One Year in the Books

Tweet For my one year blog anniversary I decided to put together a fun little prose dedicated to the racing bloggers out there. Thanks everyone for making this an enjoyable experience for me and I hope you keep reading! And be sure to check out all of my comrades over at the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance homepage.

A Day at the Track

I could hardly Curb My Enthusiasm with this Business of Racing thing. I even started my own Thoroughbred Blog called EquiSpace the day after April Fools Day, 2008, a full month before The First Saturday in May. Would this blog define me as an Aspiring Horse Player or was it just an Equine Project? I was Green But Game to attempt this writing thing, so how could I Pull The Pocket and avoid being Left at the Gate?

So I called the Saratoga Resident, who now CanGamble, and he said “Let’s Go to the Track!” So we decided to Hoof it over to the Spa to see if we could get into the handicapping Zone, even if it was for a Brief moment in time. No sooner did we arrive in the paddock did we run into Tote Board Brad, a Michigan-Bred Claimer and Mary Forney all engaged in a deep discussion about Owning Racehorses, HANA and Korea Racing. Me, I was just interested in Bob Ike’s Picks and reading The Jurga Report, and listen to Ernie belt out a tune while I watched them circle. As The Bug Boys took their mounts, I asked the Toga Rez if he’d had any Turf Luck lately in any of the Spa’s Graded Stakes. He replied that he’d mostly been a Chalk Eating Weasel since the meet started.

Next we headed over next to a Railbird, to get away from the Wall. As an Amateur Capper, and the Rez being one who loves to Power Cap, we both wanted to see what the horses looked like during the Post Parade. The opener was a race for fillies and mares and we decided to play a Superfecta, each of us choosing two horses. I made a quick call to my pal, The Turk, to get some Thorough information on a filly who reminded me of a horse I read about on Kate’s Keiblog. So we had our horses selected, including a long shot named Altar Gal, Sired by Foolish Pleasure, who appeared live, ears pricked with a beautiful coat.

We held our collective breaths as Durkin bellowed his signature line, They're In The Gate and off they went. The Striding Thoroughbreds past us for the first time. They were Gathering The Wind, when The Last Filly caught my eye as she trailed the field. It was Altar Gal staying way back in the pack minding her time. Sometimes the Race is Not to the Swift, but as they ran along the Backstretch I could see our filly starting to make her move. Around the far turn they ran, Red Rock or Bust, I thought in the back of my mind, if this ticket cashes. She started to weave in and out of horses. I was as white as a Ghost, as they started to roll Down the Stretch! Our other three horses were right in front of her as she passed them with ease as shouts of “You Go Girl” were heard trackside. It was nothing more than a Handride to the wire by her jockey, but my attention now turned to the other three, could they hang on? They approached the wire three across…are you freaking kidding me…a Triple Dead Heat and a winning ticket!!! As the horses started to Gallop out after the wire, I turned to the Saratoga Resident and thanked him for introducing me to this great sport. He just said, “Dude, That's Amore.”

Thanks to everyone who has linked to me over the past year including Ray and Brad over at The Paulick Report, Seth at Equidaily and Jessica at Raceday360. Much appreciated!!

Special thanks to the Space Gal for encouraging me to continue to follow my passion for the sport.