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I made a checklist— as I often do for the big classic-type races— listing all the qualities the Derby winner ought to have: 10 furlong ability (as judged by me), pedigree, in peak form, decent post position, how their last workout was, how they like dirt, class level, and mental tenacity. I knew it was a crappy field when I saw that only 2 horses had straight check marks: Revolutionary (3rd) and Orb (1st). Orb certainly deserved the win today, which he would have gotten whether or not Palace Malice decided to floor it from the start. On to the Preakness!

Also, I was kind of giddy to see Golden Soul get right up there, and I am quite happy with the top 7 or 8 finishers who all ran pretty well like I thought. I just had no idea what to expect in the mud when it came to the finish order. I made no money, but hey, I’m happy about being right about Verrazano and Goldencents! At least in the mud…

As all horse handicappers know, expecting big performances back-to-back is dreamer’s logic. With that said, I will be taking a short break from racing and handicapping starting today. Working, driving 3 hours a day 4 days a week, 5 classes during crunch time, filming productions, readying side projects for pre-production, and pouring over horse racing has worn me down a little and I think it’s time for a little hiatus.

I expect I should be back to normal in time for Preakness week. In the meantime, congrats to Orb! I plan to sleep on it before I decide whether or not I feel like Orb can win the Triple Crown this year.

People who follow my life goings-on outside of horse racing already know this, but this week had me extremely busy with work, school, projects, and a horse show. No Thoroughbreds were in attendance, but my sister was competing with her new horse and they won!

Time for a new update!

• Two days ago was The Galloping Hat Rack’s two-year anniversary. I was going to be all blubbery about it, but really, what more can I say about this place and all you nice people that hasn’t already been said? Thank you all for reading, responding, and all the support along the way!
• The documentary that is about horse racing is still in pre-production, but has been submitted to receive a small university grant. I should hear back whether or not I won it in about 3 or 4 weeks. Things have been going slow on it otherwise, unfortunately. The working title for it is now Lipsticks and Longshots.
• The Derby Dozen has been hard to whittle down to 12, since there are a lot of “maybes.” Then again, there always is, right? If time permits, how about an “Oaks Octet?” The Oaks is best this year.
• 2013 Derby Hopeful tee is nearly done. NEARLY!
• Derby Handicap winners… is Tumblr eating my messages? I haven’t heard back from anyone regarding shipping addresses. Message me or email me at dawnawood AT gmail dot com when you can!

As always, thanks for reading and have a production week!

High hoof!

Dawna

We all can’t wait for this snow shit to melt here in Massachusetts.

Howdy everypony! I’m here to break the Sunday lull with several updates!:

• A big thanks to Derby Handicappers for making the first two rounds of the contest super interesting and entertaining! Round 3 will be this coming Saturday with the Risen Star (II) at Fair Grounds! I will try to have the submit form go live Wednesday and the analysis up by Thursday afternoon so you all have ample time to get your picks in. I will have the 2nd prize image up by Saturday on the Contest tab.
• Pony documentary update: Still slowly being setup, but I will announce the super cool fundraising method in a few weeks. I’m sketching out equipment needs right now, but projected costs are a modest, doable $1500-$2000. For the web series, I am trying to decide on the format I think will work best, but hope to shoot this week.
• Other upcoming posts: Memories of Winter Memories, a post about Tapit’s Derby contenders (waiting on how Mudflats runs today), You Comment I Respond, and the next alternative handicapping method suggested by a follower: my folks have a bunch of leftover fortune cookies!
• Life update: I might slow up a bit some days on updating the blog due to some changes. I am giving up my rented room in Fitchburg and moving back home so I can take up another (better) part-time job here. I will have to commute a LOT while working 40+ hours a week and going to school full-time. It’s all a necessary evil.

High hoof!

Dawna

My mommy inadvertently added to the Fred Stone art gallery I have going on in my room away at school. Barbaro, Zenyatta, and a medley of champions like John Henry and Secretariat. My wall is full of pony.

Ehmmm… I’ve toppled off the wagon a bit with the start of spring semester. Forgivies. I still have a crapload of things to unpack from Christmas and a new schedule to adjust to, which I am trying to change around today. GOOD CLASSES. GIVE IT ME! I also gotta pick up a magical grant application that will hopefully give me $500 toward financing my pony documentary.

