Hey Marcus -- didn't realize you were such an action guy. Even God took the seventh day off...

Hey Shanahan -- when was the last time a Ky. Derby horse showed up at Fairmount?

Think Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn. Think Miller High Life. Think about the inane Laverne and Shirley and Lenny and Squiggy. Think (I think) the world headquarters of Harley Davidson. Think Marquette University and their snazzy uniforms in the 70s when their hoop team was coached by Al McQuire. Think Golda Meir.

Right now I'm thinking on this dark day of a mare named for the City which is/was the real or fictional home of all of the above. Her first race in the US was 2 Fridays ago at the Spa in the 12 mark Waya Stakes. We rarely get to see races at this distance, so you rarely get to see a troubled trip which lasts almost 2 and 1/2 minutes.

How bad a trip did this Chris Clement 6YO get? The following popped into my mind (a) the Titanic; (b) the Andrea Doria (sp?); (c) Apollo 13 and (d) Ted Kennedy* at Chappaquidick. I will not recite the chart, but if you are curious, check out the replay or chart of the 9th race at Sara on 8/11.

One of my new pet peeves is to listen to trainers and jockeys who like to talk about how important it is that their turf runners be "covered up" during the running of a race. The problems for Garret Gomez on MILWAUKEE started somewhere on the second turn of this three turn race, when he realized he was "buried" as opposed to "covered up". Milwaukee showed a lot of class to make up a bit of ground at the end and finish third after being asked to start and stop a couple of times during the race and having her jaw yanked on pretty severely.

The F/M turf divison has some exciting runners this year. There is the still improving Angara. There is the electrifying Gorella, who appears out of nowhere (think Rosie Ruiz**) sometime during the stretch run and has shown awesome acceleration. Pletcher's Wait a While could have broken the Saratoga course record in the Lake Placid if she had been asked to.

All of these ladies of the lawn and others I am forgetting are racing in the shadow of the great Ouija Board, who has put together a nearly perfect campaign in Europe and will be short odds if run in the F/M BC Turf. I personally think she may turn up against males in the BC Turf (1-1/2 miles v males). Michael D is on record as saying she may be vulnerable on the narrow, tight turned CD turf, but we shall see.

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* My favorite story about Senator Ted involves the time some European snapparazzi got a picture of Teddy and a female companion out on the ocean in a speedboat anchored off the coast. Teddy was trying (successfully) to initiate his companion into the nautical equivalent of the Mile High Club. When the photo was published, another Senator walked up to Kennedy and said "Well, I see you've changed your position on offshore drilling."

** If you "google" Rosie Ruiz you might get an account of one of the great NYC Marathon "trips" of all time.