The Coltons Point Times predicts Emmanuel Macron will be the next President of France

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The Coltons Point Times predicts Emmanuel Macron will be the next President of France when the dust settles from this Sunday's French election.

The French election this Sunday is a rare opportunity to see what happens in France when the two candidates who are not from the two dominant political parties square off.  It will be Emmanuel Macron versus Marine Le Pen.

At this late stage, Macron has a lead but remember the American election where Hillary Clinton was ahead of Trump in the polls the closing days, up to a double-digit lead in some polls.

Macron, a banker, is a candidate for his own En Marche party and if elected, will be the youngest French president in history, and also one who has never held elective office.  Le Pen is a candidate of the National Front party, formerly known as a rather radical minor party, and she has injected new enthusiasm and life into it.  

With former President Obama's last-minute endorsement of Macron today, the American Democrats hope to tie their wagon to a rising foreign leader's star, but the link is pretty weak considering the Democrats have always been backers of the major party socialist or left leaning parties.  President Trump has stayed out of the race.

Ironically, the candidate Obama endorsed, Macron, would be far more comfortable with Trump than Le Pen, and the traditional French left wing parties should be upset the former American Democratic president did not help them.

What are the main political parties in France that self-destructed in the primary?

UMP - Union for a Popular Movement - (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire)

PS - Socialist Party - (Parti Socialiste)

MoDem - Democratic Movement - (Mouvement démocrate)

PCF - French Communist Party - (Parti Communiste Français)

Verts - The Greens - (Les Verts)

NC - New Centre - (Nouveau Centre)

Just remember that these are the major parties and France has a seemingly endless number of legitimate parties for a multitude of causes.

  

The following quotes from The London Telegraph provide a rather good assessment of the candidates and race.

"As for the two candidates for president, Emmanuel Macron is a member of the En Marche! party while Marine Le Pen is a member of the National Front.  Needless to say, none of the top French parties can take credit for either candidate which makes this election unique..

One outcome of the French presidential election on Sunday is certain: Europe won't be the same.

The choice between candidates, however, could hardly be more stark.

A victory by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen would shake the foundations of the Western world. President Trump's victory was seen as consequential in Europe, but a Le Pen win would be incomparably more significant, some liberals say. Whereas Trump has frequently changed his mind on issues, Le Pen's agenda has remained virtually unchanged for years. She has vowed to pull France out of NATO's military command, the euro zone and the European Union. Few doubt that she would deliver.

Her centrist opponent, Emmanuel Macron, who is leading in the polls, takes an opposing view: His pro-European agenda is based on a neoliberal economic approach and on a moderate stance on social issues. He would also be the most pro-American French president in a long time.

With Macron as French president, the U.S. will encounter a much stronger, strategic, self-confident, forward-thinking France and therefore Europe,” said Nicholas Dungan, a senior fellow at the D.C.-based Atlantic Council who works in France. “The U.S., whether it understands it or not, needs a strong Europe.”

Americans who live in France say there are several reasons that a Macron victory could benefit the United States. France is a strong NATO ally and has recently conducted airstrikes against the Islamic State alongside the United States and other nations. French forces have also participated in NATO operations in Afghanistan. Le Pen, however, wants to cooperate more closely with Russia instead of the United States."

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Kentucky Derby Winner Prediction - Will CPT 2017 Winning Streak Reach Five in a Row?

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After Picking Four Straight Thoroughbred Stakes Winners This Year...

It is time for the 143rd Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby, Saturday, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.  Not only is this the greatest two minutes in sports for the year, but the Derby is the longest continuous held sporting event in the United States.

The Kentucky Derby is the hardest race to handicap because of the large field of 20 horses and this year is no exception as there is no clear favorite.  It is further complicated by the fact few of the top horses ran against each other in the various Derby preps.

This year might just be more special because the Coltons Point Times (CPT) has predicted the winners of four straight major thoroughbred stakes races this year from around the world.  We accurately picked winners of the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, the Dubai World Cup, the Santa Anita Derby, and the Bluegrass Stakes.

In the Pegasus it was Arrogate overwhelming the early favorite California Chrome with Shaman Ghost and Neolithic second and third.  The first three were picked by the CPT to be in the money.  In the Dubai Arrogate again won after a near disastrous break and stumble at the beginning.

