Monday, July 25, 2005

Is it Monday Again?

Can you believe Jessica from Railbird
  • Railbird
  • actually gets to spend the WHOLE meet at Saratoga. The jealously is just oozing out of me...

    I actually forgot that DMTC runs today (Monday) which is a nice little feature.

    I am highly anticipating the annual return of DRF Chairman and Publisher Steven Crist’s Daily recap of events at the ‘Spa’. Entertaining AND informative; isn't that a nice little tandem..

    A great weekend for TV and Horses. I love ESPN’s work on NTRA coverage, and it was super nice to have a 2-hr. feed of TVG on FSN on Sat. My only complaint with ESPN’s coverage is that one race for an hr is a little too much time. Two pushes the limit and I think 3 really hits the number for a one-hour broadcast. Enough time for one or two features, and enough coverage of all the horses/jockeys/trainers involved in each race.

    So it’s Monday and since I am on the west coast, I have the advantage/disadvantage of catching up with my east coast compadres on horse news. So today, I thought I would list a few good stories compiled from everywhere. Hope everyone has a great start to the week….

  • Former Aussie Sets North American Record on 'Debut'

  • Racing Towards Opening Day

  • Ex-Jock Turns to Bass Fishing..

  • Brad Free’s DMTC Pix for Mon.

  • Is It the Power of Love?
  • Friday, July 22, 2005

    Some Thoughts on Nerds..

    I enjoy reading the blog of a local "radio personality". I thought his 7/21 entry was worth passing along:

    Fatboy's Blog
    July 21, 2005

    The fact I'm a big nerd, dork, and a spaz shouldn't really be surprising. I don't know if this is a dirty little secret of radio or not, but a full 95% of the jocks on the air in any market anywhere are either nerds, dorks, or spazzes, or varying combinations of the 3. It's a fact. DJ's who think they're cool are deluding themselves. There's no such thing as a "Cool" DJ. It doesn't work that way. DJ is the job the people who can't dance take so they can still be involved in the party. "DJ" is what high school projectionists aspire to, when they're not dreaming of hitting the screenplay lottery. Cool people don't gravitate towards that job, because cool people don't pay attention to the music outside of who they get to grind on while it's playing, or who they're going to beat up while it's blaring out of the truck, or whatever. Only a nerd would be hanging out with friends, and go "You know what'd be super-cool? to be the cheesedick guy with the overcooked voice introducing this Sister Sledge song at 2am"

    What's cool is that nerdity isn't a negative anymore. Our culture is slowly waking up and realizing we're all pretty nerdy when it comes down to it. We're just nerdy about different things. Being a dork isn't cause for stigma. Hell, if you're a big enough dork, people ENJOY hanging around your dorky ass JUST FOR being dorky. I won't say it's "trendy" because dorkdom is eternal, and is genetically encoded into most of us, but it's definitely appreciated a lot more now as our society is effectively, being run by dorks now. We're starting to get a grasp on how ridiculously overrated "cool" is.

    I mean, think about it. Our president was a CHEERLEADER. Dork. The last president played in a Marching Band. Dweeb. Casey Kasem, Howard Stern? DORKS. Bill Gates owns the goddamn WORLD essentially. We're all toting around various form of electronic device that we HAVE to become geeks to even work properly--and people are realizing that superficial, sneering "cool" is mostly cliche, passe, and outdated. Sure, the cool kids are trying to adapt, infecting the dorks with a need to create geek heirarchy, replacing leather jackets and cigarettes with a thrift store fashion sense and a faux jaded, world weary sneer that matches their 30 dollar pre-weathered "Vintage" tee, but even that's not really catching.

    But yet, people still cling as hard as they can to the idea that THEY'RE cool, and it's the other people that are dorks. That's retarded. We're all dorks. Geeks. Dweebs. Stop deluding yourself, and just give into it. You'll be happier that way. Trust me. Sure, you might wind up at some highly dorky convention or something at some point (just like magazines, there's a convention for EVERYTHING now) and you'll be reminded that some of your fellow geeks were born missing the "self-aware" switch that stops them from stumbling into every awkward situation they entangle themselves in, but I'd prefer that to the mind-numbing playacting that so many hipsters and condescending douchebags relegate themselves to in the fear they'll be considered anything less than "cool." I'd rather be an authentic geek telling doofy jokes on the radio than be a walking stereotype wrapped in a ready-made identity, and blister packaged and bar-coded for convienience.

