Indiana Derby - Belmont Derby - Delaware Handicap Day

 The Weekend of July 8

This week was the final week of racing prior to Kim and I heading off on our next adventure to Europe.  We leave on Monday evening, July 10 and will fly non-stop from Miami to Paris.  We'll board the Avalon Waterways Tapestry II and sail on a week long adventure to the Beaches of Normandy with our good friends Bob & Pam Murray.  At the end of the cruise we will take the train from Paris under the English Channel to London and spend three nights there before flying home on July 21st.  You can follow our adventures on our "Paris & Normandy" web page, here:  

Click the pic to go to our "Paris To Normandy" web page

The week's racing kicked off on Thursday and I was excited to watch the races from Horseshoe Indianpolis because MY horse, Classic Cut was the 7/5 favorite in a first level allowance event on the turf.  So I handicapped the card as well as the twilight Woodbine card.  My colt just didn't run all that well, especially when turning for home he was just flat.  I won a race earlier on the card when another MyRacehorse runner, Vow, was much the best.  What COULD have been a very profitable day of racing was lost when Nikolaou was 2nd by a neck in the 4th at Woodbine and in the eighth Hot Omelet was also second by a neck there preventing me from cashing out for a combined nearly $75.  You gotta love the thrill of racing, right?

Friday I had five selections on the Jersey Shore.  After my first pick scratched out of the first it was in Race 4 that I bet on Artie's Angel.  Before moving into Kelly Breen's barn he'd earned three Beyers of 56-60-59.  Once in the long-time Jersey Shore conditioner's care he rattled off four Beyers of 80-70-79-79 while winning twice against more expensive runners than he faced today.  To be fair he'd not raced since October but showed six works topped off by a bullet work and got Paco Lopez today.  Dueled from the very start of the one-mile turf event, got a little daylight turning for home and was all out to hold off the second choice who rallied from the back of the pack.  The generous $6.60 payout allowed me to start the day by collecting over $30.  In the next race it was all about did you go with the "obvious" choice at a short price or shop for value.  I could see why people would look for a price as Todd Pletcher's Crupi had been out five times with three thirds and two seconds.  Maybe he just doesn't want to win?  But for me, the last time he came off the bench - like today - he earned a massive 87 Beyer when just missing, which was good enough to start in the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 2 Wood Memorial - AS A MAIDEN - in his next two starts.  I took the short price.  Tracked the second choice into the lane and wore him down late before beginning to edge clear as they approached the wire.

Note the official photo bottom left - VERY close!

WHOOO HOOOO - two-for-two!  Two seconds sandwiched around my third winner of the day in the 7th race.  Kingmax had made his first North American start a decisive and impressive one off an eleven month break.  Typically you want to look elsewhere in the allowance ranks than to bet a horse off a win in nw1x allowance moving into nw2x company.  But I thought he might run even better today.  Rallied from the back and blew by in hand to make Friday a very profitable day for me :)

Saturday July 8

Del 'Cap Day 2019 - I was AT Delaware Park!

Saturday I had picks from Monmouth and the three tracks which were hosting big stakes events:  Belmont, Horseshoe Indiana, and Delaware.  Coming off of a big day Friday I hoped to keep the momentum going.  And I could not have been more pleased with the start of the day, especially considering that all the big races and big bets would come later in the day.  The opener at Delaware was a maiden claiming event for 2yo and no one has been hotter on the Mid-Atlantic circuit than trainer Brittany Russell.  She was sending out first time starter Insoucient who faced a pretty ordinary group of runners I thought.  I was amazed when he sat at 4/1 as they left the paddock.  The smarter bettors knocked him down to 2/1 and he drew off by a pole, paying $6.60 and letting me start the day by collecting more than $30.  The first at Monmouth was a maiden claimer on the turf and I liked Payout Ratio from the Chad Brown barn.  Right to the front of this mile and a sixteenth test and when the fractions went up as :22 and change and :45 and change I knew that he'd never last.  But as he hit the far turn he opened up and drew off like a stakes winner.  WOW.  Minutes later we were in the gate for the second at Horseshoe Indiana where Roman Goddess looked to be odds on in a MSW test.  The question was could she run to her turf figures in the last two starts on the dirt today.  Looked like a winner from the start, tracking the pace to the turn, taking over willingly and opening up.  But the wire came JUST in time to save the day and our third consecutive win.  Closed out the sequence in the 2nd at Monmouth.  Reckless Place looked best on paper in the "beaten" sprint, but that 15/1-6-4 resume was scary bad.  Tracked a longshot leader to the turn, took over, opened up and won for fun.  FOUR-for-FOUR to start the day - WHOOOO HOOOO!

