Preakness Recap: Kismet

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

racingheart — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:33:19 GMT

Found Tales From the Triple Crown at EE. Guess that my sister overlooked it. Ordered it for her birthday. She will be so pleased! We need more Memoirs from Haskin, agreed??

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

racingheart — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:31:30 GMT

Dr. Drunkinbum,

I too purchased Tales recently & was completely enchanted! I lent it to my sister who is also a big racing fan & she tried to order it & it was no longer at Exclusively Equine. I will have to search out another copy for her because I cannot part with mine! Steve is a truly gifted writer, weaving magic from his heart & wringing MY heart with every sentence. It is good to read these blogs & feel the genuine love that people have for these magnificent animals. Win or lose, a favorite never loses their place in your heart.

Mine That Bird, for the record, strikes me as an incredible soul himself. GO, Little Bird!

Zookeeper,

I'm afraid that my Supercharger entry was too obscure for the fans. I went with Medaglia D'oro's language & the Supercharger car theme combined. I submitted Cavallo del Ferro. Or,

The Iron Horse. I guess that would have been a lot to live up to. LOL! But Superfection is sublime!

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

racingheart — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:45:01 GMT

I found myself finally having time to sit down & write in my journal about the Preakness today. I have a very busy life so I don't always get to it in a "timely" fashion but Lucky's victory is still piping hot & fresh in my mind.I thought that I'd just share a personal notation from that, in case anyone else agrees.

THAT'S NOT LUCK. It's not as frivolous as that. It's not the charm of the 7 hole. It's not the rider change either. It's something deeper, stonier & truer.

It's clipping heels with another horse, backing up & rallying again to miss by a heartbeat. It's being plowed into time & again, being cut off, tripped & given a bad ride & STILL never saying 'DIE'. It's staying sharp, working hard & bringing it all again & again, race after race. It is a strong heart. It is incredible ability. It is sheer guts & determination. You're not Lookin At Lucky, you're lookin' at RACEHORSE. The definition, in my heart & soul, of all that a racehorse should be. Unflappable, unbreakable. Pure run. Pure heart. Yes Bob, a warrior. You cannot help but root for Lucky. Even if he isn't "your horse". Even if you've dropped your money on the other guy. Lookin At Lucky catches your eye, speeds up your pulse & demands your respect..... & awe.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Dr Drunkinbum — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:44:10 GMT

I started your Tales from the Triple Crown book today and finished it today. Except for a meal break, a few bathroom breaks, and a short internet break I couldn't put it down. Fabulous. The only problem, as my Pappy used to say, is that it left me wanting more, more, more. Thanks for a great day.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Dr Drunkinbum — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:28:55 GMT

I think Migliore is a great man. I've always though highly of him whenever I've seen interviews with him. I love what he said about giving back to the horses by being an advocate for retired thoroughbreds, and helping them in any way he can. The horses that give their lives for the sport are too often overlooked. Best of luck to The Mig, a great jockey and human being.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Dr Drunkinbum — Mon, 31 May 2010 22:03:09 GMT

I hope that you write about Quality Road soon. This has been an amazing story, and he could end up being one of the greatest of all time. He is a superstar miler. Those fractions and final time were amazing. And Musket Man showed his class again. They annihilated some talented, good looking horses. Even though he is a great miler, I still think they are pointing to the Classic, the most anticipated Classic ever.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Dr Drunkinbum — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:49:34 GMT

Hopalong Haskin

That was a good one. "Stately Victor has matured a lot"

Zookeeper

Yes, Henry Fonda was in it, one of the great actors ever. Victor Mature was extremely popular for whatever reason. I'm hoping it's an omen. Stately Victor is my one and only Belmont horse.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

txhorsefan — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:35:23 GMT

Slew, you're so right - it just kills me all this "messy" hair! I want to tell them to go home and wash it and comb it - lol!

Steve, I loved the opening lines of your article on Uptown Charlybrown. I read those first couple of sentences, then said to myself, check the byline, Steve must have written this! You are such a word weaver! Oh, and it was a good article about Charly and Mr. McLaughlin, too. I wish them the best.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Slew — Thu, 27 May 2010 15:29:27 GMT

Txhorsefan...I'm with you. There will never be another Rhett Butler! Clark Gable! Gregory Peck..it's more than looks..it was the voice...and something undefined. And look...Sean Connery keeps getting better. And where is there a female today to equal Ava Gardner? Whippersnappers today remind me more of Mickey Rooney. And I wonder how much money they pay a stylist for those hair styles. What's "in" now, was called "bed head" a few years ago.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Katherine — Thu, 27 May 2010 05:06:54 GMT

Sherpa

I remember Calvin Borel's description of MTB's move when he squeezed through on the rail in the derby and quarters were so tight that he changed leads to fit his shoulders through the hole and then switched his lead again! How athletic and intelligent is that?