    Nice Carryover with a Prediction...

    Yes, DMTC's first carryover, only 3 days into the season ($111+K)
    My prediction (hope) is that no one hits it today and it will "carry over" into tomorrow.

    Here is drf.com's take:

  • DMTC Carryover $111,414
  • Thursday, July 21, 2005

    Paradise!!

    Pick the Degenerate...




    I thought we could play a quick game called pick the degenerate....

    What was yesterday?

    Not such a great start for me with the DMTC meet yesterday.

    Both of my picks flopped as one was a long shot and one was the favorite. Oh well...

    Moving on...

    Today I like one selection and that is the #8 in the 7th race.

    Going across the board on this long shot. I love the lat time out win whilst the 3rd place finisher went on to a victory. Plus she is the only entry in the race to have a practice run over the new DMTC course.

    Good luck, and I'll be back with some more stories after I clean my office here at work!!

    Wednesday, July 20, 2005

    Opening Day..

    For those of you waiting for hump day, well it’s here.

    And for those of you waiting for the start of summer horse racing (read: Saratoga/Del Mar) you are pretty much there.

    Del Mar kicks off today, while Saratoga opens up next Wednesday. Being a native East Coaster, this time of year usually means preparing for 6 weeks of Saratoga. Since my permanent move west, however, I will be making my inaugural “Del Mar Delving” starting today.


    And by the way, today the high temp. in Las Vegas is looking like 117, at Del Mar, the high was projected to be a comfortable 80 (with some clouds). Have you ever been in 117 degree heat? I have not, but would like to experience it for about 4 seconds. That would be plenty for me, thanks.

    In today’s form, Brad Free makes some spot plays
  • Free’s Opening Day Picks

  • I offer you my spot plays for today’s opening card:

    4th Race: The 4 horse Perfect Mode has the highest last time out Beyer, while the 9, Dealers Choice is just one point behind (93-92) I can’t see the 9 hole fairing that well in a two turn mile race on the new turf course, so I’ll stay away from the morning line favorite (Dealers Choice). I love the 7 and the 8 also, but the 7 Fancy Foxtrot has more attractive times to me and is 3rd off the layoff looking to improve. Thusly, I like the 7 to win and hook him up in exacta boxes with the 4, 8, and 9.

    6th Race: Morning line favorite Eastern Sand looks tough to me in the first leg of the Oceanside (1Mile Turf). I like Eastern Sand and will box him in an exacta with the 7 (Avanti Avanti)

    My two personal favorites from today based on NAME ONLY:

    Runner up: LEO GETZ (#5 in the 6th race) What a fantastic name. If you don’t get it, then you better ax someone.

    Best Name of the Day: Yes, I can be a snob, (and even called elitist once or twice)but when I hear the name NO TORO (#6 in the 5th race) I have to laugh out loud. For anyone who loves (or even just likes) sushi, it seems every time you try and ask for the “fatty tuna” you get the same response from the Japanese waiter/waitress: “No Toro”.

    Classic.

    Tuesday, July 19, 2005

    If you're bored at work...

    Here's something that will make you laugh (def. worksafe!!)

    Since I am swamped and can't do much horse writing (and still steaming at the NTRA fiasco) I thought I'd post this for you...

  • Work Safe Entertainment


  • (def. need sound. It is not nearly as good without sound)

    Monday, July 18, 2005

    Too Good to be True....


    If you can tell me who these two are, then you are special....

    I know I shouldn't, but I will anyway cuz' it's good...

    So this is now a few days late (it has been circulating the net, so maybe you've seen it already) and I realize it is partisan, and has nothing to do with horses, but I just love it and I wanted to share (in case you haven't read it yet). Hopefully you will enjoy....

    I know you're a blue stater in a red state (some of you). Thought this is
    not only clever but true.

    From the new country of New California...
    . . .

    We're ticked off at the way you've treated California, and we've decided
    we're leaving.

    We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other BLUE STATES
    with us.

    In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington,
    Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast.

    We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to
    the people of the new country of New California.

    To sum up briefly:

    WE get stem cell research and the best beaches.
    YOU get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.

