A Sentence or Two

I've been kind of busy here, but there is quite a bit going on that caught my eye.

Enough Talk bested Lucky Jim this weekend. It is fun to watch two good horses do what they do best - race.

Equispace did one of his lists. One of the items was about Woodbine. It is not good when your track makes a list like that.

Illustrating a low take bet. It is amazing what can be gleaned from putting more money in a bettors pocket. When racing breeds more horseplayer value it has a chance to survive other games.

Jennie Rees has a couple pictures on her blog about the Oaklawn Park Zenyatta race. Two things: I love her bio "I grew up in Lexington, where Keeneland was your last high-school class of the day for three weeks in the spring and fall." and I love the class shown by Assmussen. It is throw back, for a time in racing when everyone respected good horses, and never once looked to tear them down, just because one was your rival.

Kelly Spencer asks why is there not an industry push to promote the game via horse trailers. This has been going on for some time now in other businesses, but not in racing.

Rock n Roll Heaven, my second ranked North America Cup horse, might be the first of several not to get back in great shape. His qualifier, in 154.4 was less than impressive. He is a solid 149 pacer on paper, and they usually show a little more zip than that, even if it is a first qualifier. I hope he rebounds, because he is a hell of a good horse.

Reading CG this morning, I see Woodbine thoroughbred handles started the year soft.

Greg Blanchard from Woodbine keeps tabs on the blog, and loves the game. He got a new gig at WEG this past week.

“Anyone that asks I just tell them I hope I don’t have to get a real job, because I love it. I like the people and the atmosphere around the track. I put a lot more then (sic) 40 hours in at the track every week and it doesn’t feel like work.’’ he told Nick Oakes of the Charlottetown Guardian.

Good on ya Greg and good luck!

The Keeneland meet started off well this year and I was supposed to head there this weekend. I really wanted to be able to make it, but work has gotten in the way. I need to retire sometime soon. I don't know how, but I would sure like to :) Regardless, Keeneland is a beautiful slice of Americana and if you have not gone, and you like horse racing, put it on the list.

Old doing new. The Masters can be described as Americana as well. It is generally considered old, crusty and a place that reminds us of double Eagles by Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, the old (and sometimes not so great) south. However, watching the Masters coverage over the web this weekend it was anything but. Masters.com was fresh, new and exciting. It was very, very relevant. Racing could learn a thing or two from the grand belle of golf. This past Friday's Zenyatta race seems to shed light on that. Getting an act together is important, but we have to have an act to get one together.