Birthday Week

 August 1, August 4 - 6

Well, certainly the highlight was the birthday and hearing from so many people who I was once was a part of and now am mostly only through the virtual world.  The racing was "good" as I won with my normal share, right around 35% but failed to profit as all of my "BEST" bets failed to deliver.  Let's start the week with the above birthday pics.  One thing that is on my mind especially around my birthday but more frequently as I get older is how I look.  Because I still feel, largely like I'm younger than the "69" on my birthday cake.  Right, wrong, or in-between I have come to judge how I "look" in terms of my age as how I'm seen through the eyes of one of my favorite past students.  So I sent the above photo which has a side-by-side of me seven years ago and this year's photo.  Her immediate response was, "You look EXACTLY the same!"  Thank you!  And THAT along with several birthday wishes from people who mean more to me than my typical friends made the day.  Here's how the racing played out......

On Friday I went against the favorite in the opener and watched Leo Monte get up in the shadow of the wire in front of that one.  Paid $6.20 so with only two more picks on the abbreviated Friday late afternoon card from the Jersey Shore I was a winner.

Saturday the first several races at Saratoga were off the turf, but I had a main-track only selection ready in Chad Brown's Trade Imbalance.  Took command at the top of the stretch and survived the narrowest of photo finishes to give me a win to start the day.

I ran second at Saratoga in their second race but it was a "money back" race.  Missed at Monmouth before I won two in a row.  The fourth at Saratoga was another "off-the-turf" event and I went with the MTO, Zeebear.  Was odds on and ran like it.  Pressed to the top of the lane, then took off as easily best today.  Minutes later had my lone win on the day on the Jersey Shore when Cocoa Beach won on the Monmouth turf at a generous 2/1 price allowing me to cash for $30.

Missed in the first three stakes of the day, including the Grade 3 Troy at Saratoga where Caravel was my Best Bet of the Day - fourth.  Got back into the winner's circle when Strong Promise was TONS the best in the Louisiana Cup Juvenile at Louisiana Downs.  Now perfect in three starts we'll have to see if he can handle open company.

Missed twice more before getting two in a row and then a money back race to "cash on three straight.  In the Louisiana Cup Turf Classic Woods N Water tracked the pace setters into the lane, split horses and burst to the front before clearing off.  And in the Del Mar opener Bob Baffert's first time starter, 2yo Mission Beach edged clear late to win with my triple investment onboard.

Missed in two more stakes before the last race I would watch LIVE was run.  The finale at Saratoga was an allowance race going seven furlongs.  Everso Mischievous came from the Brad Cox barn was the prototype of an entry level winner.  Had been a just-miss 2nd on debut to a runner who'd come right back to win.  Then won at today's 7f trip.  Stretched out to a mile and was beaten a head while six clear of the show.  A best of 53 bullet work and the three Beyers of 90-91-91 sealed the deal.  Pressed the pace to the stretch, took command and opened up for my seventh win on the day.

I closed out the day well after 9pm with the featured Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch from Del Mar going a mile and a sixteenth.  Bob Baffert had the two favorites but only one looked like a legitimate two-turn stakes winner.  Adare Manor tracked the leader into the lane, wore her down inside the 16th pole and edged clear to close out the day as my eighth winner on the day.

Sunday I played the early evening Mountaineer card as it was West Virginia Derby Day.  Two of my six picks scratched.  In the two opening bets they were off the turf but I was odds-on.  In a four horse field in the opener I was 1/5 but finished second - WOW.  Then watched the replay of the second to see my horse walk with it at 4/5.  Check the payouts and I'm listed third.  WHAT?  Watched the replay, taken down for coming out of the gate and heading to the rail.  I remember the stewards doing this years ago in a stakes race with a multiple graded stakes winner shipped in, cleared the field and won by a pole and they said, "Uh Uh, not taking our money."  And then missed on the last two.  Fortunately before that I'd won three times on the Monmouth afternoon card.  Todd Pletcher's first timer Nosmos drew off in a one mile MSW for 2yo in the opener and then Rose E Holiday came up the rail to be JUST up in time.

Closed out the Jersey Shore with a win in the featured Incredible Revenge Stakes when All That Magic went right to the front, set torrid splits....looked about to be collared, but dug in and held on for the win!

Social Media & Birthday Wishes.......

I found it "interesting" because of the way my social media pages have worked in the past that by late afternoon I only had heard from about a dozen and change friends & family with birthday wishes.  But by the time the day was over a big flurry had come and the total was well above eighty well-wishers.  I appreciated - and responded to each and every one of them.  But I'd be lying if some of the wishes were not from people who are more special to me than others.....

