Eye to the Sky

An ominous evening...

Downtown New Orleans late sunday evening.
Photo by Jim Seida / MSNBC.com

Here's hoping Hurricane Gustav (as of now a Cat. 3) is not a repeat of almost exactly three years ago when Katrina hit New Orleans. Right now it's not looking the best, that's for sure.
I'm back to watching The Weather Channel again.

They have evacuated an unheard-of 2 million people from the city of New Orleans and they have pretty much battened down the hatches at this point. All they can do now is pray.

So we will join them in that effort and hope this is not a disaster of epic proportions, again.

Apparently Gustav hit Cuba as a category 5 storm (!) but as of yet there have been no deaths reported. Though it hit in an area rich in tobacco crops - there goes all those Cuban cigars, people.

You'd think New Orleans would get a free pass on this one and the weather gods would spare them... but sometimes that just isn't how it works. I hate to think this could be called "The Big Labor Day Storm" (replacing the previously identically-named 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keys)- but maybe the fact that it is on a holiday will be better, perhaps some people have been away anyway. That storm in 1935 hit the Keys as a Category 5 though, and I don't think we are going to see anything quite that furious.

I have read on various websites that nearly 90% of the city has evacuated. I cannot fathom that task, and commend law enforcement and the National Guard for getting that job done. Now we can only hope they are able to keep the looters away and the post-storm crime to a minimum.

In any event, I have a feeling that the name Gustav may be retired from the hurricane name list this year - and that is never a good thing.

NOAA satellite image of Gustav in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ready to break records!

Curlin winning the Woodward
Photo by Coglianese Photos/NYRA

YES! Curlin won the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga yesterday!
Freaky-deaky.

He had to actually work to win this one though, as Past the Point wanted it pretty bad.
But alas, sorry big guy - along came Curlin and put the race to rest.

Curlin has moved up to number 2 on the all-time thoroughbred horseracing earnings list, trailing only the incomparable Cigar (all hail).... but he is within just a few hundred thou of hitting that mark. In winning the Woodward, he passed the great Skip Away.

Cigar last raced in 1996 and his earnings were $9,999,815.
Curlin, at present, has $9,796,800....
So even if he doesn't win his next race, it is possible that he will surpass Cigar just with place or show money.
His connections are aiming possibly for the Jockey Club Gold Cup at the end of September.
I'm still holding out for a possible go at the Breeders' Cup Classic. Guess we'll see eventually.

And as for that much anticipated and heartily debated match-up with Big Brown?
Curlin's majority owner Jess Jackson, stated: “It would be great for racing, great for fans and great for the industry. But my understanding is that Big Brown is going to the breeding shed after this year, so time is running out. And that may be true for Curlin. Curlin has genes that this industry needs, distance and stamina. He has no genetic shortcomings.”

No genetic shortcomings. Ain't that the damn truth.

The Curse...

2007 Horse of the Year, Curlin - by Alexander Barkoff

Best of luck to my main man, Curlin, in his first appearance (ever) at Saratoga this afternoon.
He takes on 7 other horses in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes.

However... there is a curse at Saratoga to speak of.

Saratoga racecourse is called the "Graveyard of Champions", for good reason - as some of the greatest champions ever (i.e. Man O' War and Secretariat!) LOST there.....

So all I can say to that is :
Break the curse, Curlin!
Good luck!

Whoo-hoo!

Go Between edging out Well Armed in the Pacific Classic
*photo: Benoit/Bloodhorse


Well, I must say, I was correct.
Go Between won the Pacific Classic yesterday at Del Mar, beating a very game Well Armed.
Mast Track finished third.
Needless to say, I was psyched.

Coincidentally, Garrett Gomez was the jockey on Go Between sunday, and was also the jockey on Colonel John when he won saturday's Travers Stakes. Can you say 'frequent flier miles'? Del Mar to Saratoga to Del Mar in two days. Holy crap. What an outstanding job on his part (to stay awake I mean!)... seriously though, wow.


Go Between
*photo: Benoit & Assoc./ Thoroughbred Times

Trained by Bill Mott, Go Between is the 5 year old son of Point Given. He has been very effective on turf most of his career, but with the Polytrack installed at all California racetracks, he has found a new target in synthetic races. He has been a real star.

Guess that bodes pretty well for his chances in the Breeders' Cup Classic. It will be contested at Santa Anita Racetrack - on the Polytrack - in late October. Guess I'll make sure to bet on him, as I feel he (and his counterpart Colonel John) are steadily improving and are both sitting on another big effort....


Some horses just don't like synthetic surfaces, some do alright but are inconsistent, some have never even tried it, and some just fail miserably. And then there are some who thrive on it, such as our star.

