Diva Day! Poor NYRA—on the morning of their last Women in Racing event, at Aqueduct in December, a couple of inches of sleety, wet snow fell; as a result, the event was sparsely attended. Yesterday, it was nearly 100 degrees and there was a fire. Is God trying to tell us that women shouldn’t be involved in racing? What’s next, locusts at Saratoga on Women’s Day?

Host Joanne Jones of HRTV handled a difficult situation with much aplomb (and even sangfroid, had it not been so blasted hot), and the folks at NYRA somehow kept their cool in sweat-inducing indoor temperatures. Owner/breeder Elisabeth Jerkens and trainer Linda Rice spoke at length about their experiences in the business; little of the conversation focused specifically on being a woman, though topics did range in that direction at times. Apparently, it’s a lot easier to be a female breeder (no reproduction jokes, please) than a female trainer.

The food was great and plentiful, and we were given access to the paddock on multiple occasions, as well as a trip to the winner’s circle following the fifth race, won by Akin. Yours truly missed it; reasons to follow. Rumor has it that our $50 program fee would be refunded, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

In race 2 was entered the one-eyed Middleburg, VA horse, Above All Odds, third in his first start earlier this month. In that race, he stayed at the back of the pack and made a green, wild, late run; yesterday, he stalked from fourth, made a move in the stretch, and finished third again. He does seem to have learned from his first start and raced with much more focus; on the outside last time, he went up the rail on Saturday and was beaten a length for second. Given that he’s missing his right eye, I wonder if he’d have held off Afrikaner if he’d known that a horse was coming to his outside.

Unchanged from his last start was his state of arousal in the paddock. Sigh.

Seeking cool air and a breeze, Railbird and I headed outside and wandered to the Jerkens barn to see Above All Odds following the race. The Chief was present and as ever a gracious host; sitting and chatting for a while, he then got up and escorted us down the shedrow, introducing us to each and every horse: that one was third a few weeks ago; this one doesn’t like to race; this two-year-old is a promising Grand Slam. We fed lots of carrots and mints, and as I was walking the shedrow, I got a phone message:

“I hope I’m not spoiling it for you…I can’t believe how good the old boy was at Philly Park, and that’s all I’m saying.”

Umm…what????

Yep, Evening Attire won his first race outside of New York State, at age ten, and earned a spot in the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Santa Anita. (Question: was this race at one time called the Dirt Marathon? And was it changed when it was determined that for the next two years it’s going to be run on a surface that has no dirt in it?) Whether it is advisable or not to ship the grey guy across the country to race on a surface utterly foreign to him, most fans of the game have got to be happy that he’s got a chance to go there and compete. Though I missed the race live, the cheers from the crowd are evident on the replay. Oh, yes, and he won by eight lengths and set a track record, inspiration for geriatrics everywhere…

Thence back to the paddock for the saddling of the Coaching Club American Oaks contenders, and upstairs to watch Music Note absolutely dominate a short field. She’s got two legs of the Triple Tiara, and if she were running in 2003, 2004 or 2005, she’d be an odds-on favorite to lock up the feminine headwear with a win in the Alabama. But it’s 2008, and she’s going to have to settle for two out of three. See Railbird for more on this impressive filly.

It’s getaway day in Brooklyn, and off go Madison, Floyd, and I up the Taconic for a month’s Saratoga sojourn. They look forward to the chipmunks in our backyard, I to other four-legged pursuits across town. See you at the Spa…

Or so it seemed to me, as I watched the connections of Above All Odds exult when he crossed the wire a nose in front of Crafty CJ, six lengths behind the winner.

The people around us (all twelve of them, at Belmont on a Wednesday afternoon) thought the fans of Above All Odds were celebrating a win; I’m not sure that they disabused anyone of that notion, so intent were they on celebrating their colt’s game run to the wire.

And really—how could anyone be disappointed in his performance? This three-year-old colt was kicked in the face by his dam as a foal, resulting in the loss of his eye, and his first few months up at the big track were not exactly inspiring; he turned in a series of slow works, and he didn’t seem all that interested in beating other horses in the morning.

Within the last week, trainer Allen Jerkens decided to put Jorge Chavez, one of his regular jocks, on Above All Odds in the morning…and on Monday he went three furlongs in: 36.42, by far his most promising work.

I got to Belmont just as the horses were coming into the paddock for the fifth race, and Above All Odds, who can have a hard time adjusting to new situations because he can’t see them, was spirited in the paddock, on his toes, though he didn’t seem nervous. Jan Rushton talked at length about him and his injury, ending her commentary by hoping “that he’s got his mind on racing.”