I haven’t forgotten about the video. In fact it is much of what I’ve been thinking about, but I’ve been lazy. I have decided to wait until after Eblouissante’s second start today to comment further because that makes the most sense. Laziness + freakish control over how I want things + too many things going on + Netflix = delays. I’m a delay fish.

Better news? After class Friday (tomorrow) I’ll be announcing the Derby Handicap Contest process/guidelines/rest of info this year. For those who did it last year the Holy Bull is shaping up to be much, much deeper than the two-horse race between Hansen and Algorithms. DUN DUN DUN! Prepare thyself!

Instead of a typical stakes analysis, I’ll be doing the late pick 4 at Gulfstream Saturday, which has a very decadent card for the Sunshine Millions. Palace Malice is running in the first race, yeehaw! So… yes… like I said, late pick 4… hopefully done by later today as soon as I get my grown-up stuff done.

High hoof!

Dawna

Harley says “Merry Christmas GHR readership!” Santa Dawna got him [way too many] toys and his favorite kind of bone! If you get pony racing stuff for the holidays I wanna hear about it! :D

Moar update? Yes!

• I hope the Christmas card peeps enjoy(ed) their cards. They were shipped outta Massachusetts on Monday!
• Just finished with finals, so the Eblouissante video will be posted within the next day or two!
• Coming soon are end-of-the-year posts: Top 20 Best/Most Exciting Races of 2012, my own personal Best Pony honors, and the Year-End Reflections & Goals for 2013, where I will announce super cool future project(s).
• Because of the dumb Kentucky Derby points system, a lot of prep races got smooshed together on the same weekends or eliminated (the San Vicente for example is no longer going to be a real prep). Thus, the Derby Handicap Contest will span 10 weeks, not 12, starting with the Holy Bull (III) on January 26 and ending with the Arkansas Derby (I) on April 13. Look for an announcement next month… I’m slowly picking up cool prizes already for the top 3 winners! If you like racing memorabilia, you don’t want to miss this. I kind of don’t want to give away first prize which should be arriving in a few days…
  

And that about does it. Hope everyone has a safe, fun holiday and gets a little rest from the rigors of work and school!

High hoof!

Dawna

It’s in my must-accomplish goals to visit Sea Hero again in 2013.

I’ve had some crushing moments this year. Union Rags was retired, Winter Memories bid the grass adieu too soon, Scoobers died, and now again I feel that unpleasant “smooshed” emotion.

It’s not like I thought I was guaranteed a spot on the ABRV, but when I applied, I felt I had a pretty darn good chance. Not many fans will run their own blog about the sport, raise money for its retirees, attract hundreds of followers, pick out some longshots, AND have a powerhouse education working in media. I had a chance, but at the same time no chance unbeknownst to me: apparently they never even got my application. Computer/email glitch I guess, what are the odds. For all I know I could have gotten in and someone else is going to be cruising around in my spot, but I’ll never know and trumpeting around in my current anguished mood probably won’t solve anything or make me look any good. I don’t know what burns me more… the missed opportunity, or the chances I’ll find even more reasons to scoff at ABR’s campaign this coming year. (I vociferously despise their website’s hackneyed message and design as well as their “experts” at the booths)

SEE! I DID SEND IT!

The interesting thing about destruction is that while one thing dies, it leaves room for another to begin. I intend on carrying out the web video series (I have it drafted out, just need to find time to shoot later this week when I’m done with most of my finals). Why? Not so much to get page hits, but because that’s what is needed. I had a whole laundry list of things I planned on hauling with me to Kentucky to dump out on the table, why can’t I do it from Massachusetts? I have so many ideas, and none of them necessarily require me to have a salary to go with them. The great thing about horse racing is that you can pluck things from it to go with anything in life: did Cigar yield to Soul of the Matter? No! He said hell no, I ran too good today to be bested by the likes of you! And came on again.

Maybe I’ll apply again next year… maybe that’s what’s even in the stars for me. For now, I have finals to work on and big dreams to dream. Thank you all for reading my sordid finger tappings, it will not have been done in vain.

Highest of hoofs!

Dawna

I can’t visit home without taking new pictures of my dog… SORRY NOT SORRY!