Came back to reality when I ran off the board in four straight before going on another "run."  Funny how today is playing out like last Saturday:  win a bunch, lose a bunch, win a bunch......  The fourth race at Delaware I'd listed as a "maybe" bet.  It was a maiden claiming event on the turf.  I didn't see anyone that I particularly liked but Bring The Magic, who had been out EIGHT times already, was listed as the top choice of two of the three public handicappers and the second choice of the other.  As the betting went on the 3yo filly was taking some money so I put the minimum on her.  Then when she was hammered late I doubled the minimum bet to a double investment.  Tracked the leader while in hand to the turn, took over and drew off like a graded stakes winner.  Smart move to not only bet but double the wager.  Then in the next race it was the first of the stakes races, the Dashing Beauty Stakes - a six furlong sprint.  Alva Star was lightly raced and on the improve.  First stakes try but looked good enough so I went in for the minimum.  Right to the front and widened impressively through the lane.

The Grade 2 Suburban at Belmont wasn't the deepest field of this historic stakes event going the classic mile and a quarter distance, but it presented an interesting quandary - Todd Pletcher's enigmatic Charge It was likely to be a short priced favorite today and you had to decide WHICH Charge It would show up.  After his maiden win in his second start last spring he'd run second in the Gr 1 Florida Derby then ran a massive 111 in the Grade 3 Dwyer here.  He'd come back off the layoff to start his 4yo season this past winter with a 102 Beyer winning a Gulfstream allowance but had not fired since.  Would he return to form over the track he'd run his best and reunited with Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez?  Right to the front and he looked like he could win by a pole from the time they were half way down the back stretch.  Impressive today.

Another maiden special event at Delaware on the turf was my next bet.  This race was an excellent example of how in handicapping "the rule" is there are no rules!  Sun Bee had already been out seven times - a typical immediate toss for me - and worse, five of the seven had seen her finish second.  OUCH.  But three of her last four starts earned Beyers that would win nearly every MSW turf event here in New Castle, and in two of those the winner had come right back to beat winners.  AND she was the BEST Bet of two of the handicappers on this stakes highlighted card.  I was "uncomfortable" with her sitting in a tracking spot about 3-or-4 off a glacial pace of :25 and :50.  Moved to the leaders when fanned wide into the lane and eventually wore them down to be up in time late.  Whew!  The three-out-of-four winning sequence came to a close as I ran in four of the next six and third in the other two.  Fortunately two of those races were "bet back" promotion events.

The highlight of the Delaware card was up next, the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap.  Brad Cox's talented filly Idiomatic had been my choice a month ago to post the mild upset in the Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs and she'd been impressive, earning a big 102 Beyer.  So today she stepped up into graded company and the question was, would she run back to that figure or not?  In the Shawnee Idiomatic had gone wire to wire, and while I didn't think she was a "need to lead" kind of runner, I expected her to be on or pressing the pace.  The gates opened and immediately she was last.  Read later that she'd stumbled out of the gate, yikes....that's not good.  Got into a good tracking spot by the time they'd reached the far turn, but had she used up too much energy making up ground.  Got to the leader turning for home, stretch duel.....JUST up on the wire!  AND because she'd taken so much money I had upped the bet to a "prime time" play!  Minutes later got the winner in the Monmouth finale when Road To Stardom proved best. as well.

Ran third in an Indiana stakes, but got my money back, and then cashed the first of two "big" payout tickets - this one in an allowance event from Belmont.  It was an entry allowance going seven furlongs on the grass and I noted in my analysis that you win a lot more races like this if you prefer lightly raced runners who've run a race or two against winners, and run well.  Chad Brown's Appraise was just such a runner.  After winning a turf sprint as a 2yo she tried a sprint stakes at Saratoga and then was a best-of-the-rest 2nd in Woodbine's Grade 1 Summer Stakes.  Not seen since that October effort she came here and Brown is excellent with long layoff types.  Pressed the leader for the opening quarter and then put that one away and ran off as MUCH the best.  Paid a sharp $6 and change allowing my triple investment to get a return of over $45!  Missed in an Indiana stakes before the second big score of the day in the NY feature, the Grade 1 Belmont Derby.  I'd seen Far Bridge run at Gulfstream this winter and remarked he would be a stakes winner.  Second in two straight graded stakes I thought just maybe he didn't get the best of rides.  Trainer Todd Pletcher put Jose Ortiz back up - and he'd been the winning rider at Gulfstream.  Sat near the back to the turn, moved up the rail to the top of the lane.  Angled out and sprinted to the wire.  The best payoff of the day, $8.70 netted me over $65 :)

I ran 2nd in the Indiana Oaks, so I got my money back.  And finished off the day when Verifying was a gutsy winner of the Grade 3 Indiana Derby for my thirteenth win of the day with a prime time ticket on him.

