I came late into the fold of thoroughbred horse racing. My entrance was not as a 9 yr. old rail-bird, introduced to the Sport of Kings by a program toting dad, but rather by accident. My wife, who was an equestrian all her young life until a disastrous accident derailed her Olympic show jumping career, wanted to try a restaurant in Saratoga Springs.

A restaurant. In Saratoga Springs. Can you imagine?

How we came to find the racetrack I do not recall, but we did. The next thing I knew, I was caught up in the Sunday Silence - Easy Goer duels of 1989, and I was hooked.

By 1995 I was an avid fan, although where the game was concerned I was still a neophyte. Summers were now spent shuttling between home and Saratoga. The Fall was dedicated to riding the rails to Beautiful Belmont Park. And then a wonderful racehorse named Cigar caught my attention…and the attention of millions of others, by not losing for what seemed like forever. We were at the Breeders Cup that year to witness the exclamation point that punctuated a fabulous season by an incredible athlete.

Permit me a brief digression:

Occasionally, the debate as to how good he was still rears its ugly head.

To those who still wish to measure him…shut up.

You cannot measure heart. Or the heat of the light bulb when it goes on in a racehorse’s head. He was a specimen rarely seen in ANY sport, and all he did was what fans and media alike cry out for each and every year:

He carried the sorry state of the Sport of Kings on his back from sea to shining sea for two years.

End of digression.

By 1996 we had been attending the Breeders Cup each year from I don’t remember when and Woodbine was to be no exception. The small but venerable race course was a wonderful host, and the threat of a cab drivers strike deterred no one. We sat in bleachers erected for the event just around the top of the stretch. You could look into the eyes of the runners as they came around the final turn, nostrils flared in preparation for their powerful stretch run, and for the first time, I heard for myself the awesome sound of thoroughbred horse power.

The trip began with an omen which needless to say, I ignored. My wife is the one who really knows horses and horse flesh. She has provided me with many insights and winners over the years…when the mood strikes her, of course. From our early days at Saratoga - before cell phones - where she would signal me from the paddock while I stood at the edge of the second floor clubhouse and watched her with my binocs, to just the other day when she popped into the living room, took a quick look at the post parade on the TV, and gave me a $30 horse…that I did not play, she just knows from a lifetime of experience. Well, on this day, as we were checking in at the gorgeous  Royal York Hotel, she looked to her left and at the front desk standing next to us, and checking in at the same time, was Chris McCarron.

“That’s your Classic winner!” she whispered to me as I presented my American Express Card. I looked at Chris, looked at her, and promptly forgot the conversation in favor of the frequent flyer points dancing about my head. She still reminds me…when the mood strikes her, of course.

But this story is not about the stone cold silence that filled a stunned track as the Canadian sun was setting, when Alphabet Soup and Louis Quatorze finished just ahead of one of racing’s great heroes. Or about the hair raised on the back of my neck as I heard that trio leaning into the top of the stretch and reaching out in unison for that final gear right before my eyes.

It is really about Ricks Natural Star…and the ‘Look of Eagles‘. What? You have never heard of Ricks Natural Star? And you call yourself a race fan?

I won’t get into the guts of the story about Rick but it was big time in 1996. I will instead, provide you with a link to a Thoroughbred Times story I recently discovered which kind of spawned this tome. Use it.

But I will mention the ‘Look Of Eagles‘. I cannot say for sure that I knew of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1996. As I said, I was still a neophyte. I can say for sure that I had never heard of Pilsudski and in fact, only recently was able to say his name without sounding like the Novocain had yet to wear off! And I certainly had no clue of his finish in the Arc, or of his ability to do what he did in the Breeders Cup Mile that year.

In preparation for the mile, and to get as far away from me as possible - a sullen loser up to that point in the day - my wife dispatched herself to the paddock to assess the entrants and try to help me out. As I recall, it had rained in the days prior and the ground was soft and in some places muddy. I was standing in a long line of bettors fondling the wad of cash in my pocket, looking at my form, and wondering what to do in this mile race. The cue was at a makeshift betting window in a field adjacent to the temporary bleachers where we sat. The ground squished underneath my shoes.

At some point I heard my name being called and sure enough, here was my wife running…on a knee replacement…one that was 12 years and 20 surgeries in the making…running across the muddy field towards me. I cringed with each unsure step, the mud giving way underneath her feet.

“How much money do you have?”

“Why”?

“Because you are going to put it all on number 7. All of it.”

She had seen that blank stare before.

“Trust me. He has the Look Of Eagles”.

The what? What the hell is the Look of Eagles?

And then I realized that my wife had seen in Pilsudski what only she could…and I could not.

My beloved Cigar. I would not have anything left to pay my respects to him, and he deserved my support after what he had done the previous year. And what about lunch?

As we slowly shuffled towards the teller she made her pitch. When my turn at the window came, to her credit, she walked away and left me to my own private torture.

“Two dollars to win on Ricks Natural Star please…”

“Anything else?” I considered the question for a long moment.

“Yes.”

I swallowed hard and then, pulled out all the cash.

As for Rick, you can read about him at the link below. I still have the ticket. It is tucked away in the racing form I used that day. The printing has faded to nothing, as has the memory of this horse and what his selfish owner put him through. But he survived as these noble creatures tend to do, and lives in luxurious retirement without a care in the world. A deserving reward to be sure.

As to the reward for trusting the Look of Eagles, a small portion went to supporting Cigar in his quest for a second Breeders Cup Classic.

Best money I ever spent.

Of course, the winning horse was Alphabet Soup. And the winning jockey?

I forget!


- Slew


Read the story of Ricks Natural Star:

The Story of Rick's Natural Star

See the race:

http://www.breederscup.com/gallery/1996-breeders-cup-turf

Hello All!

