Preakness Week in Maryland

Leg two of the triple crown of horse racing moves to Pimlico in Maryland for the Preakness this Saturday. If the Kentucky Derby is the pride of the southern aristocrats and the Belmont in New York is the pride of New York, the Hamptons, Cape Cod and New England Eastern society then the Preakness is surely the pride of the beer drinking college party crowd.

Very strange things are happening, however, that may forever doom the Animal House image like the State of Maryland said no one can bring their own cooler full of beer this year. Last year 126 people were thrown out of the infield for disorderly conduct while six were arrested. Kids may not want to spend the big bucks for Preakness beer so they might not show up.

There is the theme, "the People's Race - the People's Party." That sounds like words out of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx. Then again a state like Maryland might want to impress the new liberal Democrats in control of our nation's capitol. We may find out soon if they are the people's party.




You see there is a filly named Rachel Alexandra who has won 5 straight stakes races. The owners kept her out of the Kentucky Derby and ran her in the Kentucky Oaks for fillies instead. She won by 20+ lengths. The only way she can race in the Preakness is if other eligible horses do not run.

Twenty horses ran in the Derby. Only 14 are allowed to run in the Preakness. There were 13 triple crown horses committed to run leaving one opening if no other eligible horses filed to run. Along comes Rachael whose new owner wants her in with the big boys.

Suddenly the owners of horses eligible but not running are being called by owners in the race and asked to enter their horse in the Preakness, even if they didn't intend to run, so Rachael would not get in the field of fourteen. It seems the filly has some of the money people scared she may distort the odds and blow away any chance Derby winner Mind that Bird has for a triple crown.



Television ratings are everything. It has been 31 years since we had a triple crown winner, the longest stretch in history. During those years eleven horses won the first two, (Derby and Preakness) but lost in the Belmont. Big money wants to keep Rachael out while the People want her in.

If Rachael gets denied the chance to race it will be a result of skullduggery and collusion on the part of owners in the race. That would be a big blow to the liberal Democrats, media and Obama backers who are the self-proclaimed protectors of the "people's party". I say give the filly a chance to prove herself.

On the other hand this could all be a contrived media act to manipulate the odds as if Rachael gets in the race she will be a 1-1 favorite over all the guys. The odds on all the rest of the field will go up meaning more money will be made if any beat Rachael. The TV Ratings will increase, they are already sliding, if there is some new drama in the plot.

To top it all off, there will be a show in the infield to distract the college kids from realizing they are paying a fortune for beers. There will be man's favorite Olympic competition, Women's Beach Volleyball with the bikini clad bronzed babes like Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh, USA Olympic champions.




Add to that a concert by ZZ Top and a couple of other rock groups, all on the infield with the volleyball babes and thousands of drunk kids and you might think you just dropped acid, I mean, you were supposed to be at a horse race in Maryland and wound up in a flashback at Woodstock.

I'm for Rachael.

Derby Day at the Point

The gang at Coltons Point gathered for the 135th Kentucky Derby with a bevy of hats and a flurry of long shots making it a most interesting ride. After the morning favorite scratched from the race it was wide open and the Pointer faithful managed to bet in a manner that had eight winners of the various pools.

Even Mary Poppins showed up...

Only in the Point could the results come out like they did as I, for one, picked a long shot West Side Bernie who finished ninth and I still won the pool for third place. It seems the handicapping of the crowd was lacking as no one picked 6 of the top 8 horses.

Then again even the pros had a tough day since the favorite at the time of the race finished 18 out of 19. The jaw-dropping winner, Mine That Bird, broke all the odds and almost all the records with the second highest payout in Derby history at 50-1 odds, paying $103.20 on a $2.00 bet.

A horse that sold for $9,500 racing against multi-million dollar horses. A trainer who broke his leg and hobbled around on crutches had to tow the Derby champion in a trailer on a 21 hour drive from New Mexico to get to Churchill Downs. Most horses come by chartered jet. A jockey not given a chance but who won the Derby two years ago on Street Sense simply could not believe the horse he was riding.

The high rollers were in town...

Back at the Point the hats were all the buzz and the participants were pretty buzzed themselves. Mint Juleps were everywhere as we learned more about the strange little horse. The trainer, Bennie "Chip" Woolley was an ex-rodeo cowboy who broke his leg in a motorcycle accident two months ago.



The owners were two New Mexico buddies, Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach who purchased him in Canada of all places. You could not miss the cowboys with their bolo ties and cowboy hats. The jockey, Calvin Borel burst into tears as he crossed the finish line but had never seen the horse until the Monday before the race.

Winners of the hottest hat contest...


The owners didn't believe the little horse had a chance and the trainer almost left the grandstand halfway through the race when his horse was far behind the leaders and trailing the entire field of horses. And then the Gods of Churchill Downs stepped in and the horse was on fire blazing to a 6 3/4 length victory.

THE RUN FOR THE ROSES – 134TH KENTUCKY DERBY

In a world that has gone completely mad it is reassuring to know there are still some things that never change like the 134th Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. For about two minutes at 5 pm Saturday what happens in the rest of the world ceases to be important as the horses break from the starting gate.

This year there are 20 horses in the Derby, a huge field, and the odds on favorite is the one horse no one thinks can really win because of a host of excuses. Big Brown has only run three races in his career. The picture shows Big Brown taking the lead and winning the recent Florida Derby.



Only one horse in history won the Derby after just three races and that was back in 1915. Just two horses have won the Derby with just two races as a three year old and Big Brown only raced two times this season. Such inexperience seldom gets rewarded when you are running against the best horses in the world.

Big Brown drew the 20th Post Position, the farthest horse from the inside position. Only one horse ever won from the #20 position way back in 1929 and that was before starting gates were installed. Big Brown would have to fight through 19 thundering horses to get to the lead.

So we have an inexperienced big-hearted horse trying to make Derby history in many ways and the experts saying he can’t do it while the people want him to win. I guess the Kentucky Derby is a microcosm of this years’ presidential race. As Obama tries to make history the experts believe he will somehow not be able to live up to the dream.

Have another Mint Julep, the official drink of the Derby.

Perhaps the experts will be wrong and history can be made. We shall see.