On the West Coast Gormley was the pick for the Santa Anita, third in the odds for the race, who won at 6-1.  Then there was the Bluegrass Stakes in which the Coltons Point Times picked Irap to win, at a staggering 31-1 odds.

If you add in the prediction of a Trump victory in the Presidential race on October 18, 2016, also posted in the Huffington Post, on a day when Trump was 14% behind in the polls, this could be the sixth straight accurate prediction.

By the way, the Trump prediction was 22 days before the election and the CPT might be the only newspaper to predict Trump the winner.

Listen to the drum roll and here is the prediction and our effort to achieve a streak of picking five straight major thoroughbred stakes winners for the year.

The winner of the 143rd Kentucky Derby will be...Classic Empire

Second place will be...Always Dreaming   

Third place will be...Irap

Fourth Place...Gormley

As for the potential for a Triple Crown winner in 2017, our prediction is ...No winner

Good luck and keep watching for further predictions of major events by the CPT.

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Kentucky Derby 2017 post position and odds

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Kentucky Derby 2017

post position and odds

1. Lookin At Lee (20-1)

2. Thunder Snow (20-1)

3. Fast And Accurate (50-1)

4. Untrapped (30-1)

5. Always Dreaming (5-1)

6. State of Honor (30-1)

7. Girvin (15-1)

8. Hence (15-1)

9. Irap (20-1)

10. Gunnevera (15-1)

11. Battle Of Midway (30-1)

12. Sonneteer (50-1)

13. J Boys Echo (20-1)

14. Classic Empire (4-1)

15. McCraken (5-1)

16. Tapwrit (20-1)

17. Irish War Cry (6-1)

18. Gormley (15-1)

19. Practical Joke (20-1)

20. Patch (30-1)

Kentucky Derby draw set;

favorites get good gate positions

 Jay Busbee,The Turnstile 2 hours 16 minutes ago 

Royal Moe and Master Plan are also eligible to race if one of the horses above is unable to compete.

This year’s Derby field is wide open, in part because four-time Derby winner Bob Baffert has not entered a horse in this year’s race. Classic Empire leads betting odds at 4-1, with McCraken at 5-1 and Irish War Cry following at 6-1. No other horses have better than 10-1 odds.

The assumption that the inside stall is the best position, given that it’s the shortest distance around the track, isn’t actually the case. With 20 horses in the field, the inside horses are liable to get bounced and edged out as the pack jockeys for position heading into the first turn. Too far outside, and the horse has to cover too much ground in the first two turns to get on the inside track.

Some trainers prefer gate 14 (the final stall on the main gate) or 15 (the first stall on the auxiliary gate) because those two give a bit of extra room at the start. Last year’s winner Nyquist came from gate 13, while Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh began from gate 15.

Some other positioning-by-the-numbers tidbits, courtesy of America’s Best Racing:

• No horse has ever won from gate 17. Ever.

• No horse starting from gate 1 has even placed in the top three since 1988.

• The average size of the field since 2000 is 18.9 horses, with no race having fewer than 16 horses.

• The gates with the most victories all time are gates 5 and 10, with 9 Derby wins apiece.

Place your bets accordingly.

The Kentucky Derby, a 1 1/4-mile race for three-year-old horses, takes place this Saturday, May 6. Post time is at 6:34 p.m. ET, and NBC Sports’ coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET.
____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT 

Kentucky Derby News - Man o' War Centennial

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Observing Man o’ War centennial at Kentucky Derby 143

May 2, 2017 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

It’s a curious fact of American racing history that its greatest Thoroughbred legend, Man o’ War, didn’t contest the nation’s most celebrated race, the Kentucky Derby (G1). But in 2017, as we celebrate the centennial of Man o’ War’s birth, the blood of “Big Red” pulses through the veins, however distantly, of every single horse in Derby 143.

All but one descend from Man o’ War through the circuitous routes of the pedigree, via his daughters, his sons’ daughters, or even grandsons’ daughters, nestled deep inside the family tree. In this way such key influences as Raise a Native (sire of Mr. Prospector), Storm Cat, Danzig, Buckpasser, and Seattle Slew (who boasts several crosses of Man o’ War between his sire and dam) receive their portion.

