Holiday Walnuts

Tweet - Every time I flip through "A Christmas Story" all I can think of is Plaxico yelling in the nightclub: "I SHOT MY THIGH OUT." Just can't get it out of my head. Now it's in yours. Sorry.

- Ernie left me a response on a facebook status page commenting on the "PAIN" of no racing for the past two days that left me thinking about Santa Anita's opening day card tomorrow. Must. Make. Wager. (well to get the free PP's for the DRF contest).

- Speaking of the king of NY racing, TDH did an excellent piece in Down the Stretch. Looking forward to receiving my copy via post (that's Canadien [sic] for mail). Thanks Keith! You da man. *marking queen's plate down on calendar*

- Been enjoying (a) the milder weather down south in central PA (isn't it scary that to Buffalo, State College is down south)...and (b) that I can access HRTV.

- This lady is my hero and inspiration.

- Coolest Xmas present I received so far: Weston leather cigar holder from Red Envelope. A must for the 'gar-toting golfer or early morning workout watcher.

- Changing up my Spa trips this year, substituting Travers for Alabama weekend, thinking this could be a bang up crop of 2yos (hey we can only hope when we're 128 days away from the big day).

- My dog, Tanner Jones, crushed it for Christmas, he has to be wondering WTF did I do to deserve all of this awesomeness (stocking with name on it, tasty crack bone, mini soft chew bone [man he loves those] and a long stretchy thing w/hoops theme). It's my first Christmas having a dog and he's the best, if only he could handicap.

- The Saratoga Resident called me with holiday wishes yesterday posting a 3:40 from Schenectady which elicited the token "is Schenectady your driveway?" response from yours truly. Much laughter ensued. Oh, the holidays.

- Wondering if Dock Ellis (RIP) ever tripped on cobra venom?

- I haven't twittered in five days, trying to avoid the twitter-azi (just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't watching).

- I have a hunch that Bob Black Jack is going to like the distance and might surprise a fully-loaded Malibu field. Get the free PP at the TBA homepage. I also favor Fifteen Love in the Sir Beaufort Stakes for Bobby Frankel who will tackle a tough Gio Ponti (coming off a bad beat) and El Gato Malo trying turf for the first time (i'd stay away from the Bad Cat in this one).

- Have a super Boxing Day tomorrow.

Derby Day

Tweet The day we have all been waiting for is here. The First Saturday in May has arrived and a sloppy and yielding Oaks Day had lots of excitement to it. The Space Gal (my lovely wife) hit the tri in the Oaks and was strutting around all evening in her handicapping glory. My Oaks/Derby Double is alive with Proud Spell ($8.80) taking the first leg. My second legs with will pays as shown at the Crist Blog site are: Big Brown ($37.80), Colonel John ($54.80), Pyro ($55.80), Z Fortune (my Derby pick at $143.60), and Bob Black Jack ( $514.80). Let’s just say I wouldn’t be all that disappointed if BBJ wired it and one of the other four came in second (yes, I have that saver exacta ticket). In the early pools it looks like a lot of early money is going on Court Vision and Eight Belles as their early pool lines have dropped significantly, with CV actually being the 4th choice in the double....hmmm. Lots of folks must be projecting the race to fall apart based on all of the outside speed duels that have the potential of burning horses out one by one. It should be interesting and instead of re-capping everything, I had also made some off-track plays (with Visionaire and Adriano on top of some exactas). I learned on the sloppy BC Day to go with your gut and instincts.

Last night’s dream: Big Brown going to the front from the 20 hole, tiring in the stretch and being overtaken by the 8 at the wire, Visionaire….

Space Gal's Picks (face it she's on fire): $1 Exacta: Pyro, Cowboy Cal w/ Pyro, Cowboy Cal, Eight Belles, Cool Coal Man. Finally as no female can resist, $4 to win on Eight Belles. She mentioned something about an Uncle Cal.....Good luck!

It should be interesting. Have a great day and enjoy the big race.

Picture: Courtesy, DRF

Crash and Burn

Tweet Yesterday, similar to Pyro, I crashed and burned at Keeneland in the Blue Grass, leaving me with nothing more than saying "I hate polytrack." I find it difficult to handicap, the pace slowdown changes everything and horses running on it for the first time in a big race rarely perform. I thought Cool Coal Man was rating nicely through the top of the stretch, then nada….nothin….done. Miner's Claim made a nice move after the far turn and then nada…nothin…done. I'm drawing a line through this race. I have more faith in CCM and Pyro that it was the track and nothing more. Pletcher definitely picked his spot after working out the top two finishers together earlier in the week. He'll be back at the Derby, I just don't think we'll see him in the Winner's Circle, even though I'm a fan of his. Both his horses show nice turf form and the turf to synthetics angle appears to be something to always keep in mind.



In the Arkansas Derby, Gayego made a case for the west coast horses and had a nice trip bringing home the 1 1/8 race. This bodes well for the stock of Colonel John and even Bob Black Jack, who will be making their first runs off the poly on dirt at Churchill Downs. Funny note on this race as pointed out by the Saratoga Resident via email after the race, third place finisher Tres Borrachos means Three Drunks in Spanish…classic. An interesting twist here, the late closing Z Fortune seemed to have more left in the tank and could be a factor in Louisville with another 1/8 mile added on for the Run for the Roses.

The handicapping puzzle for the first Saturday in May just got more complicated.