Jim Dandy Weekend

Birthday Weekend:  July 27-30

The entire family was here for the annual ice cream outing at Jaxon's.  We'd had our grandson Oliver for the week, and on Friday his parents arrived and stayed for the weekend.  The day before our daughter Julie (and her dog) had arrived and stayed for nearly a week.  The day before that (Wednesday) my Mom, sister, and niece had all flowing in from Ohio for their annual summer visit to help celebrate my special day.  The other two grandsons arrived Friday afternoon and spent the night.  And their parents met us at Jaxon's.  It was a great time and well worth the money.  Even though I knew the bill would be high with THIRTEEN of us on the tab, still when the bill came and the suggested tips were 20%, 22%, and 24% I thought I'd just round it up to 25% but then noticed that a 24% tip was more than $70.  WOW.  Still, well worth it.  Got home in time to watch the first few replays from the racing day, but as has been the case for the last several Saturdays, I started off without wins for several races.  This time missed with the first five before I was "SURE" I would win the Deputed Testimony Stakes at Laurel where it was a four-horse field and my pick was 1/5.  Nope, second - wow.  Ran 2nd after that at Saratoga before FINALLY scoring in the Alma North Stakes at Laurel.  Beguine was shipping in from New York and looked to have a class edge over the local Maryland runners.  Right to the front and never looked back.

In the very next race, the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks it looked to be one of the two Chad Brown fillies.  I'd backed Shidabhuti in the prep for this, the Boiling Springs, and she'd failed to deliver as the even money favorite.  While I thought she MIGHT rebound, I thought her stablemate Occult was a better choice.  Off a layoff she'd tried the Grade 1 Acorn last time out and had been third behind Kentucky Oaks heroine Pretty Mischievous despite being steadied at the start.  She was near the back to the far turn while the rider seemed very confident.  Asked and immediately she blew by the field, circling them all to reach the front as heads turned for home.  Found another gear and drew off in a very impressive performance for my second win in a row.

The only question, at least from my perspective, in the Grade 1 AG Vanderbilt at Saratoga was if Breeders' Cup Sprint champion Elite Power would improve or bounce off his last out win in the Grade 2 True North.  That day he'd come off the bench and ran "good" but afterwards all the analysts said considering he'd been away for several months it was solid but expect him to move forward next time out, which would be today.  Still, putting together a win streak like his - which reached seven in a row with that last out win - is difficult.  And harder still to build on.  AND as an added obstacle he is an off the pace closer who needs some pace to run at.  Despite all that I made him my best of the day.  Then about fifteen minutes before post time it rained and rained a lot.  The commentators remarked how Elite Power had never been on a wet track.  Just another obstacle.  Sat off the pace, made his move but his main rival - the very talented Gunite - had the lead and was stubborn. But in the final strides Elite Power was first on the wire.  Close, but no doubt.  Make it THREE in a row for me!

The DeFrancis Dash used to be a graded event that drew some of the best sprinters in the country.  But like most races in the Mid-Atlantic these days it's now ungraded and draws the lower echelon of stakes runners.  Lightning Larry was on a two race winning streak - both of which were like this level of race.  But he was third off the shelf with "paired" figures, both of which looked to indicate a move forward and that would make him tough today.  He pressed the pace and looked ready to run by but he had to fight hard through the lane before edging clear for a narrow win late.

I didn't handicap the Del Mar card but looked at the entries and read Brad Free's analysis and based on that made three bets.  The first was in the opener when highly regarded Heartland made his 2yo career debut for Bob Baffert.  He was away slowly on the rail going just 5 1/2 furlongs.  But the rider looked to be riding with confidence.  Made up ground into the turn, then decided to go inside instead of circle horses.  The rail opened and Heartland shot through and drew off in an eye-catching performance.  All the analysts on air were wow'd and remarked that we might have seen an early Derby favorite.  He was impressive, and I had him for my fifth straight win.

The featured race at Saratoga was the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and it marked the return of 2yo champion Forte.  After being forced to scratch from the Kentucky Derby and miss the Preakness - both because of over cautious Churchill Downs stewards & vets, he'd run a sharp second in the mile and a half Belmont despite not having run since the Florida Derby.  That was a remarkable performance and I thought he'd run big today.  Was pinned on the rail into the lane, bulled his way between rivals at the top of the lane, exchanging mild bumps, and wore down the loose-on-the-lead front runner on the wire.  There was a long INQUIRY and the analysts/commentators on TV all said he should come down.  But the more times they showed it the less I thought it was any big deal.  I've seen far worse NOT result in a change and I was not surprised when they let the result stand.

Unfortunately that marked the end of my wins for the day (finished 40%).  I had only one win on Friday and was shut out on Sunday.

Birthday Pics

Social Media this week...... 

One of my former students, Michelle is an airline attendant for Delta and she travels alot on her own.  This past week she was in Greece and posted a picture.  Both the scenery and the subject, very attractive!

This week was a special week honoring self-published authors, of which our girl Jillian was one.  Complimented her and got a response.

Channel 10 morning anchor Jacey Birch posted another fashion pic late in the week, but saw her in glasses for the first time.  Commented on the look....

In a Facebook memory there was a pic of my "Disney Girl" Amanda, so I reached out to her....

The day we were at Jaxon's I "chatted" via text with my favorite gal Kimmy for quite a while and asked when she'd be visiting again.

Two of my favorite social media exchanges came, as is typical with my news anchor gal-pals.  First, Karli Barnett - now in Atlanta - reacted to pics I sent from our French River cruise.  And then on the Saturday night chat after I greeted her, she - on her own - mentioned on air that she had watched the videos I sent her and enjoyed them and was glad I'd had a good time.  We then exchanged remarks about Jaxon's.  :)

And finally, Lauren Pastrana.  Reached once to a shout out, but the best came on Monday when at 5:11, right after the news started sent her a message about the weather & hot coffee and four minutes later, while on the air she replied back.  Always think that's cool.