I'll have to do a bit of studying before this years Classic. But without Curlin (who seemingly isn't going to be there - his owners refuse to race him on synthetics so far), I'd have to go with a mix of Go Between and Colonel John, with a bit of Commentator thrown in for fun... I mean, who wouldn't like to see the old man win?

And just to show you that I didn't have every winner this weekend - I picked Midnight Lute (Champion Sprinter last year and a son of one of my favorite horses, Real Quiet) in the Pat O'Brien Breeders' Cup Handicap. He just didn't fire at all and finished tenth.
Congrats to Lewis Michael for his victory.
You truly cannot... win them all.

(Well, unless you're Personal Ensign or something like that.)

Midsummer Derby Thriller!!

This weekend was the 'Midsummer Derby', and to horseracing fans, that means none other than the Travers Stakes at the spa (Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, NY)...

The Travers is the oldest stakes race in America. Older than the Kentucky Derby, The Belmont Stakes, and of course older than any of the Breeders' Cup races.

On the 139th renewal of the prestigous race for 3 year olds, it was a complete and utter thriller!
Colonel John just nipped - and I do mean NIPPED - Mambo in Seattle at the wire. Watching it live, it was too close to call. I've not seen anything like it, not even when Real Quiet lost the Triple Crown by a head bob.
The official call was that The Colonel won by a nose, but it was more like a nose hair! Mambo's jockey thought he won and pumped his fist in victory, only to be let down when the tote board noted #2 (Col. John) as the victor.


Colonel John (inside) nips Mambo in Seattle in the Travers
*photo by Skip Dickstein/BloodHorse

I cannot say I was disappointed - Colonel John has been in my fantasy horseracing stable since early March. Yippee! The third place finisher was my 'derby horse' - Pyro (also in my stable since early spring), who seemed to have a troubled trip but finished up ok. Belmont winner Da'Tara was back in fifth.


The Colonel salutes the wire.
*photo by Coglianese photos/NYRA

In other stakes action, another horse in my stable, Visionaire, won the King's Bishop Stakes. He was all alone at the finish, with a final kick near the 16th pole that showed he was obviously in charge. He beat a great field of nine other horses.
Michael Matz (of Barbaro fame) is his trainer and so it was nice seeing him in the winner's circle again.


Visionaire all alone at the end of the King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga.
*photo: Adam Coglianese/NYRA

And last but certainly not least, one of my favorite fillies (the other being Proud Spell) won the Personal Ensign Stakes, also at Saratoga, on Friday. The Personal Ensign is named after the undefeated filly of the same name. She won 13 of 13 races back in the mid-late 80's and retired undefeated, a feat that had not been seen in over 80 years, by any horse- male or female.


Ginger Punch (outside) narrowing beating Lemon Drop Mom in the Personal Ensign.
*photo: Coglianese/NYRA

Ginger Punch is the top older female horse in this country -she won the Eclipse award for Champion Older Female last year and is well on the way to repeating this year. At 5, we are lucky that she is still racing. She should get some pretty nice studs (no pun intended) when she finally retires.
I kinda like the sound of Brown Ginger, or perhaps Curlin's Punch.... what do you think?

Ginger Punch is also, you guessed it, in my fantasy stable - so I have had a very eventful and (faux) profitable weekend. And it is not over.
Tommorrow there is some super racing across the country at Del Mar Racetrack, topped off by the Pacific Classic, in which two horses from my stable are running: last year's winner, Student Council -and the impressive Go Between.
I can't really separate the two as far as who will win, and either way I will get points. I think I would give the edge to Go Between - for no other reason than he is the son of the great Point Given.
I'm hoping for a one-two finish either way, as I get points for win-place-show.

Go Baby Go!!

What's been happening?

So, what's been happening in the world? I haven't written much this month - not much going on here I guess but in the world:

The Olympics carry on. We have watched some here and there but are not at a vigil with the television.




*Michael Phelps has broken several world records in his completion of a perfect 8 for 8 races - he won all 8 GOLD medals in his sport of swimming. Awesome. He is now the winningist (is that a word? Will check.) Olympian in history.


Mega-congrats to this dude!

*The women's gymnastics team got silver in the team round and a gold & silver in individual.

*The hubby has been enjoying the women's beach volleyball (of course).

*I prefer the Equestrian but it must be on late at night cause I've not seen much of it.

*Some chick from Romania KICKED ASS in the women's marathon. She was a full minute ahead of the silver & bronze medallists. Suppose she gets practice running from all the vampires over there in Romania, eh? (seriously though, kudos to her!)

*I cannot, for the life of me, understand what the hell 'water polo' is all about. Point please? It just looks so dumb. At least add some horses, right? That'd be a hoot.

ANYWAY - That's it for my Olympic attention span.



