Curlin might not be the King of Pop, but he is the King of Romp. I am determined to go to Churchill Downs Saturday to watch the ruling power of the race course in the Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I).

It is also the fact he is racing against other favorites of mine that I am excited about, Einstein and Brass Hat! Not to mention Thorn Song, another favorite, has raced against Einstein a few different times and just won this past weekend at Churchill Downs. He just happened to beat Obi Wan Kenobi in his Churchill Downs race. In the race before, Thorn Song finished off the board behind Einstein in the Woodford Turf Classic (Gr. IT) on Derby Day.

Caption: Einstein after Woodford Reserve Turf Classic
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt

Now, like old friends in various touring bands, they get to play together in the same venue. I will continue to state how much I love turf racing, way more than dirt. But to see the royalty of the racing world against good competition on the dirt...even though it is a week late, that is a birthday present worth accepting without a doubt. The significant revelation made to me about this race is that Einstein is leaving the grass to play in the dirt.

How will the turf oriented power house run against the versatile Brass Hat and the ever dominating Curlin? I want to see how well he does. What a great thing it would be to see Einstein prove himself on the dirt and hit the board!

Brass Hat is a grade I winner on dirt, a stakes winner on Polytrack and grade II-placed on turf. I first heard his name when I started at Blood-Horse last July. Then followed his name and career through today.

Truth be told, Einstein may not race in the Stephen Foster, but one can hope and pray. He was ready to race in the June 7 Manhattan Handicap (gr. IT) prior to the whole liscensing issue a week or so ago. So if he is ready, let's let him greet Curlin at the starting gate.

Read up on Churchill Downs release on the race here.
 

Video: Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (Gr. I) 2008

Video: FAIR GROUNDS, 2007-03-10, Race 7

Einstein:
Woodford Turf Classic - May 3, 2008 (as seen on youtube video): http://www.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=32323
Maker's Mark Mile - April 11, 2008: http://www.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=31838
Gulfstream Turf S. - Feb. 23, 2008: http://www.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=31046
Muniz H. - March 10, 2007 (same as youtube video): http://www.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=23983
Gulfstream BC Turf: http://www.ntra.com/video.aspx?id=16602

I could just as easily not mention the videos of Curlin or Brass Hat, but you can find their races on YouTube or RaceReplays.com also.


Caption: Funny Typo in Thorn Song's Paddock Sign Prior to Woodford Turf Classic
Photo: Amidala
 

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Update:

Curlin Expected to Make Stephen Foster (Preview) 

Three Derby horses are also set to run in the Northern Dancer. Pyro, Recapturetheglory, and Visionaire are listed.
 

Big Brown just blew away the competition once again and it was amazing to watch. Viewing Big Brown's race at the 134 Kentucky Derby was just as impressive as this win, when he pulled away in the 133 Preakness. With two wins, I have to root him on for a triple crown win, though there are several horses racing in the third race of the crown that I really like.

What are your thoughts one this second racing performance?

Turn of foot:

Turn-of-foot, if you never quite understood what that term meant, you have several races to reflect upon. Today is the second statement on how horses can be explosive, impressive and create chills even, due to other gears in a turn-of-foot. Thank you for that experience Big Brown. To learn more on terms used in the horse racing world, I found this article and it states several frequently used key terms.

Side Note:

 I also wanted to thank NBC for the constructive conversation and effort in educating the common race fan on the horse racing industry as a whole. They aired a great piece with Larry Jones (Eight Belles), Alex Waldrop (NTRA),  Randy Moss (ESPN/ABC) and a leading AAEP authority this afternoon. They spoke of what the horse industry is doing to take action and show everyone we care and mean business. More to come later.

Sorry about the delay, but it has been busy since the crew and I returned from Derby Day.

To read part 1 and catch up with my Derby experiences from the rail, during the Derby race, and to read about my experiences surrounding Eight Belles, click here.

Photo: Robert Bolson

Einstein Solves the Problem:

Photo: Amanda Duckworth

I am a turf fan, if you read my blog you know this by now. So you can naturally guess I was very excited about Einstein and the Woodford Mile. As a huge Einstein fan and saw his race at Keeneland against the turf king, Kip Deville. I watched all the competition in the paddock, but Einstein was just looking great. A beautiful horse with that tongue action going on. Pyro, Tiago and so many others just enjoy that tongue sticking out. I will write a later blog on that.

I had media credentials and wandered across the dirt track to watch the race from the turf-side rail. Meaning I was right at the turn, just past the finish line. The area might be better known as photographers alley, which I did meet a lot of great photographers.