Sunday saw me win just one race at Monmouth, but it was the featured Irish War Cry Stakes when He'spuregold came roaring down the middle of the turf course to score.

Over the next ten days or so I'll have few selections as I'll be floating through France and wandering around London.  I DO know that on Thursday I'll have at least one bet as my 2yo filly Lady Blitz is slated to run on Opening Day at Saratoga in a maiden event.

Saturday's Results

Social Media this week.....

I had a lot of "contact" with my online pals, and as I've mentioned before, that's rewarding for me to have the social contact since I typically don't see anyone in real life on a normal basis.  BUT the upcoming trip is where I DO get to interact with real people - looking forward to that.  The first interaction came with former CBS-Miami weather girl Jennifer who's since moved north to Palm Beach but I keep in touch with her.  We chatted about the current oppressive heat & humidity.

On July 4th WPLG Channel 10 morning anchor Jayce Birch showed off her patriotic outfit which I complimented and got a reaction from her.

Hottie handicapper Acacia Courtney posted a pic of her and her anchor pal Paul Ladouca and both reacted to my happy 4th wishes.

On Sunday Kim and I were watching the weekend Today Show and they went to the weather.  There was "our girl" Angie Lassman who used to do the week-day weather on our NBC-6 station.  Not a fan of the girls who've replaced her, but maybe that's just because I've always been a fan of Angie's.  I thought it was so cool that "our girl" had "made it big" to the Today show so I shot her a message and minutes later, while still on the national broadcast she messaged me back.  VERY cool.

Our "adopted daughter" Jillian posted about her latest in-school book read and we exchanged remarks about how great it is to interact with kids in the classroom.

Saturday at the races Maggie Wolfendale was on the desk for the first part of the "America's Day at the Races."  You look at her and you'd never guess she was 30-something and a mom.  She always looks really attractive, but today in a powder blue halter top dress she was quite the eye candy.  I reached out to her and minutes later she reacted :)

I had an exchange with CBS-Miami reporter Trish who I've become a big fan of....thinking she'll one day be an anchor girl :)

And I chatted briefly with former CBS-Miami Weekend Anchor Karli who said she wished she was going on our trip with us :)

The two most rewarding interactions / conversations of the week came when I exchanged messages with two of my most favorite girls who were once students of mine and have gone on to be successful career women and moms.  The first was Erica who did her WISE project on being a news anchor and eventually WAS a news reporter and anchor for several TV stations.  When a photo of her and I meeting for lunch - after she'd done a live report on TV - was on my FB Memory for the day I reached out to her and was touched that she wanted to get together.  I do so hope we can work that out.

And then my most, MOST favorite gal-pal, Kimmy and I exchanged a series of text messages about my upcoming trip.  The two things that meant the most to me were when she told me I was NOT old :) and even more importantly when I said I'd look forward to drinks/dinner with her and she replied that SHE was looking forward to that.  So sweet.

Stephen Foster Weekend

 Summit of Speed / Canada Day / Foster Day

Saturday was a HUGE stakes day around the country.  In years past I would most certainly have been AT the races here in So Fla.  For many years the highlight day of the summer at Calder was "Summit of Speed" Day where there were multiple stakes races, all sprints and at least two of them were graded events.  The big name riders, trainers & horses would come down for the weekend and it was fun to be the center of the racing world.  When racing shifted permanently to Gulfstream they continued with this big summer day and I can remember as recently as four years ago being on track for the multiple stakes events, spending the day betting the races then meeting my most favorite former student and now adult gal-pal Kimmy for dinner afterwards.  But this year the "Summit of Speed" was A race - yes, one race - the Grade 3 Smile Sprint.  Ok, so there was a listed event on Sunday.....what used to be the Bobby Umphrey Turf Sprint was simply the Bob Umphrey Sprint because we're not doing turf racing, again, this summer as the turf course is being redone, again like last year.  WOW.  The racing kicked off at around 12:30 when I missed at Laurel but then I won the opener at Delaware.  This was a nw3L sprint and I was surprised none of the public handicappers even listed Need A Marker as a choice.  She was lightly race with only seven starts, had won two and been on the board in five....ALL in open company.  Everyone else had raced at some point in restricted races like this.  She pressed the pace three wide through the turn, opened up and held off the late closers to score at better than 2/1.