Tropical Storm (possibly upgrading to hurricane status at any moment) Fay is about to hit the Florida Keys. It already killed several people in the Carribbean. Batten down the hatches!


Laurence Fishburne is joining CSI this fall to help fill the vacancy that will be left by William Peterson (who is downscaling his part quite a bit). Should bring a good kick to the series, as well as filling the token African American character spot (missing due to the killing off of Warrick's character (boo!) last season)...


Larry strikes a rather good CSI-like pose..


In understandably boring and overblown news, supposedly Barack Obama is going to pick a VP running mate soon. Whatever.
It'd be anarchy if he ended up picking Hillary Clinton as his mate, huh?

'Tropic Thunder' ruled the box office this weekend.

Looks super-stupid. Not a fan of Ben Stiller.
Like Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black though.... suppose the hubby will want to see it eventually. Note to self: add to Netflix queue.

The upcoming latest Harry Potter movie has been bumped from Nov '08 to July '09. That noise you heard was the moaning and groaning of millions of obsessed fans. One bright note: The producers of 'Twilight' have moved their release date up (from Dec. '08) to fill that void. That should pacify some. Me included, as (shoot me now) I'm not much of a Potter fan...

I'm looking forward to Bella & Edward on-screen.

In horseracing, Proud Spell (in my fantasy stable) won the prestigious Alabama Stakes at Saratoga. Yippee!


photo: Barbara Livingston/DRF
(Proud Spell is on the right, beating Music Note)

However, her connections say they are not planning on running her in the Breeders' Cup Distaff ('scuse me, "Ladies Classic"- Doy!) - I assume because it is being run on an artificial surface at Santa Anita. Bummer.

Also some very SAD racing news as well - today, Genuine Risk (one of only three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby - she won hers in 1980) died today in her paddock.

I believe she was 31. Old for any horse.
Apparently she just passed away peacefully in her paddock.
Definately the way to go.

Genuine Risk: 1977-2008
*photo by Barbara Livingston

Rest in green pastures- you were a true heroine of the sport!

Later!

Milestones

THE SMUG PESSIMIST TURNS 40

A candid photo of yours truly...
I think I'm aging fairly well!

I am now 40 years old.
I still feel 39. Ha.

So now I guess I am supposed to put on the Lawrence Welk show, get a Miracle Ear hearing aid, eat prunes at every meal, buy Depends undergarments, complain about my health 24/7, drive as slow as a turd, listen to Air Supply and like it, and swear at teenagers constantly.... ok, I already do that last thing - but the rest of it- forget it. I think I will be perpetually young. I love ear-busting rock music, riding the Harley, horror movies, driving fast, staying up late and sleeping in even later, and drinking shots of Jim Beam.
Wait, I guess there are alot of old gomers out there drinking the Beam.. Scratch that. (scratch saying it, not doing it!)

*Being forty doesn't seem like too big of a deal so far.

Here's what happened the year I was born into the world:

It was a leap year.

I was born on a friday ( during Days of Our Lives or so it would seem - ha ha )

Johnny Cash recorded Live at Folsom Prison.

The Green Bay Packers won the Superbowl (and without Brett Favre, mind you!)

The Winter Olympics were held in February at Grenoble, France.

Teen singing star Frankie Lymon died of a heroin overdose.

The Vietnam War (excuse me, conflict) raged on - I cannot begin to list the various offensives and battles...too many).

'2001:A Space Odyessy' premiered.

Martin Luther King was assassinated 4-4-68.

The Civil Rights Act of 1968 was signed.

'In The Heat Of The Night' won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

'The United Methodist Church' was created.

The musical 'Hair' opened on Broadway.

Robert F. Kennedy was shot June 5th and died the next day.

The soap opera 'One Life To Live' started on ABC.

Apollo 7 was launched and was the first space mission to be televised.

The Summer Olympics were held in October (?) in Mexico City, Mexico.

Richard Nixon became the president in November.

The Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) team was formed.

Rachael Ray, Debra Messing, Anthony Michael Hall, Gillian Anderson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Sarah McLachlan, Molly Ringwald, Daniel Craig (007 - yum!), Kenny Chesney, Eric Bana, Naomi Watts, Will Smith, Ziggy Marley, and Owen Wilson are a few of the people born in the great year of 1968!

So, it really was a good year.

Just a little Wednesday humor...

THIS WAS 8 YEARS AGO, PEOPLE!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom and Max (when he was a tad smaller!)

Big Brown's Back in Town

Well, it took some doing, but Big Brown is back on top.


photo credit: Patricia McQueen/Thoroughbred Times

After a thrilling finish in the Haskell Invitational (gr.1) at Monmouth Park at the Jersey Shore, Big Brown managed to slip by the front running Coal Play in the final stretch and please his adoring crowd and fans at home as well with a win.