Man o’ War’s male line still exists, although relying on a single chain that has yet to have a link weak enough to break. It appears to be forged solidly at present, its strength reinforced by a Hall of Famer still standing stud today – Tiznow, the sire of Irap, who would put an unexpected garland on the Man o’ War centenary if he can win the Derby.

Born on March 29, 1917, at Nursery Stud near Lexington, Kentucky, August Belmont II’s chestnut son of Fair Play and Mahubah arrived just before the United States entered World War I.

As historian Kent Hollingsworth described it in The Kentucky Thoroughbred, the colt “was recognized as something apart from the start, for he had uncommonly long legs, a fiery red coat, and a presumption the world was his.”

The war altered forever the history of the globe, and the foal’s trajectory as well. In 1918, owing in part to his wartime responsibilities, Belmont dispersed nearly all his yearlings. He entertained the idea of keeping that promising chestnut, the one his wife, Eleanor Robson Belmont, had named Man o’ War in his honor. Yet he too went under the auctioneer’s hammer at Saratoga, ultimately bringing $5,000 from Samuel Riddle.

His trainer, Louis Feustel, later commented that he didn’t fill the eye at that tender stage. Hollingsworth records Feustel’s honest assessment for posterity:

“Very tall and gangling, he was thin and so on the leg as to give the same ungainly impression one gets in seeing a week-old foal.”

Man o’ War later developed into the compelling presence that elicited marvels from observers. 

In his magisterial Sire Lines, Abram S. Hewitt recalled seeing the mighty champion in the Belmont Park paddock, ahead of the Futurity S. The passage of time couldn’t dim Hewitt’s memory, still conveying a sense of immediacy, a freshness:

“a magnificent, copper-colored chestnut colt, with ears pricked. He radiated majesty, energy, and power – a veritable Alexander – awaiting the moment for new worlds to conquer. It was 55 years ago, and we never saw such a sight again.”

And that was Man o’ War as a two-year-old, not even at peak maturity! The handy winner of nine of 10 starts in his 1919 juvenile campaign, while carrying 130 pounds on several occasions, he suffered his lone career defeat in the Sanford Memorial S. at Saratoga. The problematic start of the Sanford, Man o’ War’s traffic trouble on the inside, and his furious finish that fell a half-length short at the wire, contributed to the Spa’s reputation as a “graveyard” of champions. And the name of the horse who beat him passed into the sports lexicon – Upset. Man o’ War had no trouble dusting Upset in all their other meetings, past and future.

Man o’ War, who went off as the heavy odds-on favorite in each of his 21 career races, would have been the bettors’ overwhelming choice for the 1920 Kentucky Derby. But Riddle was never interested in shipping his prized colt out “west,” as the Eastern establishment viewed Kentucky. His oft-cited reason was the concern about a three-year-old having to tote 126 pounds, over 1 1/4 miles, in early May.

“How Man o’ War would have laughed had he known of his owner’s solicitude for him,” Hewitt commented.

In his absence at Churchill Downs, Paul Jones, whom Man o’ War had drubbed at two, scored a front-running 16-1 upset in the May 8 Kentucky Derby. Old foe Upset, part of the entry favored at 8-5, was beaten a head after a prolonged duel.  

Kentucky Derby News - The Greatest Bluegrass Thoroughbred to Never Win the Kentucky Derby - Man o' War

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If the millions and millions of fans around the world think they have it bad trying to pick the winner of the Derby and then sweating out the fastest two minutes in sports as the horses pound around the track tomorrow, just think what the horses went through to get on the track.

They are the result of generations of breeding and bloodlines.  Of the two greatest horses in thoroughbred racing history, Lexington, Kentucky bred Man o' War set the standard for all time to come.

The other greatest thoroughbred of all time was Secretariat (March 30, 1970 - October 4, 1989), an American Thoroughbred racehorse that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years.  He set records in all three events in the series - the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), the Preakness Stakes (1:53), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24) - records that still stand today, 41 years later.

He is considered to be one of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all time. In 1999, ESPN ranked Secretariat the 35th best athlete of the 20th century, the highest ranking racehorse on the list. He ranked second behind Man o' Was in The Blood-Horse's List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.

But a lot less is known about Man o' War, the greatest Kentucky horse to never run in the Kentucky Derby, so here is his story.

Man o' War came close to perfection

By Larry Schwartz

Special to ESPN

When thoroughbred racing needed a boost, Man o' War unleashed his blazing speed and came to the rescue.  Though he competed for only two years, he energized a reeling sport.