    WE get Elliot Spitzer.

    YOU get Ken Lay.

    WE get the Statue of Liberty.
    YOU get OpryLand.

    WE get Intel and Microsoft.

    YOU get WorldCom.

    WE get Harvard.
    YOU get Ole' Miss.

    WE get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.
    YOU get Alabama.


    WE get two-thirds of the tax revenue.

    YOU get to make the Red States pay their 'fair share.'

    Since OUR aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian
    Coalition's, WE get a bunch of happy families.
    YOU get a bunch of single moms.

    Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war,
    and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once.

    If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're
    apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't
    care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home.

    We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up ... but
    we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

    With the BLUE STATES in hand, WE will have firm control of 80 percent
    of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and
    lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's
    quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners), 90 percent
    of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S.
    low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy
    League
    and Seven Sister schools, plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

    With the RED STATES, on the other hand, YOU will have to cope with 88
    percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs),
    92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes,
    90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists,
    virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones
    University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

    WE get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

    Additionally, of those in the RED STATES:
    - 38 percent believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale
    - 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death
    penalty or gun laws
    - 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory
    - 53 percent believe that Saddam was involved in 9/11.
    - 61 percent of you RED STATE folks apparently believe you are people with
    higher morals than we "liberals."

    By the way, WE'RE taking most of the good pot, too.
    You can have that 'dirt weed' they grow in Mexico...

    Sincerely,
    Author Unknown in New California.

    Is it Monday Already?

    Oy!! What a weekend. I almost melted as temps. rose above 90 for the first time in months. I was beginning to think we would never see sun again here in the lovely, picturesque (I love that word) Pacific NW.

    It was so hot, I was unable to catch most of the equine action this weekend, but I will let you know that I participated in the NTRA's national Claiming Crown Handicapping Championship at Canterbury.

    I didn't do too badly. Based on one pick per race, $2 Win/Place, I had 4 winners and two places. Not too bad, especially considering I touted all at once which is never that successful, especially in a tournament setting.

    My major issues with shi deal is that the NTRA had a site up and were doing a great job of updating standings every race. That is until about the 3rd or so race when the leader board went blank (as it it still is today).

    WHO WON GUYS? WHERE THE HECK DID I FINISH? Did I enter just for fun? I don't think so.

    This is where the NTRA and other "older school" horse entities fail to capitalize on promotions/marketing. Here they go with an awesome idea of a free handicapping contest (I mean really, the Claiming Crown is pretty cool, but how excited does one get over 150K claiming races? Well I was pretty darn excited when it was promoted as a free tournament with a seat at the national finals on the line.

    Then they go and screw it up by not keeping up the momentum of a great idea.

    It is truly annoying (for lack of a better term) and completely unnecessary. Just another example of poor management and marketing showing a lack of internet savvy and project completion. Did I miss something? If you have any information on this, please let me know!!

    On a slightly different note....

    With the passing of the weekend, the $7.5 mil. WSOP finally ended and after 13+ hours at the final table 39 yr. old, father of 4, former chiropractor Joe Hachem outlast over 5100 other poker players to win the largest payoff from the largest filed of competitors ever. The saddest part of this for me is that Paul at taopoker.blogspot will no longer be filling my days with visions of crystal meth neighbors (never fun, but often time funny), hookers, free drinks, and poker shenanigans (oh yeah, he also provided runny commentary throughout the 6-week WSOP extravaganza)

    Big-ups to Pauly for keeping us all informed. My work last week was severely limited to do constantly refreshing my browser looking for updates. If you want to check out Pauly's site here you go:


  • Tao of Poker


  • I shall return later as my blood starts to get flowing a bit...

    Friday, July 15, 2005

    Been a Few Days. I know This...

    Around the horse-blog-o-sphere, my compatriots have been well documenting everything that is going on.

    Jessica at Railbird notes only 12 days to go until Saratoga (Del Mar only has 6 days until opening)

    Alan at Left at the Gate keeps us informed on the short fields and low-priced winner sat Belmont and reminds us how pleasant and refreshing a trip to Monmouth Park can be (if you haven't been, you MUST go!)