I must say my stomach was 'a churnin' about 3/4 of the way through the race, as it looked like Nick Zito's Coal Play was going to wire the field and win going away. But Brownie struggled a bit to find that other gear, and in a fashion unlike we've seen before from the big bay, he closed (albeit a little slower than I'd like) to get to the wire first.

The Haskell field of horses were not the same top notch atheletes that Big Brown has previously triumphed over. In fact, there were only two other graded stakes winners running.
And after the race, I am sure more than a few people are wondering if Big Brown still is at his top performance level. In other words, this should have been easier.

But hey, as they say in the world of sports, a win is a win.

Big Brown is still a very good, top notch horse. Certainly worth consideration for 2008 Horse of the Year. But he's got some work to do if he expects to beat the amazing group of stand-out horses from the past few years that will show up for the Breeders' Cup Classic. Namely Curlin (if they should decide to run there), Colonel John, Pyro, Macho Again, and of course the old man- Commentator.

But for now, I'm basking in the joy of the win. Happy that he redeemed himself, restoring his reputation as the near-freak he is.

Congrats Brownie, for making people believe again.


photo credit: Bill Denver/Equi-Photo

*This above photo of Big Brown and second-place finisher Coal Play from the Haskell really does prove that horses can fly. Between them, all eight legs are in the air. Cool shot!

Food for thought...or not.

(No friend of mine.)


While I was sitting at a Chinese restaurant (a very good one, actually - PF Chang's at the Waterfront in Pittsburgh), I got to thinking about food I would not eat.
Probably because my father in law made the obligatory remark about the possibility of the food being cat. He even went as far as to say he had actually eaten cat when in Vietnam in the late 60's (ugh).

Anyhow, it brought to mind (because of a few menu items I cringed at) things I just can't see myself eating. And there is alot of disgusting stuff out there.


(Seriously, who the hell would EAT those?)

Now I'm certainly no Andrew Zimmer - and though a fan of Anthony Bourdain, he is also not my food eating role model.
So let's just skip all the things that most ordinary people wouldn't ever eat anyway- like bugs, monkey brains, animal penises/testicles/intestines, blood pudding, rats, cats, dogs, horses and any other unimaginable feast (that means camel, too, Bourdain!)...

Let's just go with what folks out there are actually eating that turns my stomach.

*oysters (looks like snot. might be.)

*escargo (that's snails, people! seriously! I mean, look at the picture up near the top of this entry. Makes my blood curdle at the thought.)

*caviar (quite a fancy word for fish eggs. If they just said fish eggs no one would eat them)

*lamb (because I like little sheep)

*veal (because I like little cows, dammit!)

*pigs feet (pickled like my grandfather used to eat them, or otherwise)

*liver (animal insides... just not cool)

*brussel sprouts (I'm willing to admit they look cute, isn't that enough?)

*celery (because it is stringy and waaayyyy to strong-flavored)

*pulp-full orange juice (without pulp, fine. Too much pulp and I'm gagging)

*sushi (what are we? cavemen? I believe fire WAS invented, no?)

*cottage cheese (I can't even get past what it looks like...)

*prawns (I actually can't say I've even eaten these, and they are probably good... but man do they look like the thing of nightmares. Come to think of it, so do shrimp and lobsters, but I love them...)

*head cheese (that should just be self explanatory)

*fatty meats, or just fat in general (my grandmother ate tons of this and lived to be 89. Go figure.)

*SPAM (I recently bought some, thinking ' oh how cool, I used to eat this when I was a kid ' ... then I ate it and thought.... 'maybe it wasn't SPAM I was thinking of...')

*canned peas (for the love of God why do they taste so UN-like actual peas?!)

Still hungry?

Let's get a pizza!

Older and wiser

Have to give a shout out to the awesome 7 year old racehorse Commentator, who on July 26 won the Whitney Handicap for older horses at the historic Saratoga ("the spa") Racecourse.


photo credit: Coglianese photos

Obviously a gelding or he wouldn't still be running (!) , he easily won in front-running fashion over a very talented group of thoroughbreds.

And as if that weren't enough, this is the second time he's won the Whitney.
He won it back in 2005 as well!

And they say there are no IRON HORSES left.
Watch and learn.
They do exist.

The Whitney was a Breeders' Cup 'win and you're in' race, meaning Commentator has a guaranteed spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Racetrack on October 25th.
The Breeders' Cup is the World Championships for Thoroughbred Horseracing and is a fantastic day of racing for fans. All the best from all year.


photo credit: Barbara Livingston

Commentator's trainer, Nick Zito, had this to say after the convincing win:
“This is a good illustration to anyone who gets old -- don’t ever give up.”

Congrats!
Good luck in October.