Missed three more before getting back in the winner's circle, and again it was at Delaware Park.  The second race here was a second level allowance sprint.  Chicks Dig Scars had run three consecutive Beyers that beat every lifetime best on the page save one which had been earned last November against cheap claimers.  Tracked the 6/1 front runner into the lane, surged to the front and won comfortably enough as the prohibitive favorite.

Over the next hour I had EIGHT "Pass" races, ran 2nd in three events and missed the board in three others.  One of the second place finishes came in the American Derby at Ellis Park where I "cashed" on $10 of the $15 bet thanks to a "bet back" promotion.  Got my first stakes win in Delaware's Alopasca Stakes despite the fact that my top choice scratched out.  Only four runners were left in the field and when I noted how much money Lightning Larry was taking in the early betting I pulled up the past performances.  Compared to the other three he deserved to be odds-on.  Pressed the front runner through the turn, got to the front.....dueled to inside the 16th pole and then finally edged clear with Paco Lopez doing the piloting here today, in from his usual Jersey Shore home base.

Another hour past and EIGHT losses in a row to show for it.  I told myself, "Hang in there, you KNOW the wins WILL come."  And they started about quarter after 3pm.  The first of the many stakes races at Ellis Park - which had been transferred from Churchill Downs - was the Kelly's Landing.  IF we were running in Louisville I'm pretty sure I would have made Bango a BIG TIME bet (maybe $50) because he LOVES that track and his next win will make him the all time leading winner at Churchill with ten wins.  But we were at Ellis, so that had to be a consideration.  Still, he just looked so much the best.  He had back-to-back triple digit Beyers that were nearly "paired" - indicating he'd probably run even better today.  And Tyler Gaffalione was on board.  I noted that in all the wins showing on the page for Bango, Tyler G had been riding.  Right to the front but pressured all the way into the lane.  Dueled without ever giving way and edged clear late with my "prime time" wager on board!

At Gulfstream I truly DID think My Shea D Lady looked best in their sixth, a MSW for 2yo.  But I must also admit that I WANTED this filly to win because like several horses who share the "Shea D" in their name, they always remind me of my gal-pal Kimmy's partner in crime and also one of my most favorite formers, Christy who's Facebook "handle" is "Sea Shadey."  The filly tracked the pace through the far turn, rallied wide and drew off as handily the best.

"My girl Shea D Lady" had no longer crossed the finish line before they were loading into the gate at Woodbine for the first of their graded stakes, the Grade 3 Marine for 3yos - a prep for the rich Queen's Plate - the Canadian version of the Kentucky Derby - later this summer.  Chad Brown's Turf King was my choice here.  He'd debuted with a sharp win over the GP synthetic then won on the turf before last time out trying the Jersey Derby, finishing third.  Despite the last two being on the grass I believed that Brown would not have sent his colt north of the border, stepping up in class to a Grade 3, to run on the synthetic unless he felt he had a good shot at it.  He was well back into the far turn, then began picking off runners.  Hit the top of the longest stretch in North America and shot through a very narrow opening along the rail to get to the front and edge clear!

A distant 6th at Monmouth interrupted my winning ways before I was back "in" New Castle, Delaware for the Grade 3 R.G. Dick Memorial on the turf.  This eleven furlong marathon event looked to me to come down to one of the two former European runners with my choice being Sopran Basilea.  Like her rival she could boast Group wins in Europe and a solid Beyer here in North America.  But to me what separated them was that 'Sopran had only been out once here when finishing 2nd in a Grade 3 on Preakness weekend while rival had already had two starts and her big figure in NA had been in an entry level allowance.  Much like the Turf King race, Sopran Basilea was at the back until they hit the far turn.  Looked to have no where to go behind horses and then the jockey saw the narrowest of openings and squeezed through at the 16th pole to burst to the front just in time to win.  She had been one of the betting choices from the time wagering opened but in the final minutes all the money went to the "other" Euro import.  This allowed Sopran Basilea to somehow drifted all the way up to 7/2 post time odds.  With my triple investment on board I cashed for almost $70.  YAY ME!

