Tuesday, January 09, 2007

I love the new BC setup....

-I think it's a great little twist to an already amazing day. I def. see parallels to the Oaks/Derby thing that Churchill has in place. More, quality racing on a national stage can only be good for the game. Let's continue to move away from some of the older traditions and thought processes that only seem to hamper the sports progression forward.

-I finally got back out to live racing today and man does/did it feel good. Once again, thanks to Patrick for taking the time to show me some sites and sounds that I've never seen or heard before at the ol' Portland Meadows It was also great to finally meet this guy and check out his view for the race meet just off of I-5 here in Portland.

-Although I didn't cash any winners, I did have the winner in this race in the opening leg of a pick-3 that I ended up missing by about 2 lengths in the final race. It would have paid about $100 which would have certainly put me up on the day. Congrats to the breeders of the winner in the 4th, Cascade Express. I know the Loudon's check in often over at this site, and we all know Jolene who keeps us up to date over here.

-Another perk (or curse, depending on your point of view) of attending my first live races in some time, was being able to get re-jazzed to get back to blogging. It really is amazing how certain interaction and life events can really inspire. I've been stuck away from greater society for some time (don't ask!) and it is so great to feel refreshed about being active and live on this blog.

-Tomorrow caps off an amazing six-day AvgHorsePlayer run that included birthday dinners, birthday drinks, a trip to Seattle for an EPIC playoff game against the much hated Dallas Cowboys, a night to recover (8 pm to bed last night ;-) ) and finally, I get to see my favorite band play once again. I m so pumped for Tuesday evening at the Crystal Ballroom!!

I'm glad to be back. It feels great to be contributing once again. I think a semi-hiatus like this is always a positive thing once you get through it....

2 comments:

photogchic said...

Hi Ruben, I am glad to hear you love the sport. I was out at Portland Meadows the week b4 x-mas and won $156 on a $1 exacta box. I am pretty wimpy on my bets. I have a hard time with the TBs...Quarter horses are much easier for me.
Yo Magna Corp...polytrack in 2007!

OCTAVE-the-RAVE said...

You said you LOVE the new BC races, but you didn't tell us why you love them? I would love to hear your insights, since almost everyone I know in racing thinks they're MORONIC. Here are just a few reasons. A 6F Turf Sprint was such a no-brainer that its omission speaks volumes to the extent management has lost touch with its player base. A F&M Sprint is mind-bogglingly stupid, since this is the one BC race where fillies have held their own in the past. But to make the distance 7F is truly inexplicable, and seemingly a screaming admission that the BC Sprint @ 6F was a mistake from the beginning, as most of us have been saying for years. The 2YO Turf race will draw no more Euros than the 2YO dirt races have for the past 10 years, which is to say none. All it will do is dilute the existing BC Juvy fields, also making it an ill-conceived event. And finally, the Mile Dirt race is a knee-jerk reaction to Discreet Cat, and serves no functional purpose re the Eclipse Awards, which the Cup originally was designed to do. But you LOVE them!!!! Help me out here, big guy. Tell me what I'm missing. Tell me what's to love about these races ... what functional purpose they serve ... and how they help to foster and enhance the BC as racing's premiere event.