    So I will let all of you know about something cool in terms of Handicapping Tourneys... The NTRA is sponsoring a free, on-line handicapping tournament Saturday, based around the Claiming Crown Day at Canterbury. It is free, and all you have to do is sign up here
  • Claiming Crown Handicapping Challenge


  • And of course, I am sure everyone is well aware of the travesty taking place with injured jockey Shannon Cambell and how she is getting royally screwed by the sport that we all love. Here is the latest from drf.com:
  • Paralyzed rider's coverage: $50K


  • In other non-horse, betting news, the WSOP is down to its final table. If you don't want to know who is left....
  • Don't Click Here
  • Tuesday, July 12, 2005

    Busy Day...

    If you look below you'll see a few recent posts which are basically some stories I've come across that I thought you might want to read. I am extremely busy with work this week, and today is a short day for me, so I just thought I would post some good stuff to read.

    The "Fearsome Fivesome" of horse bloggers (Railbird, Left at the Gate, Pulling Hair/Betting Horses, Athlone, and myself) is serving as the base to what will become a large on-line community bridging the gap between old and young; past, present, and future horseplayers. We are basically the answer to Mr. Crist's current column (see below).

    For those of you interested in the WSOP (if you don't want to know who's been eleminated STOP READNIG NOW!!) below is the list of chip leaders as of this morning:(thanks to Taopoker.blogspot.com)

    Top 10
    1 Greg "Fossilman"Raymer $ 1,064,000
    2 Rodney Pardey Jr. $ 1,041,000
    3 Brad Kondracki $ 962,500
    4 Johnny Howard $ 910,500
    5 Bob Larsen $ 796,500
    6 Tim Phan $ 746,000
    7 Phil Ivey $ 722,500
    8 Steve Marx $ 679,500
    9 S Bartholomew $ 659,000
    10 Gabe Wells $ 655,500

    11 Bryan Stelbuger $ 648,500
    12 Oskar Silow $ 638,000
    13 Bob Hotchandani $ 627,500
    14 Raymi Sanchez Thorn $ 595,500
    15 Manelic Minaya $ 594,500
    16 Tex Barch $ 590,000
    17 Jon Lane $ 585,000
    18 James Ocson $ 583,000
    19 David Bergsdorf $ 579,500
    20 Tom Sartori $ 574,500

    21 James Pollack $ 557,500
    22 Karlo Lopez $ 556,500
    23 Terry Burt $ 550,500
    24 Joe Berry $ 542,500
    25 James Butt $ 542,500
    26 Minh Ly $ 530,250
    27 Casper Christensen $ 525,500
    28 Thomas A Roupe $ 525,000
    29 Gregory Rice $ 523,000
    30 Aaron Kanter $ 503,500

    31 Howard Lederer $ 496,500
    32 Matt Fitzpatrick $ 490,500
    33 Randal Brooks $ 490,000
    34 Jon Kalmar $ 469,500
    35 Hung La $ 467,000
    36 Nick Gibson $ 466,000
    37 Nani Awad $ 460,500
    38 Hunter Pappas $ 455,500
    39 Mike Matusow $ 454,000
    40 Sean Daulat $ 452,500

    41 John McGrane $ 452,500
    42 Nani Dollison $ 448,500
    43 Tiffany Williamson $ 441,000
    44 Mark Forrester $ 440,000
    45 Yomtov Shabot $ 427,000
    46 Samir Shakhtoor $ 414,000
    47 Russell Salzer $ 412,500
    48 Chris Short $ 411,500
    49 Can Kim Hua $ 404,000
    50 Krystal Nelson $ 395,000

    51 Espen Saltnes $ 388,000
    52 Marcello Del Grosso $ 386,500
    53 Kevin Kim $ 384,500
    54 George Kelly Dickson $ 377,000
    55 Scott Numoto $ 376,500
    56 Larry Prugh $ 372,500
    57 Carmen Menechella $ 370,000
    58 Russ Hamilton $ 365,000
    59 John Juanda $ 354,000
    60 Jose M Rodriguez $ 352,500

    61 Nick Camarts $ 348,500
    62 Ron Ware $ 345,000
    63 David Plastik $ 342,500
    64 Franklin Caldwell $ 339,000
    65 Alex Morales $ 337,500
    66 Sarah Bilney $ 332,500
    67 Bobby Law $ 325,500
    68 Jarl Lindholt Joergensen $ 320,500
    69 Yakov Hirsch $ 316,500
    70 Tuan Vu $ 316,500

