Madison’s Moment

I rarely have the opportunity at work to follow what’s going on at the track; I can occasionally check results, but checking odds on upcoming races or making an electronic bet are rare opportunities, and yesterday was no exception.

Thus the exuberant e-mail from Ernie, entitled, “Madison at Monster Mutuel!! Kitty Nip…”, with the text reading simply, in 54 point type, “40 – 1!!!!” was my first indication that for the second time in eight months, one of my cats had caught a bomb.

Those who follow such things know that Madison’s had a rough time of it lately; her luck turned a bit with the fortunate non-DQ of Catty Madeline on Sunday, but the Belmont spring/summer meet hasn’t been much of a winning proposition for her. Plus, on Tuesday, she got locked in a closet for an indeterminate amount of time before her distressed yowling got my attention.

So perhaps the racing gods took pity on this feline and decided that she was due for a big score; how else to explain how a horse who’s gone 1 for 18 wins by “[swinging] five wide to launch her bid at the quarter pole, [making] a run to challenge in midstretch and [edging] clear under pressure in the late stages” to win by a length?

That first e-mail by Ernie was followed by a second, containing this image,

Photo credit to Gary Friedman

and then by a slew of others, all congratulating my cat on her win. (Honesty compels me to note that she was named for Madison Square Garden, not Madison Avenue.)

As was the case with Floyd’s 30 – 1 shot Lava Man Cat in November, I didn’t have a dime on Kitty Nip today.

And I maybe should apologize to Sherry Ross, whose comments about hockey and horse racing were overshadowed by this fifth race development.

Unfortunately (or not?), Cat Scratch pick profits don’t carry over from meet to meet, much like Pick 6 pools, so come Sunday, July 20th, Madison’s fictional winnings will disappear. Until then, Madison once again gets pride of place to the left, and above, and we all turn to Thurday’s entries…one can’t rest on one’s laurels, can one?

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