I'm experiencing a blogorama in my brain these days. Well, better get it all out than have it jumbling up my head. And, might as well post them all close together & keep generating interest in my blogs when I have been taking a sort of break from them the last 4 weeks.

So... here I am. And what is this blog about praytell? Well, it's about horse racing!! There are 5 important dates in the Oboe-Wan calendar year:
My birthday, Christmas, Kentucky Derby, Preakness & Belmont Stakes. Not necessarily in that order of importance, either.

The first Saturday of May my world comes to a stand still. I wake up and watch Breakfast at Churchill Downs on ESPN. Not once, but at least twice in a row, possibly starting a 3rd viewing when Hubby-Wan will peel me away from the t.v. Throughout the day, the t.v. snaps on & off as I check in with the latest odds, see what the handicappers are saying then make my choices.

How do *I* choose my horses? It's not a guarantee at any rate:
1) Bloodlines. Enter a horse that descends from Unbridled and you've got me. Unsaddled a few years ago was not getting good odds for the Travers Stakes in Saratoga a few years ago, but I stuck by my colt & he came out on top. Other than Unbridled colts & fillies, I usually look for those that come from another horse I love - like those that come from past KD winners, triple crown winners. As recently as a few years ago, we were still getting colts from Seattle Slew & even Man 'o War bloodlines.

2) Past race performances. Anyone who can read stats & box scores knows how to read race records. You don't want your money on a horse who has run 8 races and only placed 1,2 or 3 in one. No thanks.

3) Jockey. Now this is tricky. You have your "big guys" like Pat Day, Kent J. Desormeaux, Gary Stevens & Edgar S. Prado. But that doesn't mean much on it's own. In order to successfully choose based on jockey, you have to be following all the races at the track on that particular day. One day while I was at Saratoga, Norberto Arroyo, Jr. was having an amazing day. He won almost all the races that day, so it was a no brainer. This guy was on fire. Put your money on him regardless of the horse.

4) Color. Ok ok ok, this is the most unscientific part of the whole process for me. Rule #1: never bet on a white, grey or grey roan. Why? Just because I don't like horses of that color. I broke free of my "color bonds" in 1997 when I selected Silver Charm to win the KD. So what do I like? Dark bays are ok, but those chestnut reds. Mmmm.... Funny Cide captured my attention in 2003 with his gentle eyes and bright red coat.

And does this all work out for me? Yeah! In the past 9 years, I have selected all the horses that would win the Kentucky Derby & Preakness but not go on to sweep the Triple Crown: Real Quiet. Charismatic. War Emblem. Funny Cide. Smarty Jones. Silver Charm. And I'm not joking here. Look directly into my eyes when I say I actually cried (as in shed tears) when Funny Cide & Smarty Jones failed to win the Belmont in their respective years.

So why all this love for horseracing? It must be in my blood. My grandfather was a big horseracing junkie. Always at the Finger Lakes Racetrack in upstate NY, he lost & won quite a bit of money on those races. He passed on to me everything he knew about betting and though I'm not quite as brave as him, I have come out with a profit when I spend time at the track.

Like every red-blooded American girl, when I was younger, I loved horses. Horse posters, horse stickers, horse this horse that. I wanted to ride more than anything in the world but my parents said it was too dangerous and wouldn't allow it. Fine. When I got married and was out on my own a full-fledged adult (at the ripe old age of 23!) I decided to start horseback riding lessons. English saddle. Learned to jump. It was so much fun! Then I fell and got a concussion. Nothing serious, but after I had my son, it was always in the back of my mind how dangerous even in the most controlled situations riding could be. When my teacher closed her barn & moved out of state I stopped riding. My life-long dream is to someday own a horse, so at least I have the skills to ride it!

Anyway, during the time I was taking lessons, there was a guy who boarded his Saratoga race horses at our barn for the winter. Of course I never was qualified to ride these fillies, but they were always fun to take care of. This guy owned two horses: Helen of the Berkshires (who I never saw race, but she was the sweetest race horse you'd ever meet) and Shopping for Love. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing HotB race, she was retired by the time I met her, but SfL was in her prime during my time at the barn. Her owner would invite myself & my teacher (we were pretty close in age, so it was hardly a teacher/student relationship! We actually became quite good friends) to Saratoga to watch her race. When she qualified for a race at Belmont, he got us in for FREE!! Fancy dinner in the clubhouse and all! SfL did not win her race, but it didn't matter! I knew an owner!!

Since the closing of the barn, he has taken his horses elsewhere and I have fallen out of contact with everyone involved. But it was an unforgettable period of my life. I got to see the Secretariat statue at Belmont & just experience something that not many people do.

This year, I have done a terrible terrible thing: I missed all 3 legs of the Triple Crown. Shh.... don't tell anyone, but I'm convinced that's why everything went to hell in a handbasket this year. It's not totally my fault, my life was consumed by my move to Tatooine, but the horse racing world has suffered dearly thanks to me. First, the Santa Anita winner and Derby favorite, Brother Derek, finished in a dead heat for 4th and a little horse named Barbaro won. Second, Barbaro pulls up injured with a potentially life-threatening break to his rear leg in the Preakness. Third, though it wasn't in the Belmont itself, Miraculous Miss thrashed in the gate at the start of the Acorn Stakes forcing the scratch of the horse beside her as well. A lot of high drama this year at all 3 races.

Was it my fault? Well, I'm not entirely sure, but next year, regardless of what is going on in my life, I will stop what I am doing, turn on the t.v., mix myself a mint julip and watch all the races.