    71 Chris Drozdowski $ 315,000
    72 Tom Shaneberger $ 309,000
    73 Michael Kessler $ 297,500
    74 Roland Israelashvizi $ 289,000
    75 Kenna James $ 287,500
    76 Michael Cribb $ 282,500
    77 Rafael $ 282,000
    78 Daniel Shak $ 280,500
    79 Jason Lester $ 280,000
    80 Jason Kaplan $ 274,500

    81 Bing Wang $ 272,500
    82 Gen Watamabe $ 271,000
    83 David Richardson $ 269,500
    84 Terry Myers $ 269,000
    85 Bjorn Lindenberg $ 265,500
    86 Tony Pirone $ 265,500
    87 Patrick Madden $ 265,000
    88 Paul Vicary $ 265,000
    89 Scott Lazar $ 264,500
    90 Niklas Flisberg $ 260,000

    91 Robert Turner $ 260,000
    92 Darryl Tennefos $ 259,500
    93 JC Tran $ 259,500
    94 Andrew Black $ 257,000
    95 Bryant King $ 253,500
    96 Kevin McCarthy $ 251,000
    97 Joe Stillman $ 249,500
    98 Joe Simmons $ 245,000
    99 Shahram Sheikhan $ 243,000
    100 Paul Mannetta $ 240,000

    101 Tony Abesamis $ 237,500
    102 Francis W O'Brien $ 234,000
    103 Patrick Hayden $ 233,000
    104 Joseph Hachem $ 231,000
    105 Erick Richardson $ 227,000
    106 Josh Prager $ 225,000
    107 Mark Cole $ 224,500
    108 Joe Connor $ 224,000
    109 Mitchell Klein $ 219,500
    110 Daniel Alaei $ 219,000

    111 Alan Singer $ 217,000
    112 Jack Ward $ 207,500
    113 Webber Kang $ 206,300
    114 Kevin Wright $ 202,000
    115 Richard Lapwood $ 202,000
    116 Richard Kirsch $ 200,500
    117 Conor Tate $ 200,000
    118 Dennis Savelkoul $ 197,500
    119 Anthony Laughing, Jr $ 192,500
    120 Kelly Zoudo $ 192,500

    121 Dmitriy Eidelman $ 189,500
    122 David Steirman $ 181,500
    123 Lee Watkinson $ 181,000
    124 Joe Toth $ 180,500
    125 Stephen Deetz $ 180,000
    126 Derek Dix $ 178,500
    127 Joseph Chiosie $ 178,000
    128 Anthony Hill $ 173,000
    129 Joe Beevers $ 173,000
    130 Louie Calvo $ 170,500

    131 Vadim Shlez $ 170,500
    132 Louis Lo $ 169,500
    133 Michaey Leahy $ 169,000
    134 Adam Friedman $ 166,000
    135 Dietrich Alex $ 159,500
    136 Cliff Cantor $ 159,000
    137 Radu Butan $ 158,500
    138 Mark Graves $ 154,000
    139 Mike May $ 153,500
    140 Kit Phaphon $ 150,500

    141 Jake Minter $ 146,500
    142 Glyn Banks $ 144,500
    143 Bernard Lee $ 143,000
    144 Peter Hedlund $ 141,500
    145 Mehrdad Yousefzadeh $ 136,500
    146 Kevin O'Brien $ 136,500
    147 Tom Koral $ 132,000
    148 Steven Dannenmann, CPA $ 131,000
    149 Per Hildebrand $ 131,000
    150 Farzad Bonyadi $ 129,500

    151 Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf $ 127,000
    152 Tom Pniak $ 126,500
    153 Alejandro Pachero $ 126,500
    154 Chris Podlewski $ 126,000
    155 Babak Rozi $ 123,000
    156 Kevin Kaikko $ 122,000
    157 Mark Tenner $ 112,000
    158 Paul Fisher $ 110,000
    159 Ayhan Alsancak $ 109,500
    160 Mark Bryan $ 109,000

    161 Amit Sander $ 109,000
    162 Michael P Mollay $ 104,500
    163 Kjetil Praesttun $ 102,000
    164 Tom Clark $ 94,500
    165 Dutch Boyd $ 92,000
    166 Joe Leibman $ 88,000
    167 Sean Blanton $ 87,000
    168 Adam Brosius $ 86,500
    169 John R $ 85,500
    170 Joseph Vannata $ 84,500