The starting gate position allowed the horses to pass by twice, once as the exited the gate and then twice as they crossed the finish line. Both turns allowed me to be closer to the action than I have ever been before. I felt the wind as the Woodford field romped by and felt the ground shake as the strides hit the ground. It was one of the greatest experiences and who knows when or if I will receive that opportunity again.

Photo: Amanda Duckworth

Read about Einstein and the race here.

Photo: Amanda Duckworth

Photo: Amanda Duckworth

No Gremlins for 'Gizmo:

The previous day, Oaks Day, I called horse number five to win in the Alysheba. Why you ask? Because he is a Giant's Causeway and yes, he won on dirt! Well, it was slop, but still, I called it. Giant Gizmo's name is what sold me, but the numbers on the page looked great as well. 'Gizmo's history at Churchill Downs and on wet dirt tracks was a good indicator that he would have an advantage over his competition.

Of course I had to go put him in an exacta and not go with my gut bet on him to win. I need to get out of the exacta habit. None the less, I say this was a defining moment as a great handicapping sucess.

Read more on Giant Gizmo's brilliant race here.

The first race of Oaks day and several other races throughout Friday and Saturday held many good strides in my handicapping knowledge and gain. I have to give a shout out to Jason Shandler for some of his help in that growth of racing wisdom.

The Stars are Out:

Among the races were lots of celebrities, and I saw most of them. I was able to work the red carpet and was thrilled to see several people in entertainment. Of course the A+ lister was Hef and his ladies, but seeing Lennox Lewis, Fred Willard, Greg Grunberg, Smoky Robinson, Dr. J. and several other celebrity/reality/sports stars was a blast. I have never had that experience before and do not know if I ever will again.

Watch the entertaining sights and sounds of the red carpet from Derby Day here.

Now they are not quite red carpet celebrities, but people who wore crazy hats entertained me almost just as much. It just seems like there was something everywhere. It was an experience that was a blast.

The most fun, hands down, was watching the races on the rail and having access inside the paddock for the week. It was amazing.

Fun BloodHorse.com Video: ATO and other Derby sights and sounds:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/Videos/SectionVideo/2840586e-8164-415c-ae45-ea1e8ffd783c.htm
http://www.bloodhorse.com/Videos/SectionVideo/c4480ae0-a3d9-4cdd-8b66-5e1762ef0519.htm

Derby Sights and Sounds Photo Gallery by Robert Bolson.

I stumbled upon her by accident one late evening while watching and looking for horses. She was everything you want in a girl, smart, attractive, articulate and polite.  How can you pass up a spokes-model?  So I took her on a date.

We talked a whole lot about the Kentucky Derby and the Triple Crown, because I honestly had a lot of questions and she generally had good answers.  Although you have to state things to her pretty specific.  She knows just about anything in the horse industry and I highly recommend you visit her and ask her questions too!  She is not shy.

Some topics in our conversation included:

What is the Run for the Roses? She insisted it was about the drapery they place on the horse, but really seemed to hint at the Dan Fogleberg song.  His "Run for the Roses" became our song.
What is the Kentucky Derby? Started in 1875 and all horse owners dream of winning.
What is a derby?  It is a 3 year old race, typically on a dirt track.

My virtual date at the NTRA University Virtual Q & A shared information about the future too!  Essentially, the burning question a month ago was "Will Jedi Code win the Kentucky Derby?"  She seemingly wanted to avoid the subject, and just explained what the Kentucky Derby was.  Which was great, because I learned a lot about the derby, but I had to ask again.  So I asked her one last time, three strikes you know, and so "Will Jedi Code win the derby?" was met with "I'm sorry I'm not following." 

So evidently she is not following Jedi Code to the Derby is all I can gather from this.  I was bummed she did not care to follow him.  Besides Jedi Code, I learned much about the DRF (Daily Racing Form), my own company The Blood-Horse and many other historical facts.  Then she became impatient and kept telling me "Are you going to ask me something?"  So I just had enough, I needed space and left to visit my virtual stable on the Road to the Roses.  www.roadtotheroses.com

Check out the ntra's website to educate yourself more on the ways of Thoroughbred Racing.  It is a great resource.

Sidenote:

As a tribute to my wonderful evening with Ms. NTRAU Spokes-model, I am dedicating this song to her.  It is the Dan Fogelberg song previously mentioned. The video happens to be an awesome tribute to the late Barbaro and this video seriously does rock.  So listen to the song and enjoy images of a very talented friend. Go check out my co-worker's, Claire Novak, blog on Barbaro's brother; Nicanor!