I just survived a horrible 7 days without my laptop’s power cord (I stupidly left it at home when I returned for Thanksgiving). Now that I have returneth’d to full functioning mode, a few tidbits of announcements ‘n updates!:

• YES, I have thrown my hat in the ring for one of the ABRV jobs. I don’t think I could possibly make myself feel any more self-conscious than having to watch and edit video clips of myself, me: the awkward talking stick in crystal-clear 720p. BUT HELLO HORSE RACING BUCKET LIST I WOULD GET PAID TO FULFILL! But seriously, it’s a great opportunity that I could not feasibly turn down considering what I would ultimately like to do in life. If something happens, I’ll post again about it, but if not, I’ll just go to spring semester and pretend this whole thing never happened! >.>
• I have a cool new interview to post this week involving someone in the horse racing industry.
• Requests for Christmas cards are due by December 15! Send me your address if you’d like to get a fancy racing-themed holiday card in the mail! For you guys, I will deal with the stupid, condescending USPS guy who always seems to drag on my nerves…
  
• The first video I’m going to do is about Eblouissante, Zenyatta’s half-sister who recently lived up to the hype in her maiden victory. If you’d like to comment or ask me a question related to Ebby, send them on in and I’ll answer them in the video.
• Plans & prizes are in the works to start up the 2nd Annual Derby Handicap Contest beginning with the Holy Bull Stakes on January 26. Look for a post about it in January, same guidelines apply if you played earlier this year!
• I have just 2ish weeks left of school so finals may slow my posts a wee bit. Not much, but enough to mention.

Hope all of you are well! Purple Egg’s looking better and better!

High hoof!

Dawna

This whole waking up thing is really degrading my quality of life…

Just a few things to mention in this update…

***IT’S CHRISTMAS CARD REQUEST TIME! Last year I sent out 10-15 of these babies, and now I am in the process of making a batch of new and improved ones updated for this year! If you’d like one sent to you with a personalized message, I would love to add you to the list! Just send me an ask or email me (dawnawood AT gmail dot com) with your address, and as always, I will mail internationally!. I normally hate Christmas, so sending cards to my followers brings out the warm fuzziness in me. I wonder who the cover pony will be… hmm…

Huzzah! An early happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! It is my favorite holiday because of the food and nothing else!

A good many of you [kindly] responded to a recent ask where I expressed an interest in working in the horse racing industry some day. After giving it some thought the past few days, I think it would be absurd injustice if I didn’t act upon it in the height of the digital age. With my classes not being much work and no Breeders’ Cup to slave over, I’d like to start a web series. Nothing major to start with, maybe once every other week, but I aim for it to be something that appeals to younger horse racing fans. I figure we see enough of the older crowd’s media… I don’t want to talk into a camera about handicapping from behind a desk… so why not?

Therefore if you have any ideas of what you’d like to see me do/discuss, feedback is greatly encouraged. I have a history of anxiety/stage fright/oral presentations, so I want to get a nice confident concept going before I plunge in >.>

Anywho, that’s all for now. Send me your mailing addresses (*cue Psycho soundtrack*), your ideas, and your money! Handicapping for the Delta Jackpot goes up tomorrow!

High hoof!

Dawna

Today marks my first cup of hot cocoa for the season!

Hey ya’ll!

How you liking my Breeders’ Cup spam attack? I really went all out this year… I was just plain determined to make it all count seeing as the Halloween blizzard wrecked any plans I had last year. I’m just about done with the posts now and have them all queued, so even if I’m hit bad tomorrow by the storm, you’ll still get the posts. I’m saving the big three— the Mile, the Ladies’ Classic, and the Classic— for my top picks reel.

Welcome to the new followers, as well!

For contest enthusiasts, I also need to make an announcement: I struggled for some time to find myself a job, and while I recently got one, it is only 30 hours guaranteed per week plus a good-sized commute (ew, gas + parking fees along with rent + tuition) plus I’m paid much less than before. I won’t get my first check until well into November, so while I do intend to give something to the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Handicap, it will have to be something planned afterwards once I get my financials sorted out. Pray that I can get something full-time soon!

The handicap contest information will be posted late Wednesday/sometime after midnight Thursday this week, depending on my schedule and when the post draws happen. It’s going to be an easy process where you submit an online form that gets emailed to me, and it has a setup similar to the official Breeders’ Cup Fantasy Handicapping Contest where you pick a $20 win/place/show or $10 exacta box. Stay tuned to see that post go up!

And I think that is just about all I have to say… ‘til then…

High hoof!

Dawna