    171 Matt Fitzgerald $ 81,500
    172 Michael Capener $ 80,000
    173 George Thomas Huber $ 73,000
    174 Doug Gehring $ 73,000
    175 Martin Cedercrantz $ 71,500
    176 Frank Hernandez $ 67,000
    177 Jon Hoellein $ 63,500
    178 Mike Wattel $ 62,500
    179 Paul L Darden, Jr. $ 60,000
    180 Jeffrey Geiger $ 48,000

    181 Tom Drotleff $ 41,500
    182 Brett Wiesner $ 36,000
    183 Ed Pellegrini $ 23,500
    184 John McLaughlin $ 16,500
    185 Imad Samouna $ 7,400

    Monday, July 11, 2005

    This is an Awesome Idea...

    That will no doubt thrive:

  • McCarron to Open Jockey School
  • Updated Standings

    Patirck at Handride has sent out this weeks updated HOY Standings. Check em' out below...

    Ahhhhh Back....

    All righty…I’m back!!

    What a great week. Spent 3days in lovely Lake Tahoe, came back for a ¾ day at work Friday, and headed out with about a dozen friend to Mt. Hood National Forest for some high-quality, top-notch camping.

    Excellent car camping as we feasted like gluttonous Kings on short ribs, hot dogs, biscuits and gravy, beer, wine, etc. Props to Rev. Bill Stolti (no not really a Rev., but the name works) for putting the whole trip together.

    As for “business”, the trip to Tahoe was excellent. I got to spend some time touting the horses (all day Wednesday) and spent quality hours at the poker table at the Horizon (see below). Caught two blistering nights of Widespread Panic at Caesars, only spent 15 minutes with my head in the toilet!! (I know TMI, but deal with it!).

    Basically, South Lake Tahoe is a mini-mini Las Vegas. Reno is a mini-dirtier Vegas. S. Lake Tahoe is smaller than Reno, but waaay nicer and consists mainly of 4 Hotel/Casinos. I ventured around for a little taste of each and sample each’s offerings:

    Caesars: I’ll start there b/c that’s where I stayed. Solid Casino, with two late night clubs providing music, and a pretty good bar within the confines of the casino. Sports book here is way less than avg. The “concert venue” within Caesars is just awesome. Being able to access your room and anywhere else you wanted to go freely throughout the two nights of shows, is difficult to replicate almost anywhere. Overall nice job, except for the less than inspiring sports book…

    Speaking of sports books….I found myself absolutely LOVING the sports book at across the street and up one “lot” at Harvey’s. B/c this was the Wed. following a holiday Monday, many tracks were dark which prob. Worked to my advantage. With only 3 (to start, a 4th track, Pleasanton went off later in the day) tracks running (Monmouth, Philly, and Delaware) I could concentrate on races from all of those tracks and pick and choose as I saw fit. With 5 GIANT screen TV’s showing all of the action, the middle screen airs a stationary view of Lake Tahoe from the top of Harvey’s while occasionally a caption runs a cross the bottom of the screen reminding you: “View from the Top of Harvey’s”. Tellers were both friendly and helpful. Major props to Harvey’s on their sports book.

    Need to get back to work now. More reviews and notes later. Haven’t received this weeks updated standings from Patrick, but will certainly post em’ when I get em’.

    Friday, July 01, 2005

    So Long, Farewell....

    Not forever though!!

    Of course we have the 3 day weekend, and I will be extending that to take a few days off to venture down to Lake Tahoe for some music and gambling. Will be hitting the sports book for all kinds of action (Do I really FINALLY get to bet Monmouth Park?)

    Will be checking out 2 nights of Widespread Panic at Caesars and as I ALWAYS do (YES, THIS IS A RULE!) the first Roulette table I see upon entering Caesars, I will lay down some coin on 2 & 14. That will set the tone for the entire "weekend"...

    Until then, I leave you all in good hands with our friends at Railbird (she'll be returning from vacation), Oregon Racing, Left at the Gate, Katrina, and Patrick keeping you up to date on anything and everything horses.

    Have a great 4th everyone!!