   

Let's look at the world of racing that Man o' War entered in 1919: Racing in New York had been eliminated in 1911 and 1912 because of anti-gambling legislation led by Gov. Charles Hughes. Other states had taken up Hughes' crusade. Many stables had folded and some of the bigger ones had moved to Europe.

While racing was legalized again in 1913, World War I soon dominated the public's attention. Attendance and pursues were at record lows when Man o' War made his debut on June 6, 1919.

By the time he retired 16 months later, he was a national hero, joining Babe Ruth as the first shining stars of the Roaring Twenties.  The charismatic horse's popularity had brought fans back to the race track.

Man o' War went to the post 21 times and won 20 races. He won one race by an incredible 100 lengths and triumphed in another carrying 138 pounds. He whipped a Triple Crown champion by seven lengths in a match race.

He brought international recognition to Kentucky breeders and made the United States the racing center of the world. When he retired, he held five American records at different distances and had earned more money than any thoroughbred.

In a mid-century Associated Press poll, he was overwhelmingly voted the greatest thoroughbred of the first half of the 20th century.

Not only did Man o' War perform like a superstar on the track, the chestnut-colored horse (though he was nicknamed "Big Red") looked like one. At 3, he was a strapping 16.2 hands (about 5-foot-6) and weighed about 1,125 pounds with a 72-inch girth. His appetite also was huge, as he ate 12 quarts of oats every day, or about three quarts more than the average racehorse. He ran in big bounds as well, with his stride measuring an incredible 25 to 28 feet.

Bred by August Belmont II, son of the founder of Belmont Park and for whom the Belmont Stakes was named, the future champion was foaled on March 29, 1917 at Nursery Stud near Lexington, Ky. His sire was Fair Play and his dam was Mahubah, the daughter of Rock Sand, the 1903 winner of Britain's version of the Triple Crown (the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby and the St. Leger). He was 15 generations removed from the Godolphin Arabia, one of three Arab and Barb stallions considered to be the founders of the thoroughbred line.

Originally, Belmont's wife named the horse My Man o' War, after her soldiering husband, who was stationed in France during World War I, but the "My" was later dropped.

Belmont's military involvement prompted him to sell his entire 1917 yearling crop. Sportsman Samuel Riddle, owner of the Glen Riddle Farm, was the beneficiary of this decision. Accepting the judgment of trainer Louis Feustel, Riddle purchased the rangy colt, who seemed too large for a yearling, for $5,000 at the Saratoga yearlings' sales. "As soon as I saw him, he simply bowled me over," Riddle said.

At the beginning, Man o' War's aversion to the bridle and saddle caused problems. "He's nice and he's smart, but don't ever try to force him or you'll come out second best every time," a stable boy said. "Ask him and he'll do what you want. Push him and it's all off."

Under Feustel's training, patience paid off, and the energy of Man o' War was harnessed. His debut, in a five-furlough maiden race against six other 2-year-olds at Belmont, was no contest. The fans reportedly screamed and pounded the rail as jockey Johnny Loftus tightened the reins at the stretch, slowing Man o' War to a virtual canter. But the horse still won by six lengths.

"He made half-a-dozen high-class youngsters look like $200 horses," wrote the turf editor of the New York Morning Telegraph.

Following his smashing debut, Man o' War won three stakes races, at three different New York tracks, in the next 17 days.

His winning streak was at six when Man o' War raced in the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 13. It is Man O' War's most remembered race -- because it is the only one he would lose.

Starting gates were not yet used, and horses were led up a tape barrier. A fill-in starter had difficulty getting the horses ready and they milled around. While Man o' War apparently was backing up, the tape was sprung. Man o' War "was almost left at the post," the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

After a slow start, Man o' War was third as the field headed for home in the six-furlough race. Blocked by close quarters, he had to go to the outside in the final eighth. Though he gamely made up ground, he missed by a half-length of overtaking the winner, who at 115 pounds carried 15 fewer pounds than the 11-20 favorite. The winner was named, rather appropriately, Upset.

Big Red, who beat Upset in their six other meetings, finished the year with easy victories in the Hopeful and Futurity, giving him nine victories in 10 races.