The 7th at Laurel wasn't a stakes event, but this conditioned allowance carried a purse of $70 - compared to the stakes events carrying $75K purses - AND the field contained several stakes winners.  It was a six furlong dash and while I could make a case for several it looked like multiple stakes winner Princess Kokachin would take them gate to wire.  The Delaware went official and I flipped screens to Laurel to see Princess Kokachin trotting back to the winner's circle.  WHOOO HOOO.  Watching the replay I saw I'd indeed been correct - right to the front and never looked back.

In Belmont's Grade 3 Dwyer I went with the slight upset choice of lightly raced Saudi King to upset Bob Baffert's Fort Bragg.  Wire to final jump before the Baffert colt was up in time.  Back to Ellis Park  as Hoist The Gold went wire-to-wire in a money allowance to close out a 6-for-8 run to get my winning percentage back up again.

Another skid of five losses - two of which were "prime time" / big bets that ran 3rd & 4th - and a 2nd place finish at 2/5 in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Ellis Park in a three horse race, wow before back in the winner's circle.  The finale at Delaware was a starter optional claiming sprint going just five and a half furlongs.  Wild Behavior's last two speed figures topped 205 of the 207 combined career figures earned by the rest of the field and NEITHER of those appeared on the page.  Sent off as the prohibitive favorite he easily disposed of the field to give me my tenth winner on the day.

Last year's 2yo filly champion Wonder Wheel just had not looked the same this year over the winter, but I thought MAYBE she'd run well returning to her home base in Toronto for Mark Casse in the Grade 3 Selene Stakes.  Was right there to the turn and stopped.  Time to stop believing she's going to get back to that juvenile form.  The Concern Stakes at Laurel provided my next score as Prince Jericho tracked the pace setters to the top of the stretch, swung six wide into the lane and exploded to the front to post the win.

Lost four in a row with three off the board, but when Set Piece rallied to be third in the Grade 2 Wise Dan (to a $90 winner ridden by top national jockey Flavian Prat!) I got my money back on the Twin Spires promotion.  Now it was time for the national highlight race, the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Ellis Park which was a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race.  There were SIX millionaires in the line-up and I thought that at least five of them had very legitimate shots at the win.  West Will Power had lost the Grade 3 Alysheba last time out at 3/5 odds when dueling all the way to the top of the lane, but I thought today jockey Flavian Prat would have him loose on the lead.  Well, partially right.  He sat just off the front runner into the far turn while the two of them were well clear of everyone else.  He easily coasted to the front and looked home free.  But then Rattle N Roll came flying at the end to make it interesting, but too little too late and I had the winner.

Minutes later it was time for the one and only "Summit of Speed" stakes, the Grade 3 Smile Sprint.  Dean Delivers looked way the best of these and I was amazed he was not sent off at 1/5 odds or lower from the way I perceived the chances of everyone else.  Right to the front in complete control and coasted home under wraps with my "prime time" wager on board paying an uber-generous $4.40 to win.  How is that possible?

The Grade 3 Dominion Day at nine furlongs over the Woodbine synthetic was next and I wrote in my analysis that I believed Tyson could be an emerging star in the older handicap division.  He'd earned "paired" Beyers, the most recent a third in the Grade 2 Eclipse - the prep for this - and was third off the shelf today.  As the rain began to come down he swept up EIGHT wide into the lane, got to the front - dueled and edged clear late.  And the best part - he was allowed to leave the gate at better than 4/1 odds so I cashed for nearly $60!

I thought my three race winning streak was coming to an end as I watched the finale from New York, a maiden claiming two-turn turf event.  Miracle Mike not only trailed from the get-go, but as the field straightened into the stretch he was still dead last.  Being ever the optimist I did have the briefest of hopes as he was making up some ground.  As the camera swung to cover the field, 'Mike was out of the picture and then all of the sudden you could see he was getting three strides to every one of the rest of the field!  And even at the 16th pole when still mid-pack I thought, "he's going to catch them all!" and he blew by - WOW, make it four in a row!

Closed out the day with my SIXTEENTH winner on the day when Xigera rallied through the stretch - after a long weather delay in Kentucky - to win the Tepin Stakes on the rain-soaked turf.  Seemed only appropriate that Julian Leparoux was on board the filly as he'd been multiple graded stakes winning Tepin's regular jockey!

