Entering the Past the Grandstand blog contest two years ago was one of the major catalysts that led to me starting Blinkers Off two years ago.  I wrote a piece comprising a few vignettes from the fall 2013 meet at Hawthorne, and had so much fun writing it that it galvanized the idea that I needed to write about racing more often.  That piece took fifth place in the contest, too.

Mary Cage did another blog contest this year at Past the Grandstand, and I entered.  This year, my entry focused on an Illinois-bred who I have grown to love over the last few years: Eight Gauge.

I found out today that it won runner-up!

Thank you, Mary, for both hosting the contest and publishing my piece.  It was so much fun to write about such a hard trier, and I’m glad you enjoyed it!

And, to all of you, I hope you enjoy getting to know Eight Gauge a bit, as well.