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Howdy!

The goods are all ready to go! Fox Hill Farm gave me a good freakout by not responding for a while concerning the tumbler order, but that was remedied in good time as you can see. On Saturday night, I’ll be messaging the top three scorers for their info so keep an eye out! (I should also make fair mention that little rule #1 of the contest that you must be following the blog to win… but why wouldn’t you be?) Thanks to the many who have participated, and especially to those who hung in there like champs for all 12 weeks!

My back-to-school mission is nearing completion. All I gotta do is make sure one office sends the other office my transcript and wait on that acceptance letter… GREAT BIG SIGH OF RELIEF. Now to worry about other things, including what 12 horses I want to include for the Derby Dozen profiles this month and a little Oaks insight.

Hope everyone is well and thanks for dropping by, as always. And lest we forget, gear up properly for the Run for the Roses by picking up a Derby Hopeful tee which benefits New Vocations!

High hoof,

Dawna

A three-day weekend for me with all three days hosting good stakes races? Dream cometh true…

Hey ya’ll, hope you have a lovely Presidents’ Day weekend (international peeps, disregard our flimsy bank holiday) full of Animal Kingdom’s return at 2:25pm EST today at Gulfstream and some more nice stakes races lining up the schedule.

Don’t forget, if you haven’t done so already, to send in your trifecta pick for the San Vicente by Sunday at 2:36pm PST (6:36pm EST) for the contest. Shackleford paid a visit to my house to show off one of the magnets we’re giving away to any or all of the three Derby Handicap champs.

Speaking of the contest, I’ve updated the prize list if you want to scroll down to “What Can I Win?” ;) Pics will happen soon as they ship in, as I ordered most of the items off Amazon yesterday. Hopefully by then I can buy a SD card reader for my camera so they can be beautiful.

COOL NEWS THAT ISN’T ABOUT THE CONTEST? Yes! The first of (hopefully) many horse racing industry interviews will be posted on Tuesday! It’s super interesting and comes from one of my favorite people you may not know too much about, so don’t go outside on Tuesday!

High hoof,

Dawna

While nobody is off on a hot lead, the leaderboard for the Derby Handicap Contest has been updated, with Thoughtsonracinglifeandmore taking the lead with 2 points after the round 1 Holy Bull Stakes. Second and third are tied with 1 point, Nicoledowland and Mmmbopped, who both accurately selected My Adonis for third.

It’s certainly not too late to enter or get ahead! The Robert B. Lewis Stakes (II) is next, so check out the field on Thursday and send me your picks by late Saturday afternoon!

Prizes Updated!

I’ll be adding more as the contest continues, but to start, I recently ordered some nifty magnets and stickers to sell here for charity! First, second, and third places can each pick their choice of a Shack Attack (Shackleford) sticker/magnet, Team Dumplings (Zenyatta and Mike Smith) sticker/magnet, or an Uncle Mo inspirational quote magnet. These are nice, big, quality stickers and magnets that you will be able to purchase soon to benefit New Vocations. Check ‘em out!

Also, first prize will be receiving a Triple Crown ‘12 tee featuring Hansen and Union Rags. Preorders for said shirt (proceeds also benefiting New Vocations) will start up next week after I finalize the design and asking price.

I hope to raise $100 for New Vocations by Breeders’ Cup time, so stay tuned if you’d like to help a great cause!

You’re hardly a horse racing fan if you don’t like watching the Triple Crown races, and with three long months left on the calendar, it’s going to be a painful wait. Or is it…?

To celebrate the epicness that is the Run for the Roses and the unveiling of the new GallopingHatRack.com makeover, I’m giving away three special prize packs to participating followers who can pick the most winners of the following upcoming prep races!:

• WEEK 1 - SUNDAY, JANUARY 29 - Holy Bull Stakes (III) at Gulfstream
• WEEK 2 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 - Robert B. Lewis Stakes (II) at Santa Anita
• WEEK 3 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11 - Hutcheson Stakes (III) at Gulfstream
• WEEK 4 - SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19 - San Vicente Stakes (II) at Santa Anita
• WEEK 5 - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25 - Risen Star Stakes (II) at Fairgrounds
• WEEK 6 - SATURDAY, MARCH 3 - Gotham Stakes (III) at Aqueduct
• WEEK 7 - SATURDAY, MARCH 10 - Tampa Bay Derby (II) at Tampa Bay
• WEEK 8 - SATURDAY, MARCH 17 - Rebel Stakes (II) at Oaklawn
• WEEK 9 - SATURDAY, MARCH 25 - Spiral Stakes (III) at Turfway
• WEEK 10 - SATURDAY, MARCH 31 - Florida Derby (I) at Gulfstream
• WEEK 11 - SATURDAY, APRIL 7 - Wood Memorial (I) at Aqueduct
• WEEK 12 - SATURDAY, APRIL 14 - Arkansas Derby (I) at Oaklawn
• Tie-breaker race will be held the following week if needed.

How do I enter?

1. Follow the blog
2. Each week, enter your first, second, and third place picks for the given race via the ask box or send me an email if Tumblr happens to be broken for the billionth time (Dawnawood AT gmail dot com). Races and available picks will be posted weekly on Thursday, accompanied by handicapping picks and analysis by moi. Entries can be submitted no less than 60 minutes before post time.
3. Correct entries will be noted and tracked weekly with a leaderboard you can check here. I will message you directly back to let you know I got your entry, and if it’s too late I’ll let you know that as well.
4. You may only make one guess of the placings per race. You can jump in the contest at any time and can handicap for any number of races (though duh, you should obviously guess all of them if you can).
5. You’re responsible for knowing any scratches the day of racing. I will do my best to update the horses before then, but ultimately it’s up to you to submit a replacement guess if the horse is scratched for whatever reason at any time. Again, message or email me with a replacement three-horse guess if yours includes one or more scratched horses.

What can I win?
I don’t know yet exactly. Probably something horse racing-related. If not there’s always underwear. Watch the Contest page for updates on the prizes ;)

How are winners determined?

For each correct first, second, or third place pick (win, place, show), you will be awarded 3, 2, and 1 points respectively. Land the exacta (first and second in order) and be awarded an additional 3 points while a trifecta (first, second, and third in order) reaps you an additional 5 points.

Are international peeps eligible?

Everypony’s welcome to enter. Hey if you’re good enough to win this you probably deserve it that much more!

I’m not good at handicapping…

A good ol’ guess never hurt anyone. I’ll be posting the usual race preview with thoughts and notes on each entry every week, but I also recommend alternate sources such as Brisnet and Equibase or just reading up on the horses themselves ahead of time.