Post Election Haiku

I had a sucker
Red white blue from elections
tastes like victory!

Been Awhile

Sorry for the slow updates...I posted my BC picks over at OregonRacing.com last week, and proved yet again the only thing I can ever come close to picking correctly are fillies and mares.

Red E runs in a maiden special weight today, and Sue will run in a claiming race. Too bad today's a Monday, since we have a lot of well-liked horses running today. We'll be watching from Xpressbet, if at all.

With no weekend racing in the spring, we're getting to PM as much as we can these days. If you ever wonder what we're doing on a Sunday through the end of the year, chances are it isn't Mass, shopping, and a nice dinner! :)

Thoroughbred Times

Not sure how many of you subscribe to the Thoroughbred Times, but if you do, page 63 of the most recent edition has a nice story on Oregon hub funds.

Life Ain't Easy...

...for A Colt Named Sue.

Our resident big-hearted old gelding took fourth yesterday in a claiming race. He always tries his best, and of course, it's always pleasing to have one that finishes pretty consistently in the money. Honestly, I was a little afraid he'd get claimed!

I was sitting next to an older gentleman at the Tillamook fair races this past August. Assuming I was new to the game, he tried to help me pick good horses out of the program. He said, "this is a nice horse" in reference to three or four horses in just the first race. Then, with a shrug he says, "awww, these are all good horses runnin' here. Really nice horses."

Of course, the rest of the world might laugh at this old man's claimers running for a purse of $2,500 at a bullring located a stone's throw from the cheese factory. But for those of us who have these hard knocking old claimers, well, they're "all good horses."

Stakes Placed!

Red E, in only his second out, finished a competitve second in the OTOBA Sale Stake. At the end, he and Ex Mountain Cop left the rest of the field in the dust. Marijo (Terleski) gave him a great ride, and he was just a game little horse. Had the race been a tad longer...well, one wonders.

I don't think I could be more pleased. Michael and I went to the backside awhile after the race, and we saw Red E after he came out of the test barn. He was in excellent spirits, seeming as playful as ever. Carol (Duby) was pleased with his run also, and I am so glad he's turned out to be a nice horse for her.

There's an off-colour saying I have heard many a time- "nobody commits suicide who's got a good 2 year old in the barn". There is perhaps a sliver of truth to that, in that hope is omnipresent with a promising youngster.

Sue runs today, and us working-class types will be tethered to the office. We will, however, attempt a mad dash to the off track.

He's In

When the DRF says it, you have to believe it.

Blinkers on this time, which I think will benefit him greatly.

Getting Red E Ready

The little fella shown below is nominated to a stake on Sunday. You can see the nominations (nominees?) for this weekend's stakes here.

The Aftermath

When doing my "much more fair and balanced than Fox News" reporting over at OregonRacing.com, one thing I especially enjoy highlighting is when Oregon racing news is reported on in big media. I keep a watchful eye on both industry and local publications, looking for a nice word about an Oregon-bred, Portland Meadows, or similar things.

I just can't bear, however, to publicize these acknowledgements this go-around. With the tragic breakdown of Snowy River Slew as the headline, it's just too sour.

I do not find it to be coincidental that the one time Portland Meadows is actually making some headlines, it is due to something salacious, saddening, heartwrenching. After all, it is the emotional stories that people read. there's even a thread on a popular racing message board that recounts when and where watched thoroughbreds died, for those looking for a lost favorite.

Horseracing doesn't need anymore public black eyes, and this one was a heck of a shiner to start out the year. The first day of the season, and a horse is put down. A horse that was probably pulled into this world, gangly and damp, by the same man who went on to train him that fateful day.

So, this will be the first year I haven't done my Tour of the Press after opening day. I'll be pleased as punch if all the websites and newspapers who reported about injured riders and a brokedown horse would report on a happy story after next week's races. Not holding my breath, though.