One ukulele, one pile of past performances, no shame. I may be standing tall against Justify in the Derby tomorrow, but that doesn't mean I couldn't write a song about him.
The Coach’s Sporting Chance
One ukulele, one pile of past performances, no shame. I was playing around with my shiny new baritone uke last night, and my mind wandered off to tomorrow's Rebel Stakes, and this happened:
a bizarre experiment in handicapping and memory
CLOSED BOOK EXAM. Usually, handicapping is the opposite. It's a game of information, and we have so much at our fingertips: past performances, race replays, the analysis of handicappers we know and trust. It's as open-book as it gets, thanks in such a huge part to the Internet. But, I decided to try a little... Continue Reading →
racehorse or emo band?
If you haven't been listening to BARN these last few months, you're missing out. Hosted by Jason Beem, the show is informative, entertaining, and a lot of fun for any fan of racing. And, I'm a guest on today's show! I do not talk about this much on here because it does not pertain to... Continue Reading →
Curlin baby names…from an alternate universe
On Twitter tonight, Carly Kaiser (of Horses, History, Humor) posted a fantastic flurry of rejected and changed horse names, and several others got in on the action. This set up the question -- what sorts of interesting name changes have Curlin's progeny had? It turns out, Palace Malice was not the only name submitted for... Continue Reading →
go Keen Ice!
Earlier this month, Romans Racing did a Keen Ice selfie contest. The rules were pretty simple: print out one of the #GoKeenIce signs, post selfies with the sign, and share them on social media with the hashtag. This was, of course, right up my alley. Keen Ice is not only a Curlin baby, but became... Continue Reading →
since you asked: Skylarbdancing photos!
Someone found Blinkers Off a few days ago by googling "skylarbdancing photo". I apologise -- I did not have any here yet, and I hope you found some already if it was urgent. However, since Skylarbdancing (Sky Mesa - Two Hearts, by Deputy Minister) raced in today's Arlington 1st. I got a few pictures of... Continue Reading →
a Classic verse
With all apologies to the Haiku Handicapper, this year's Breeders' Cup Classic was sufficiently dramatic to require a Sonnet Recapper. As the Sonnet Recapper does not actually exist, Blinkers Off makes its attempt. the gates flew open, Bayern flew inside momentum's law impacted the stampede through Shared Belief, Moreno then denied the only chance presented... Continue Reading →
out of Bella Bliss…
One of the reasons I got into horse racing was because I am such a trivia nerd. I have always loved Jeopardy!, Trivial Pursuit, pub quizzes: anything that involves having fun and putting knowledge of obscure facts to good use. This afternoon, I had a very clear reminder of why being a trivia nerd and... Continue Reading →
gone Scavving.
Blinkers Off will be a little quieter than usual for the next few days. The University of Chicago Scav Hunt is this weekend. As a result of this world's longest and most frenetic scavenger hunt, I will be away from the racetrack for the first weekend since the Hawthorne spring meet opened in February. It... Continue Reading →
the perfect Derby cocktail?
Today on Twitter, an article about cocktails named after horses on the Derby trail this year went a little viral. As delicious as most of these sound (and, specifically, the Hoppertunity!), they missed my favourite horse who has earned his way into the starting gate: Ride On Curlin. As for the base liquor, bourbon is... Continue Reading →