In 1920, Man o' War won all 11 of his races, with Clarence Kummer aboard nine times. Big Red didn't race in the Kentucky Derby because Riddle believed that a soft-boned 3-year-old should not have to run 1¼ miles in early May. Instead, he set his sights on the Preakness (Man o' War held off an Upset charge to win) and Belmont (a 20-length victory in a two-horse field).

After winning the Travers against two horses at Saratoga, only one colt challenged Man o' War in his next race. Well, it wasn't exactly a challenge as Big Red, the 1-100 favorite, defeated Hoodwink by 100 lengths in the 1 5/8th-mile Lawrence Realization at BelmontPark.

He was 1-100 again in winning the Jockey Cup at Belmont Park, and then he was saddled with the excessively high weight of 138 pounds for the Potomac Handicap. After being a bit fractious at the post, he assumed command and won easily.

Man o' War's last race was against Sir Barton, who in 1919 had become the first to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Like most match races, it was hardly competitive. At Kenilworth Park, in Windsor, Ontario, Man o' War won the $75,000 purse and $5,000 Gold Cup by defeating the older Canadian-owned horse by seven lengths.

When Riddle was informed that Man o' War would have to carry even more than 138 pounds as a 4-year-old, he retired his horse to stud. Man o' War held American records for the fastest mile, 1 1/8 miles, 1 3/8 miles, 1½ miles and 1 5/8 miles. His total earnings were $249,465, a record at the time.

Don't feel sorry for Man o' War because he stopped racing so young. He proved to be quite a stud. In 1926, his issue won $408,137, breaking a 60-year-old record.

Following his undefeated season of 11 straight wins, Man o' War traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, to enter at stud at Elizabeth Daingerfield's Haylands and later moved to Riddle's Faraway Farm. Man o' War was a top sire who produced more than 64 stakes winners and various champions. Though many believe that Riddle did not breed the stallion to enough good mares after the first five seasons, he still sired many leading horses.

Man o' War sired American Flag and Crusader, who won successive Belmont Stakes in 1925 and 1926. Although there were no official champions in America at the time, both colts were generally considered the best three-year-old colts of their year, and Crusader was also largely accepted as the best racehorse of 1926.

Among Man o' War's other famous offspring were 1929 Kentucky Derby winner Clyde Van Dusen, Battleship (who won the 1938 English Grand National steeplechase), and War Admiral, the 1937 Triple Crown winner and the second official Horse of the Year. Another of his offspring, Hard Tack, sired Seabiscuit, who was Horse of the Year in 1938. Man o' War's most successful sons at stud were War Admiral and War Relic, and War Relic's branch of the male line survives today.

Tiznow, Honor and Glory, and Bertrando are also all sire-line descendants of Man o' War. According to Kent Hollingsworth, 37 per cent of all stakes winners in 1966 were descendants of Man o' War. Despite not covering more than 25 mares in any season, Man o' War sired 379 named foals during 22 seasons at stud. His daughters kept Man o' War listed in the 10 leading broodmare sires list for 22 years.

In 1921, a Texas oil millionaire, William Waggoner, offered $500,000 for Man o' War. Riddle turned him down, as he did when Waggoner increased his offer again, first to $1 million and then a blank check. "The colt is not for sale," he said.

Although Man o' War spent most of his life in Kentucky, he never raced there. He died there, though, at the age of 30 of a heart attack on Nov. 1, 1947 in Lexington.

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Kentucky Derby News - Secretariat The Greatest Thoroughbred Champion of all Time

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Secretariat - The People's Champion

It is Kentucky Derby week and once again time to share our top thoroughbred stories of the legends of Horse Racing.  Our first offering is the greatest champion in our history, Secretariat.

I had occasion to see this magnificent horse in Kentucky and to watch the three races along with millions of Americans as Secretariat not only made history but shattered records every time he stepped on a the track at a Triple Crown race.

You should take a few minutes to watch the three videos showing the Triple Crown that year, 1973, when Secretariat became an American legend. Nothing has ever been achieved close to his performance before or since that spring.

Although Seattle Slew and Affirmed both won the Triple Crown the same decade of the 1970's the performance by Secretariat stands alone in the history books.

Enjoy a flashback to the most incredible six minutes in horse racing history.

