get in early

Don't thank me now, but you'll now be able to tell your friends that you were in on Express Tour before anyone, maybe even his mother. He had his first winner last month from an initial crop of just 15 foals. Express Tour, you might remember, nipped Street Cry in the UAE Derby back in the day (note Street Cry's big burst similar to his son's Street Sense in the video; both father and son tended to want for more once making the sharp run). Express Tour was poorly managed from there, unfortunately, but still fired an awesome race in the 2001 Jerome Handicap for one of my bigger scores of memory. I don't mean to brag or anything, but you know this whole subprime mortgage lending mess? You know the one I'm talking about, right? Well, let's just say that the winnings from that afternoon would cover their fair share of that nut. Do I feel bitter that I used them instead for a 5% down payment on my castle and went with a juicy adjustable rate mortgage for the balance? Yeah, sure, I do. But I don't hold it against Express Tour. He told me to lock in for 30 years. And it looks like I might be in trouble.

Okay, I made some of that up, but you get the point. Express Tour has been berry, berry good to me (and the Fed might be wasting its time on that other matter) and I'm hoping he'll be good at stud, too. I expect tough, fast, durable runners like his daddy, Tour D'Or, got back in the day. He doesn't stand for Hard Spun's $50,000 - try $2000 instead. What a steal!!! (Disclaimer: ummm, yeah, I own a share of him.) Just be glad to be on the bandwagon now. It's the least I can do, it being the holiday season and all.