The final race of the day for me was the Grade 2 Nasseau where my choice, Moira went off as the 4/5 favorite but ran 2nd - BUT got my money back again thanks to the wagering promotion.  So for the day I went 16-for-46, a 35% winning clip.  But I also got money back on three races to boost my "cash" rate to 40%

Sunday July 2
I had bets at Monmouth but when almost half of them scratched I looked through the entries on the day and added some "fun bets" to keep me "interested."  Won with three of them - the only win at Monmouth - ironically the ONLY win on the Jersey Shore all weekend (went winless there Friday and Saturday) was with No Salt in the third who paid a generous $8.40 allowing me to cash for $40 and change.  JohnnyZ From Albany wired a Laurel sprint at low odds.  Then I closed out the day with a prime time win when Zozos wired the Hanshin Stakes at Ellis Park.

With the calendar turning to July this weekend I ran my figures for the month of June - pretty impressive if I do say so myself!

June Totals

Social Media this week......

The first "social media" story wasn't so much in the media but happened to Kim and I on Sunday at dinner.  Kim and I decided to celebrate the 4th of July early and go out to a nice restaurant, J.Alexander's in Plantation.  I showed Kim I was wearing a light tan sport coat with a button-down shirt and she put on one of her cute new dresses she'd purchased for our upcoming trip to France.  As we walked in and the hostess took us to our booth we passed a booth right in front of ours that had two girls seated there.  One was "ok" looking, but the blonde facing us as we approached was very cute.  OK, I did take notice.  When we'd finished dinner I asked Kim if she wanted to split a dessert to take home and she said he'd only eat a couple bites but she'd seen online that they had what looked to be a delicious carrot cake with thick icing.  No thanks, I don't want all the calories and we paid, and got up.  As we passed the booth with the two girls, Kim and I both paused as there in the middle of the table was THE carrot cake - it was huge and just dripping with thick icing.  The one girl saw us looking and said, "It IS delicious."  I replied that it sure looked it and that it had to have so many calories.  The cute blonde then looked me in the eye and said sweetly, "You should try a bite.....go ahead, you can take a bite."  I hesitated, Kim was smiling at me.  The other girl said, "Yes, please....take a bite.  Grab a fork from that table and try it."  I glanced at our table but the silverware was already cleared away and the cute blonde pointed to an empty table behind us with the place settings wrapped in the napkins.  "Grab one of those forks and take a bite!"  Kim said, "Go ahead, I think you should."  So I did.  "So good, right?" said both the girls and I agreed they did.  As we walked out Kim said, "I knew you'd try it."  I replied, "Well, first of all I was NOT going to turn down a chance to taste what looked like an oh-so-delicious carrot cake, especially with all that icing.  But second, if a cute blonde girl asks me to do something, I am always going to have a hard time refusing." We both smiled at the "adventure." - AND Kim has had me repeat the story several times since.

While not the ACTUAL two girls - you get the picture....just HAD to illustrate this adventure!

Amber is one of my former students and was in fact the very first student in the WISE program that I mentored.  She and I have kept in touch as she's gotten married, had two little ones and moved to Vermont.  But this week I saw a couple of posts that seemed to indicate that she and her husband were getting divorced in an amicable break-up.  Having been there, done that I messaged her and she replied.

Brianna was half of a mischievous duo of cute girls I had in class (with Leah who've I've posted pics of previously) and it was her birthday so I reached out to her. 

Tati is one of my all-time favorites, and she will tell you that she IS my all-time favorite - though I'd imagine gal-pal Kimmy would have something to say about that!  Anyway, Tatianna graduated for the final time with her last medical degree and I congratulated her.

Our "Panthers Girl," Emma sent out an email with a special offer for a suite at the arena for a series of concerts over the summer.  I wrote back that she was "suite" to offer but we had travel plans for the summer and she responded with a sweet email.

I reached out to my girl Kimmy and told her I was thinking of her, again, as it was four years ago on THIS day in racing that we last met for a "dinner date" at Gulfstream, which always seemed to be "our spot" to get together.  She and I then exchanged some text messages.

But the best interactions was a series of week-long interactions with gal-pal, CBS-Miami anchor Lauren Pastrana.  First, much like last week when I reached out to her about her change in hair color, I've become more comfortable in our "friendship" to reach out with a comment like below where she had on a "cute little black dress" and I noted it.  Note - like so many other times that she answered WHILE ON THE AIR.  Then later in the week she had on a bright "sunshine yellow" dress and I reached out to her just after the evening news telecast had started at 5:11pm.  Note that in less than five minutes, WHILE ON THE AIR she replied to me :)  Finally, Lauren and I exchanged messages twice when she hosted an excellent thirty-minute program on Alzheimer's disease.