The Kentucky Derby - 1973



The Preakness Stakes - 1973



The Belmont Stakes - 1973

Secretariat’s Record-Breaking Run, 44 Years Later

By Barbara Maranzani

Forty-four years ago Secretariat galloped to victory at the Belmont Stakes, capturing the final leg of the Triple Crown and becoming the first horse in 25 years to achieve one of sport’s most difficult feats. In a career that spanned just 21 races over the course of a year, the 3-year-old thoroughbred captured the hearts and minds of a nation weary from the soon-to-be-ended Vietnam War and ongoing Watergate investigations. Four decades after Secretariat entered the record books, check out eight surprising facts about one of America’s most famous athletes.

1. Secretariat’s fate rested on a coin toss.

In the fall of 1969, stable owners Ogden Phipps and Penny Chenery met in the offices of the New York Racing Association for what turned out to be one of the most important coin tosses in sports history. The winner would receive the recently born foal of the sire Bold Ruler and the mare Hasty Matelda, while the loser would get a second foal from Bold Ruler with a different mare, Somethingroyal. Phipps won the coin toss, but Chenery won for the record books: In March of the following year Somethinroyal gave birth to a red chestnut colt with three distinctive white “socks” on his legs–Secretariat. Chenery went on to fame as the legendary horse’s owner, while the Phipps family, successful breeders for six generations, didn’t win the Kentucky Derby until May of this year, when Orb captured the 139th Race for the Roses.

2. Secretariat was named Horse of the Year twice.
After losing his very first race, at Aqueduct on July 4, 1972, Secretariat lost just once more in his 2-year-old campaign, and even that was due to a controversial disqualification in a race. At the end of that season, he was unanimously voted the winner of the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year—the first 2-year-old to be so honored. In fact, only one other 2-year-old has won the award: Favorite Trick, in 1997. He was a shoo-in the following year, when his Triple Crown wins earned him top honors in every major racing award.

3. Nerves were on edge when Secretariat lost the run-up to the Derby.
Secretariat easily won the first two races as a 3-year-old, before running a disappointing third in the Wood Memorial, his final tune-up before Churchill Downs. With many in the racing world dismissing his chances at the Derby, Secretariat’s owner and trainers believed that their horse’s showing at the Wood had little to do with his stamina or possible nerves. Just days before the race, an abscess had been discovered on the top of the colt’s mouth, leaving him in severe pain. While some prognosticators now touting another horse, Sham, a half-cousin of Secretariat’s, as the Derby favorite, Secretariat’s team successfully lanced the painful infection and the horse was soon on the mend.

5. Secretariat set records that are still standing today.
As the 1973 Derby began, Secretariat broke out of the gate last, before quickly moving up on the field. Accelerating with each quarter-mile segment, he crossed the finish line at 1:59 2/5th, a new (and still standing) course record. In the 40 years since, only one other horse, Monarchos, has finished in under 2 minutes. Two weeks later at the Preakness he once again raced to catch up with the rest of the field before winning easily. Though his victory was never in doubt, his official time remained a point of controversy for almost 40 years. Members of the Daily Racing Form had clocked him at 1:53 2/5th, a new track record, while officials at Pimlico posted his official time as 1:54 2/5th. It wasn’t until June 2012 that the Maryland Racing Commission, using a forensic review of the race, determined that not only had Secretariat set a course record in 1973, he had been even faster than previously believed—1:53 flat.

4. Secretariat was a media superstar.
Secretariat-mania reached a fever pitch as he prepared for the final leg of the Triple Crown: The week before the Belmont, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek magazines featured him on their covers in the same week—an unheard of accomplishment that has never been repeated. After his victory, demand for the thoroughbred’s time grew go great that his owners hired the William Morris Agency to oversee his public appearances, surely making him the rare horse with a Hollywood agent. His fame continued long after his career ended. He was inducted into the Horseracing Hall of Fame just a year after winning the Triple Crown. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Secretariat stamp, making him the first equine to earn the honor; and ESPN named him to their list of the 100 greatest athletes of the 20th century.

6. Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by a jaw-dropping margin.
Racing against only four other horses in New York, Secretariat was considered such a favorite that no third-place “show” bets were accepted on him. As was the case at both the Derby and the Preakness, Secretariat faced off against Sham, but this time his cousin was unable to truly challenge him, finishing last. Secretariat, however, opened an enormous lead on the field that kept growing with every stride. By the time he crossed the finish line in yet another record-setting time of 2:24, he was a full 31 lengths in front of the second-place finisher. Secretariat had become the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown. Rather than trade in their winning tickets (which would have netted just $.20 in profit), most people who bet on Secretariat decided to keep them as souvenirs instead.