When I first started Slew back in February of this year, I posted messages on a few racing forums to get the word out. One of them was a strange place which recently was put out of its misery by a merciful sponsor who probably just couldn't stand it anymore:

"The TVG community is closing."

That was the message that greeted me as I clicked a bookmark I had ignored, with good reason I might add, for most of the year.

What took them so long?

Way back in 1994, when I began my professional software career by writing in a little known language subset on an even littler known platform, there was Compuserve. There was no internet, just Compuserve. It was via this online service that I found a forum that was frequented by some 30 or 40 developers using the same platform. They hailed from all around the world and they had  found a wonderful shared resource in each other. You might not be able to imagine that even amongst these professionals, some of what took place wasn't always pretty. Tempers could get short with stupid questions. And shorter with lazy ones. But it was there that I learned the fundamentals I needed to continue on into an arena I never imagined I could negotiate. I could not have moved forward without them.

It was also there that I met a colleague and wonderful friend from the UK with whom I am still very close. He was very kind to me in the early days and I told him if my project ever sold, I would hire him. Even with an ocean between us. It did. And I did. To this day his friendship is valued greatly and always will be. At what other time in the history of man could this have happened? In this way?

None.

After several weeks of posting to the TVG forum I began to notice very little increase in interest regarding the daily posts. This was in direct contrast with the other two forums to which I was posting, and I began to wonder about the people who frequented the TVG online nation. Just what were they doing there? I had decided that I would try posting there for 30 days, and if there was no increase in interest in my posts, I would not waste any more of my time. Somewhere around day thirty I posted the following headline:

Go ahead...Keep Ignoring Me

A little experiment in socio-psychology. I was curious as to how many reads it would get, as I was getting about 12 - 15 for each daily post. This one should not have been any different. My thought was that if they were not interested in my racing posts, maybe a headline such as this would bring them crawling out of the woodwork. If it did, I would have no interest in continuing.

Within 2 hours, there was over 130 reads. By the end of the day, close to 200. It was then I knew that I was wasting my time, and stopped posting to the community. These people were not interested in sharing with each other the common knowledge they had, or in gaining new insight into the almost impossible task of handicapping thoroughbreds. In fact, there were more advertisements for Viagra, more backbiting, self-indulging, catty posts than information about the races.

The lineup for tomorrow's big stake was of less interest than my headline challenging the reader to ignore me. Just like a child who is told not to open that drawer, the collective online community could not ignore my post the way they had the previous 30. They just HAD to open that drawer.

What a waste.

But I did have some unfinished business and maybe I can close that circle here. One of the regular posters who also touted picks (and might very well run a fee for service site) had commented on one of my last posts that he had heard of Slew and that he heard good things about what I was doing. I did not have time to answer at first read but I did go back the next day to finish that task, only to find that my post had been removed by a moderator- I guess I was in violation of some rule -  and with it, his online name. I never did get to thank him for his comment, but I don't want to have him think I had ignored him.

So: whoever you were, thank you for the kind words. They were and still are much appreciated.

And to the rest of you...

Keep ignoring me?

Slew

Hello All!

For all the rumors, all the hype, all the innuendo, all the inference that Churchill Downs hammers its track for big races and soups up the surface to have grand times explode onto the tote at their finish...for all that...it might be true!

I say that because the fall meeting just ended and when I went back to see what races I could look at to find my next group of superstars...or maybe I should say SOUPerstars, I was quite surprised at what I found:

Just one race.

One lousy race with splits worthy of Slew's note. That race was run on 11/22/2012 as race #4 on the main track at 1 mile as an AlwOC. There were 4 notable splits in that affair with the front running winner Infrattini (Include - Casa Frattini, by Mr. Greeley) finishing in a slightly geared down fashion in 1:33.31 after clocking 6F in 1:08.83 and running the 7th Furlong in a very nice 11.89 seconds. I certainly hope the owners, Z Thoroughbreds, stuck a winning ticket into the boot of Mr. Rosario because he paid $14.20 while the favorite Rule and 2nd favorite Hamazing Destiny took most of the money. They finished 4th and last respectively with both seeing nothing but the rump of the front running winner.

Two notes about this race. First, the next two horses, Majestic Harbor who made a late bid and Colizeo who wilted in the stretch won't likely see fractions like that again for a while. Second, Infrattini had come out of a race at Keeneland which he won (10/24/2012 Race # 4) and from that race the 3rd place finisher - Wyomia - came back to place in a 150K stake at Woodbine on 11/24. Note 2A: a front running victory without a creditable challenge. Note 2B: a front running victory without a creditable challenge BUT with Mr. Rosario aboard.

That is different than a front running victory without a creditable challenge.

The only other race that caught my eye was a MSW affair run at 1 mile on the turf on Friday, 11/02/2012. In rather stark contrast, the 6 furlong timing was 1:12.15 but the 7th furlong quickened nicely into an 11.48 split and the race finished in a very professional 1:35.60 with Bold Challenger (Exchange Rate - Best Mom, by Chester House) drawing clear in the stretch. He becomes the first next out winner out of his last, a Keeneland affair run on 10/10/2012 at 1 mile as race #6.

That's it! We're done.

I would keep an eye on these two as they move down the road. Probably not for a start or two, but at some point they will come up again. Especially if Infrattini catches a paceless field and retains the services of one J. Rosario, smart thoroughbred jockey.

Keeping an eye on horses as a meet closes is what we do. I just can't believe that out of the entire fall meet at Churchill Downs, there is only one horse per eye!

Not very souper if you ask me. But I guess if we want souper...we'll just have to wait until May!

That's how I see it. However you see it, good luck and good 'capping!

- Slew