Pick a Winner

The word on the street is Keeneland was not as kind this past weekend, but I had a good time hanging out with some old fraternity brothers from the ‘Head. We met at the alumni meeting around 9 a.m. at the ReMax building on Palumbo. After the meeting, I scooped up Brandon from his house and we all met up in the parking lot of Keeneland for some pre-first post tailgating. From there, the day went along with my luck. I wasn’t totally all bust. I cashed a few tickets in. Plus, I really didn’t bet real heavy.

I am really looking forward to the Derby. It always seems to have good money in it. The trouble is just picking through the trash to find the runners. A friend at work has keyed me in on a late stretch runner named Jazil (pronounced JAZ-uhl, not Juh-ZEEL). This horse almost ran down frontrunner Bob and John in the 1 1/8 mile Wood Memorial at Oaklawn. I suspect the extra eighth in the Derby will give him more room to run down the stretch. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and son of Seeking the Gold out of Mr. Prospector, should have great dollar value when post time hits on May 6. If the speed is right, Jazil should close like a beast, much like the way he did in the Wood Memorial.

Another horse that I feel could be a threat is Steppenwolfer. Get over the cool name. This horse is an early closer with a good turn of foot around the 3/8ths pole. I am not very familiar with his trainer, Daniel Peitz. He is based out of Arkansas and trained Grade 1-winner Capote Belle. He was clearly the second best horse in the Lawyer Ron-owned Arkansas Derby. A too much, too early pace could put him in the roses-laden winner circle on May 6.

That’s enough of that. I am heading to Charleston, W.Va. this weekend for my niece’s birthday. It should be a cool trip, but we have to come back on Saturday. Beth has to be in Columbus, OH for business on Sunday afternoon. Maybe I’ll get a chance to watch Long Duck Dong at O’Neills Irish Pub on Saturday night.

You guys have a good week and hopefully I will give you my final Derby thoughts by next Thursday. That way we will have on paper my handicapping prowess. Until then….get yo ass out the kitchen, we on a mission.

Sun King and TL's

“Rock and roll, rock and roll! I’m the king of rock and roll”
-Daniel Lioneye

That’s right. You heard me. Not original? True. Bam Margera is such a douche bag, but he does have one of the best intro songs ever on Viva La Bam. Dude, what a time it has been for the past couple of weeks. This time is flying by. I think it will be the month of May in 10 days? Ridiculous.

Where to begin?

Yard work. I had to do some backbreaking work on Thursday of last week. An area of ground 10 feet by 5 feet on one side of our house had subsided next to the foundation. I had to cut the sod up to preserve the grass, fill in the subsidence with a truckload of dirt, thanks to my neighbor Don, and finally, replace the sod. Fortunately, my partner in crime, the master of jurisprudence, Brandon, helped me out with the labor. This dropped the task hours from 5 hours solo, to 3 hours. BP, I owe you some cold beers.

Keeneland. Yes, this time I did better. I bet a total of $81 and won $109 and change. And no booze was involved in the earning of cash. Matter of fact, I haven’t drank any cold beer at Keeneland since last spring. It, obviously, clouds my judgment when handicapping the ponies. Anyway, a little trifecta and a huge exacta hit for me in seventh and eighth races (check the results for April 15th). God bless Sun King—the little Zito horse that could, then couldn’t, then could, again.

Easter. The Day of Resurrection was great at Mom and Dad’s. I grilled burgers, BBQ chicken, and smokies. Mom made the fixin’s. The grilled items were okay, but the weather was par and the company was nice. It was great day…..to be forgiven.

New Car Day. Whhhhaaaaaaaaaat? Yes, you heard me correctly, New Car Day. Somebody I live with, without naming names, bought a new car on Wednesday. You-know-who bought a 2006 Acura TL. Let’s just say this is one sexy hot rod. It’s black with black leather interior and navigation. I will finally get to rest Peanut’s heals a little.

Winding down, now. Yeah, I’m going back to Keeneland this Saturday. What? I have to go and cash my tickets. And make a few bets on the Lexington Coolmore Stakes. The in-laws are coming to Lexington this weekend. It should be a cool time.

Keeneland Tip #253: If you ever see Garret Gomez riding at Keeneland, you should at least put $20 to place on the horse he is riding.

Night of the Lepus

Rabbits ate my free marigolds. I imagine they looked like this lupus. Happy Easter! Do you think it was the Easter Bunny that ate my marigolds? Sumbitches! I knew it! If they keep it up they will look like this.

I've got to do a little better this weekend at Keeneland. I turned in only one ticket last Friday. And it was only for 16 bones. That dang Rafael Bejarano has taken over at Keeneland since Pat Day retired. Just like Pat Day, I bet him, he doesn't even come close. If I lay off of him, after the race, he rides by the grandstand flashing his "V". Okay, so that wasn't his signature "V". He had won six races that day. Big J Will will be in the house Saturday. It'll be good to see him.

I'm going to Lost Creek this weekend. Hopefully, we'll see you there. Happy Easter, Turds!

Busy As a Biz-zee, Part II

I have become one of those. As of Tuesday, when my phone rings, I hear “Looks That Kill” by Motley Crue. It sounds pretty good, if you are into the whole Crue-Nation thing. Dang Beth! It’s all her fault. But if you see me rocking while holding a cell phone, you’ll know why.

This past weekend was a very busy time and we also got a lot accomplished. I test-drove a 2007 Toyota Camry and test-rode an Avalon. We went to the home and garden show at Heritage Hall. We scheduled an estimate for a sunroom to be built on the back of our house. I mowed my grass for the first time this year. It definitely looks better.

Beth and I got to work on the flowerbed in the front of our house. The first few years in our house, the flowerbed was self-maintaining. This year it had finally gotten out of hand. We pulled and dug out the weeds and old mulch. We laid down new mulch and planted a few new flowers (marigolds and gladiolas). Shame on me for letting a honeysuckle bush get waist-high before doing anything about it. For those not familiar, the roots are twice as massive as what you see above ground. I also planted a yellow poplar in the backyard. I hope it grows pretty fast.

Keeneland’s Opening Day is tomorrow and guess who’ll be there! No, me, you silly bird! Beth’s friend Jennifer is coming to stay with us this weekend so she will make the Keeneland trip. And I’m sure a few other friends from work will be there, as well. I hope we won’t get wet. The forecast isn’t the greatest, but it will be warm. Tolly Ho, beetches!

Chase, sorry we couldn’t make it over to the Lou to see you guys. I got a little busy. That’s what I get for putting stuff off. Lesson learned. Joel, from what I saw a couple of weekends ago in Frankfort, you can still ball. You are the Ice Man (teeth chomp!).