7. Secretariat bailed out his financially beleaguered owners even before he won the Triple Crown.
Helen “Penny” Chenery had inherited her father’s Meadow Stable in Virginia following his death in 1973, but the organization had begun losing money years earlier. Desperate to shore up the family’s shaky finances, Chenery agreed to a “syndicating” agreement with Seth Hancock, the new owner of one of the country’s most prestigious breeding operations, Kentucky Claiborne Farm. In February 1973, four months before his history-making victory at Churchill Downs, it was announced that 32 breeding “shares” had been sold at a record-breaking price of $190,000 a share, netting Claiborne Farms and Meadow Stable more than $6 million—$30 million in today’s money.

8. Secretariat was euthanized at just 19 years old.

Secretariat’s record off the track was not as successful as it had been on it. Put out to stud in late 1973, he sired nearly 600 foals, including one horse that sold for more than $1 million at auction—but nearly all of his male offspring failed miserably at the racetrack. Secretariat’s grandsires fared a bit better, with grandsons A.P. Indy a Horse of the Year winner and great-granddaughter Rags to Riches the 2007 Belmont Stakes champion. In the fall of 1989, the 19-year-old champion developed laminitis, an incurable hoof condition; he was euthanized in October of that year.
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CPT Twit - University of Iowa Scottish Highlanders - Childhood Memories Now Gone

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Double click for full screen

Double click for full screen

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All about Bosco from the Family Archives of Once Upon a Time

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Excerpt from the book:

 Left Handed, Four Eyed, Small Town and Catholic

and they call me Lucky???

My kid brother Bosco found any grown up revolting who stood between him and his mission to burn down everything, the ultimate pyro.  While the archangel (Michael) was getting his pants pressed me and the pyro were outside blowing to smithereens with firecrackers every toy soldier we could find.

My arsonist days ended, however, not long after we threw a box of 22 shells into the incinerator and World War III broke out in the alley.  We had failed to blow them up slamming bricks on the shells.

I have to admit it, there were times my kid brother scared the Hell out of me.  He was reckless, probably possessed, and not at all interested in what was going on in the world.  But we had a bond, we were both motherless children, having lost our mother to the duties of rearing the archangel.

One day Bosco and I raced down the hallway by the archangel's room and noticed the massive American Flyer train set, one of our dad's prized possessions, was set up in the room.  Better yet, no one was around.

The layout was quite a work of art and engineering, qualities found in the Putnam DNA.  A board bigger than the bed folded up against the wall normally, but today it was down and all the trains, villages and mountains were in place.

Now Bosco and I had long debated what would happen if we started a train on top of the mountain and another at the bottom headed toward each other at full speed. How much damage could the two trains do to each other when they crashed?

Thanks to my mechanical skills we had everything working in seconds but when the trains smashed together nothing broke, they just flopped over sideways off the track.  It was nothing like the movies.  What a bummer.

So Bosco, having morphed into movie director Cecil B. DeMille, restaged the train wreck scene only this time, to make it seem more real, he loaded one of the train engines with fireworks.  I warned him the M-80s might be a bit too much but he insisted.  He lit the fuse and sent the train flying down the mountain leaving me seconds to launch the other one up the mountain.

The two trains weren't even close when the engine simply blew off the face of the earth, while the rest of the cars tumbled down the mountain with shrapnel flying all over the room.  As we dove under the bed the avalanche of debris crashed into the other train leaving a tangled mess.

When dad walked into the room, having heard the house shaking explosion, his stunned reaction was priceless.  His mouth opened to scream but no sound emerged.  The way he trembled and his veins popped up indicated a high degree of nerve instability so the vocal paralysis was probably a good thing,  It allowed him to calm down before he might have killed us.

We denied any knowledge of how an entire American Flyer train engine could possibly dematerialize and disappear, though we did acknowledge our role in the wreck and agreed to spend our allowances for the next 15 years replacing all the broken village and mountain pieces.

In hindsight I realized trusting Bosco's judgment was far too dangerous to risk in the future.

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