I love that gutsy little guy!

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

sherpa — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:52:30 GMT

Interesting that Dominic Terry - Rachel's ex-exercise rider - worked Mine That Bird today. Nice work for a starter.

I noted what DT said about not being able to tell if MTB changed leads because his stride is so smooth. It reminded me of what Mike Smith said after Preakness 09...that the Bird "changes leads on his own and you can't teach a horse that."

Seems like the little guy is rested and ready to run, but I'm glad DWL apparently is willing to ease him back into it. No rush, it's going to be a long summer.

OK, note that I typed "Preakness" so I'm not entirely off-topic!

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

sherpa — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:37:57 GMT

HasKin Will Travel

:-)

seriously, I love WordWeaver, too.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

txhorsefan — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:23:39 GMT

Hopalong Haskin has a nice ring to it and goes along with my childhood adoration of Hoppy and Topper, but in seriousness, I really do like Tim G.'s Word Weaver and Write My Story. Those are awesome names for a champion racehorse!

Zookeeper and KatSan, when I was young all the actors were much, much older like Victor Mature, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable - those guys were heart throbs and by comparison, today's young stars all look like they're about twelve years old to me. Oops, I guess that tells you how ancient I am - lol! Guess it's time for my Geritol. :)

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Katherine — Thu, 27 May 2010 00:02:29 GMT

Tim G

I can see that you are hitting your stride now, I really like these two names: Wordsofadreamer, Word Weaver :)

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

TerriV — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:51:30 GMT

Wow, Tim G. Those are Triple Crown winner names! Remember that article earlier this year about which names are worthy of a TC winner? WordWeaver is magical.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

TerriV — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:17:38 GMT

Hopalong Haskin - I like that one but Pseudonym is sooo subtle and clever. And you can pronounce Hasindereya any way you want - after all it's your horse, right? So Stately Victor is maturing well, huh? He was always really impressive; so how has he improved?

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Tim G — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:13:44 GMT

Okay, now I'm getting serious:

The Story Man, Wordsofadreamer, Word Weaver and for my Derby winner (hopefully) Write My Story.

Then you will be the sole guy allowed to write the story of 'Write My Story'

You will know who it references and you can take it whichever direction.

Now I just have to get some agreement...

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

KatSan — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:14:23 GMT

There you go then, Hopalong Haskin it is.

I can't say I see you roping a calf but I can see you running ribbons.

Oh give me Tyrone Power or Errol Flynn, Robert Taylor or any of them who actually would be older than my father/grandfather but who cares.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Steve Haskin — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:06:25 GMT

A nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn roping a calf? Uh, I dont think so. I once had a lasso when I was a kid and the only thing I managed to lasso was myself.

I actually just made up Hopalong Haskin, but I have to admit it does have a ring to it.

Well, Dr. D., I hear Stately Victor has matured a lot in the last few months.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Karen in Texas — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:07:37 GMT

Hopalong Haskin is kinda cute, actually.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Zookeeper — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:06:19 GMT

Dr Drunkinbum,

Coincidence or Omen?

I remember My Darling Clementine! Didn't Henry Fonda play in it? I thought Victor Mature was the cat's meow when I was a young girl. Even named a cat after him: Vicky. My father couldn't understand what I saw in him... now, I can't either.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Dr Drunkinbum — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:52:18 GMT

Yeeha !!!! Ride em cowboy. I just saw Ox-Bow Incident. Great movie. I also saw My Darling Clementine. I was disappointed because nothing was historically correct except for Doc Holiday's cough. He was played by Victor Mature, and Stately Victor is going to win The Belmont. What a coincidence.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

KatSan — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:58:55 GMT

You would get along good down here Steve. My family all rodeos and they could teach you to team rope or calf rope. Hey if you didn't want to actually ride you could run ribbons in Ribbon Roping.

They have old timer rodeos here too!

You know that Pepper's Pride trainer Joel Marr was quite a hand in Junior Rodeo as a little kid?

'Rodeo Steve' would be a good name for a sprinter. SH Rodeo Man, for an All American winner? Sounds good.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Steve Haskin — Wed, 26 May 2010 14:25:30 GMT

Tim, that's the best one yet. Zero on the embarrassment meter.

Dr. D., you have exposed me for the closet rodeo/cowboy freak I am. My friends in Brooklyn used to call me Hopalong Haskin.

re: Preakness Recap: Kismet

Dr Drunkinbum — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:19:10 GMT

Check out oldiestelevision.com. There are a lot of great, free clips. See Norton's lucky jacket that he wore when he won every race at the track in Honeymooners bloopers.