by the time I got home I had missed it.

A little later I got text from a friend that said simply “Horses Baby!”. She had put $20 on Barbaro at a Derby Party because she liked his name. For the next two weeks Barbaro was her horse, and she was not alone.

Since I had to hear about Barbaro for two weeks I was pretty tuned into the Preakness. When it came time to view it I needed subtitles. I really wanted to know what the hell they were talking about it but didn’t have a clue. It was obvious that everyone was expecting big things from Barbaro but that was about it.

I don’t remember much about it except for Barbaro breaking through the gate prior to the race and how the announcers intoned that it was not a good sign. I also remember thinking how much more exciting it would be if I knew the horses and what was at stake.

The film captures the hard work of each team, the hope mixed with “wait and see” and the sheer will and effort it takes to get there in a way that any great documentary does… by being there every step of the way, letting the subjects do the work (i.e., their thing) and hanging the story together in away that makes it “real”. It also shows us that the Derby itself is the real star of the film, like a play put on every year where the same actor plays the lead but the extremely talented supporting cast changes. This year’s casting of the Derby is no different.

In hindsight I was right… knowing the horses and what’s at stake does make it MUCH more exciting, then and now.

Shammy celebrating his birthday (Jessie Holmes)

What started off as a reaction to Swifty (bottom of the page) has turned into full fledged obsession “hobby”.

Now I’m a yearling!

Well, we are, but there have been recent UFO sightings that indicate perhaps the powers that be are at least listening.

Well if that’s the case, go listen in on this conversation, and this one and this one, just to name a few.

Oh wait, please don’t forget this, this, this, AND this.

And as if that wasn’t enough, there are new conversations popping up every day… you’ll tell two friends and so on, and so on, and so on.

I’ve been showing a profit so infrequently lately that I forgot about my “daily win of over $200 on one track” rule. In the middle of the afternoon at work today I had the “oh yeah!” moment.

I need to come up with a snappy for it… Share the Wealth? Giving it Back? If anyone has ideas let me know because I’d like to encourage as many horse players to do this as possible, hard to do that without a snappy name.

I had a really good day so I decided to make two donations. Since the win was at Aqueduct I donated to my regular Aqueduct/Belmont place, New York Horse Rescue and in honor of meeting Brooklyn Backstretch in person (finally!) I also donated to one of her fav charities, BEST Backstretch. I’m glad to see they got that PayPal hooked up! Although I was fully prepared to send them a check.