ho hum

I promise, no stories like this when Nautical Agent's Gold Fever foal wins the Derby in 2013. Guess there was a reason all those cowboys were wearing black hats in the winner's circle yesterday. Shady dealings involving the connections aside, still a fun story to have had Borel and this tiny gelding score out on the big day. You'd think the rail would have been jammed up with horses given the way it was playing all day, but, as in any pressure situation, guys are gonna fall back on what they know: sitting the 2-3-4-5 wide trip and looking to stalk. Borel played his game, too, and it just happened to be what the doctor ordered. Between brown bags stuffed with cash in Alaska and the boys from IEAH last year, we're on a roll with the fuzzy stories in Derby. Wonder what kind of price you could have gotten on the incarcerated owners of Einstein in the 10th hooked up with bribery charges in the 11th? $634 it turns out, which seems kind of light. They must have hammered it in country club pens around the country...

Caught Tim briefly earlier the week and all fine with Veiled Reference. We'll figure things out in coming weeks for sure, but probably try to stretch her out next out, coming right back at Charles Town in all likelihood. She still hasn't figured out what the heck was going on in last, so we'll cut her some slack and dial up extra ground and slower pace. She'll be on her toes with the quick one under her belt, anyway, which is fine.

Let's see if we get news from New York this week on Nautical Agent. Had the chance to chat with folks up there last week and she seems just about ready to rock. They have her under camera at night to keep tabs and Nautical seems to be taking everything in stride. No word just yet, but we'll see what the next few days bring. Cigars (chocolate) are at the ready.