Chloe is the daughter of my buddy, former asst principal Jeff Nelson.  Chloe and I interacted a few times when she was a student at Cypress Bay, but it's been since she because a graduated adult that we've become very good pals on social media.  I was particularly touched when she was one of the very first to wish me a happy birthday early in the morning.

Gator Gal-pal and former work mate Mishelle is closing in on finishing her career as a counselor, finally.  And we've stayed in tough quite frequently.

My "Disney Girl" Amanda was a sophomore in my World History back in the early days at Western High.  She has remained a close friend as she grew up, went to college, got married, and had three boys.  I enjoy our long text chats when we have them.  I can always count on Mandy's wishes.

I always thought Michelle was a special young lady and she so impressed me when she decided to completely start over in her adult life by moving to Hawaii to train to be an airline attendant for Delta.  Which she still does today.  She's been in and out of a couple of relationships and I can't understand why this very attractive young woman who's as sweet as can be has not been swooped up by someone.  She is not typically one to reach out on my birthday so this had special meaning to me.

From my days at Oasis High where I coached with my oldest son Jeff, I still am in contact with several people who became good friends.  I got a very big smile on my face when "Coach Mindy" - who worked with the girls' volleyball team and was on our sideline every Friday as her step son Hunter was one of our best players - reached out.  And even bigger smile when Christy reached out.  She was the principal who I really had MAYBE three face-to-face conversations with.  But we because social media pals and I'm in touch with her often.  So her birthday wish was also very much appreciated.

Next I had birthday wishes from three former Cypress Bay gal-pals.  My girl, "My Shari Bush" as I call her reached out - we try to get together at "our place" (Chilli's) at least every couple of months.  I've become VERY close friends with Melissa (and her husband Ben) online even though we only worked together physically one year.  And I heard from one of my closest gal-pals, Sha who was the personal assistant to the principal for all my time there.  We were close pals on the graduation team and we were each other's fantasy "Shades of Gray" characters (in name only alas!).

My sweet sister-in-law Karrie was one of the first to reach out with birthday wishes - over the last several years we've seemed to grow closer and she seems much more interested in our travels.  And I'm so excited she and her husband Randy have signed on to travel with us on the Rhine River in 2024.  Long time gal-pal Shelly has always been a real sweetheart to me and we often communicate online, so her birthday wish was one of my favorites.

But clearly the top choices for birthday wishes came from these final four.  The first I'll include in her is a Mom to one of my all time favorites.  Cindy is my very-fav Kimmy's Mom and ever since we met on a Florida Derby Day we've been pals.  We often exchange messages about Kimmy and travel.  Next, Karli Barnett.  I'm very fortunate that unlike a lot of the "viewers" and "fans" of Karli online, we have exchanged some personal messages and she's taken a big interest in our travels.  So when she mentioned last week about watching our travel videos, unprompted, that was cool.  But when I shared my Jaxon's ice cream sundae pic she wished me a happy birthday and that was meaningful to me.

Finally my very two favorite "birthday cards" of the day.  No one is cuter than our adopted daughter Jillian who we've known since she was born.  She's blossomed into a beautiful woman and is a great mom.  Andy time we communicate it's special for me.  And finally, always ALWAYS at the top of the list is my girl Kimmy.  Since she was in my sophomore World History Class at Cypress Bay we've just had a connection.  As she became an adult and career girl that friendship has grown to a closeness that is just very hard to explain, except that it's what we share.  We had a nice text conversation on my birthday which meant the world to me.

In addition to the social media birthday wishes, I did have some other interaction with my online girls (because it's next to never guys).  After last week's photo of the Jaxon's sundae and then chatting about it on the Saturday chat last weekend my girl Karli remarked on the photo I sent to her personally.

As I mentioned at the top of the page, when I reached out to Kimmy with the side-by-side birthday pics she made me feel good by saying I looked the same.

Had two interactions with my other news anchor friend Lauren Pastrana, and her new cohort Teri Hornstein.  The first, I reached out to Lauren one morning after it had occurred to me how appreciative I was as a viewer to be able to trust her sharing the news stories - especially this week when the former President was indicted three times for felony crimes and that led to a JUMP in his popularity in the race for the Republican nomination for President - go figure people.  And on Friday new morning anchor Teri Hornstein was on the desk with Lauren and I reached out to them.

Finally shortly after MY birthday it was another of "my girls" who had a birthday.  Newly certified medical doctor Tatiana had a birthday late in the week and we exchanged text messages.  And my up and coming track assistant former teaching buddy Jennifer and I chatted on FB messenger this week.

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.