That’s because Above All Odds went beyond spirited to excited. Really excited. So excited, in fact, that a few turns around the paddock and a strategically aimed bucket of water did nothing to, um, diminish his excitement. I’ve never seen a horse in quite that state, for that period of time, in the paddock, and our guy was definitely the talk of the paddock crowd. No, I won’t repeat the comments, and yes, I have pictures, but hey, this is a PG site.

By the time he got the track he had calmed down, and he seemed pretty relaxed coming out of the gate—again, a good sign, because he drew post 1 and couldn’t see anything to the right of him. He hung at the back of the pack, at least ten lengths off the lead, and in a five and a half furlong race, it was hard to be hopeful as they came around the turn. I got a little nervous watching Chavez (yes, I know “Chop Chop”) go to the stick as they entered the stretch. Oh, no—is he done?

But he wasn’t. He wanted to run in the stretch—and let me tell you, his stretch run makes Afleet Alex’s in the Hopeful look like a direct route. He was on the rail midway down the stretch, then came out seven wide, then ducked back in, but when he finally got settled again, he was still running, and running hard, charging up to get third and galloping out well after the wire. Because the favorite ran out, he paid $11.60 to show, so many of our number made some money.

Following the race, we went back to the barn, where The Chief was waiting, pleasantly surprised at the horse’s willingness to run. Comfortably ensconced back in his stall, Above All Odds ate well and enjoyed the company of admirers; while they paid tribute to him, I got to visit with the Duchess of Rokeby and the Chief, who offered me a beer as he told me stories about racing history and his opinion on the state of the game, and shared with me titles of some of his favorite books on racing. It was late afternoon; the roosters and hens were running around the exposed interior part of the Jerkens barn, the horses were eating, and the sun was lazily golden in the quiet of the backstretch. I told Allen that I loved Society Selection, and his face lit up, talking about her win in the 2004 Alabama; later at dinner, he and his wife regaled us with stories about Sky Beauty, who in 1993 won the Triple Tiara (then the Acorn, Mother Goose, and Coaching Club American Oaks) and the Alabama.

It was easy to be a racing romantic yesterday; the underdog horse ran well, the venerable trainer told stories, at least one new race fan was born. In the news today, we’ll read about lawsuits and medication positives and closing racetracks and possible sabotage. It was nice to spend an afternoon in the pure pleasure of the racetrack, to leave cynicism aside for a while, and to be around people who have been in the game for a long time and who really love it. It’s been easy lately to be disheartened by racing, but fortunately, a day at the track with people who know and love their horses, who of course see racing as an investment but also as a labor of love, is generally enough to bring me back. And yesterday was one of those days.

I sent a blind e-mail (meaning: I didn’t know the recipient and was taking a guess that my query was directed to the right person) regarding the Triple Tiara confusion, and within twenty-four hours, I received a gracious reply confirming that the current series is the Mother Goose, the CCA Oaks, and the Alabama. The person who answered my e-mail cheerfully volunteered to look into why the program on Saturday said otherwise. This is unlike my experience with WNYC, at least one National Public Radio program, and an upstate racing history entity, to whom I sent querying e-mails without ever getting a response. So, thanks, NYRA.

If you haven’t already, check out fellow TBA blogger Frank at That’s Amore Stable, who with his most recent post confirms what I had begun to suspect, that we are in fact separated at birth siblings, with his post on hockey playoff beards, a losing streak at the track, and Catholic saints.

Last October I wrote about my night-time visit to the Middleburg Training Center, noting the presence of a friendly and spirited one-eyed two-year-old chesnut colt. Now three, Above All Odds came north late in the winter and has been coming along under the care of Allen Jerkens, and he makes his first start on Wednesday. Here’s hoping for a safe and successful trip.

In the run to the Belmont, there was discussion of whether a Big Brown Triple Crown would be good or bad for the game. Based on what I see on my TV each morning, it seems that Triple Crown or no, Big Brown and his team have certainly raised the profile of racing. Most mornings, there’s some sort of racing update on the ESPN crawl—usually it has to do with Big Brown, but yesterday and the day before it noted Mast Track’s win in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

This morning, we’re back to Big Brown, with a story about the horse being listed on the “rundown” on the right side of the SportsCenter screen, and with Michael Iavarone being quoted on the crawl as saying that his patience with Richard Dutrow is “wearing thin” and that Dutrow is “on a short leash.” (Aside: Am I the only one who thinks that Iavarone is getting a little carried away with himself? This, after a Grade I win with a 40 – 1 shot three days ago?) So whether it’s good news or bad, Big Brown’s career has kept racing in the news, and I suppose that’s a good thing.

And finally, in a piece of disturbing, non-racing news: I stopped by a small local market to pick up milk, and on the only brand the store sold I noted the following: