August 18 - 20

 August 18 - 20:  Back To School

Typically I have multiple stories to tell in my weekly journals which chronicle my racing adventures.  But this week, not so much.  After a rather slow weekend of racing last week I felt pretty confident that despite there not being a lot of big races this weekend that the percentages would balance out and I'd have a good weekend of racing.  This feeling was reinforced by the results on Friday where I played the always abbreviated card at Monmouth.  On the eight race card I passed the first two but had bets in the last six.  In the third I liked Just Beat The Odds in a MSW sprint.  Was under a very snug hold while pressing the leader into the far turn.  When let loose he ran off and scored under a hand ride.

Ran 2nd at 2/1 in the fourth before another MSW sprint, this one going five furlongs on the turf.  My pick, Poet's Wish went right to the front but was quickly joined by the second choice in the wagering.  They dueled through the turn and I fell back by about a head turning for home.  But 'Poet's wasn't done yet and she began to mount another challenge.  You have to understand the configuration of the Monmouth turf course to understand what followed.  All turf routes on the Jersey Shore start in a chute that angles down to the main turf course.  So as you round the far turn into the stretch at about the furlong pole there is a "gap" providing open ground to run on up the inside.  BUT the problem is if you are pinned inside as you approach the end of the chute the rail "reappears" and you need to get "out of the chute."  Well, Poet's Wish was doing just that and her challenger drifted in as they crossed the "gap" so that once the chute ended 'Wish was about to run into the rail so she had to take up.  Both the INQUIRY sign and OBJECTION sign came up and I was moved from 2nd to first so I could cash my ticket.  

Right back in Race 6 where Coach Adams was MUCH the best in a starter optional claiming to score going two turns by a pole.  And finally, in Race 7 Love Me Not was 9/2 with less than ten minutes to go when the on-air analyst told everyone that this was her bet.  By post time she was hammered down to 7/5 and went last-to-first to score going away.

Saturday I had high hopes for the day but for the day from twenty-one selections I had only five wins while running second SIX times and third twice.  Fortunately two of those were "bet back promotions" so I "cashed on seven of twenty-one so it wasn't a terrible day.  The lone highlight was a win in Gulfstream's featured Sheer Drama Stakes with R Adios Jersey.

Sunday was "King's Plate Day" at Woodbine with multiple stakes races and I played the Jersey Shore.  Won with two of the first four plays, though at even money and 1/5.  Then went winless over the remaining seven races to close out the weekend.

Monday marked the start of school in Broward and I began my 12th year of retirement.  In many ways it seems like just a couple of years ago, but in other ways it seems oh-so-long ago since I was working.  In "honor" of the event I posted a 3:30 video highlight of where we'd been :)

Eleven Years of Retirement

Social Media this week......

I interacted with three of my social media gal-pals this week.  First up, Trish Christikas from CBS-Miami posted that she was taking two weeks off to return to her home country of Greece.  I messaged her to have a good time and that we were excited to be traveling to Greece next spring, which drew a response from her.

Next up, new gal-pal Teri Hornstein and I exchanged multiple contacts.  I sent her the highlight video from my eleven years of retirement and she watched it and commented on it.  And then on Monday morning as I began my 12th year of retirement she was on the anchor desk, so I messaged her and got a reaction.

I also sent the "Retirement Collage" and video link to Karli Barnett.  She was so sweet to reply back to me in a private message.  Then during the Saturday evening FaceBook chat we had several exchanges talking about frozen cappuccinos and Dairy Queen Blizzards.  I sent her a photo on Friday morning of my frozen cappuccino and she sent me a private message back on Monday :)

But the best exchanges of the week came with long time most favorite gal-pal and former student Kimmy.  I sent her the Egypt "teaser trailer" and she replied back; and later that day my "Egypt hat" arrived so I took a pic and sent it to her, to which she immediately replied.  On Friday I shared a photo of me enjoying the frozen pumpkin cappuccino and she replied back.  But THE BEST exchange came on Saturday as Kim and I began looking at flights to visit our families in late October/early November.  Kim's flight home didn't return until nearly midnight and the planned flight I had got home mid-afternoon.  Not sure why it popped into my head but I thought, "what if instead of flying directly home from Columbus I flew to Charlotte, North Carolina where I might squeeze in a visit with Kimmy and her family.  Sure enough there it is a possibility so I reached out to her and she was very receptive to the idea.  We'll see how that plays out in the weeks to come!