Blogospheric Pressure

Tweet As a little kid, my mom always used to buy the Farmers' Almanac, so she knew what the weather was going to be like. I haven't looked at this since I was a little kid, so I checked to see if they had some info on Louisville, say around, the first week in May. Looks to be sunny and warm according to the Free two month outlook here. Good to know whether to dedicate any time to the Wet Tomlinsons...

Garret Gomez will announce his decision on Sunday for either Pioneerof the Nile or Dunkirk (holding breath) per his NTRA blog. I'm saying he goes with the Cali-based PoTN over Pletcher's, and also that it's a mistake if he does. Interesting how he compares both horses and trainer's styles in the post. Good reading, no mention of monkeys in the blog though.

Here's a shocker. The NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance announced the Keeneland accreditation today in Lexington. The article was a bit more descriptive about the rigor of the audit (wonder why they decided to do that?) and that it covered more than just a one day onsite visit. At least this time they actually conducted the review during an actual meet. Amazingly, the next two stops appear to be Pimlico and Belmont. Must be some big races coming up at these sites.

Looks like Mafaaz is going to drop out of the PDI next week, well unless Joe Drape continues to put him in his top five. You have to give his connections (Mafaaz' that is) credit for gracefully bowing out, and not taking up a spot in the Derby from Mr. Hot Stuff, Flying Private or whatever other 50-1 shot is looming out there. Check out the TBA's morning line prognosticators on the homepage.

Starting to gear up for next week's trip to Lexington and getting pretty excited about our first visit to Keeneland and a quick trip to Louisville for Churchill's opening day card and the Derby Trial Stakes. Any tips on what to see or do in Lex would be appreciated. Drop me a line or comment.

I've also started my 2009 Derby spreadsheet, which will share some interesting data all in one place. I did it last year and sent it over to the Saratoga Resident, who distributed to all his Albany buddies. Last week he emailed me saying he was asked about it in two separate meetings on the same day and just shook his head. It's in Excel, but I'll try and figure out how to post it in the Google Docs thingy on my sidebar.....halfway home....