Thoroughly Bred

Horse racing is a family affair. According to data collected by equiline.com, all 20 of the horses to be called to the post for the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby trace back to one horse. Take a look . . . they are like the Hapsburgs, but why the long face?

The sums of money paid for colts that show promise can be astronomical (one went for $16,000,000 in 2006) but even more incredible is how much some horses draw for stud fees. From this morning's WSJ:

The world's most valuable stud, Storm Cat, is a descendant of Native Dancer and had an ordinary racing career. As a sire, he's fathered numerous winners of high-profile races. He now commands up to $300,000 per mating.

I think it is time for a career change, which schools have good programs for a job as described above?

The morning line is up for the Derby contenders, head over to the official Kentucky Derby site, check the odds, look at the galleries, read up on Derby history, watch the morning workouts if you want. Looks like the early favorites are Big Brown (3-1) and Colonel John (4-1). As a betting man, I'll be putting my money on Big Truck, if you are going to gamble, might as well go big and it doesn't get much bigger than 50-1.

For those of you not in the betting know, here's a short list of the important terms:

ACROSS THE BOARD: A bet on a horse to win, place and show. If the horse wins, the player collects three ways; if second, two ways; and if third, one way, losing the win and place bets.

BRIDGE JUMPER: A person who bets an unusually large sum on a single horse, like $100,000 to show. Refers to the fact that if they lose they may be jumping off the nearest bridge.

EXACTA (or PERFECTA): A wager in which the first two finishers in a race, in exact order of finish, must be picked.

PLACE: Second position at finish.

PLACE BET: Wager on a horse to finish first or second.

QUINELLA: Wager in which first two finishers must be picked, but payoff is made no matter which of the two wins and which runs second.

SHOW: Third position at the finish.

SHOW BET: Wager on a horse to finish in the money; third or better.

SUPERFECTA: A wager where you have to pick the first four finishers in exact order.

TRIFECTA (or TRIPLE): A wager picking the first three finishers in exact order.

WIN BET: Wager on a horse to finish first.

You can find more information on betting, handicapping, track conditions, etc. than you would ever want at the Daily Racing Form. The betting window is open, my green visor is on, place your bets!

In other racing news, hats off to those racing Tour of the Gila. Many Colorado riders are representing well . . . go faster Pinkerton, I've got $5 on you to show (see above). Echelon Elite looks to have a few horses running well in the 35+ race, surprise, surprise. Mike Carter is sitting in 1st place after two days of racing and Dennis Farrell is in 3rd overall. Keep up the good work!

Well Naturally

Since I started racing bikes way back when, somewhere around 2002, I think the Lookout Mountain Hill Climb has been postponed because of weather just about every year except maybe last year.

We'll see how today and tomorrow pan out, but I hear it is snowing in the hills as of 8:30 am. Conditions would be ideal for Kevin (not that it matters, he is flyin' for a "retired" guy), he's had significant training in the snow and wet, including a jaunt in the hills early this morning. From where I'm sitting . . .


At least the snow didn't come last night as per the usual pattern and I got to race out at Cherry Creek. Heading out was nice and easy, I don't think I have ever had such a relaxing trip up the little roller in the middle of the course. Coming back was a different story. Fighting the wind made for tough times. After clearing up a slight data entry snafu which omitted me from the results, I was able to see my time . . . a new personal best! It was only .3 seconds faster, but I'll take it given the conditions.

I don't have any new pictures from across the street to share, but in other development news, Denver City Council just approved a downzoning in the Highlands near 32nd and Lowell and an area near Sloan's Lake. Zoning will change from R2 which allows for multifamily to R1 which allows only single family. It will be interesting to see what happens with property values over the next couple of years in that area. Both sides on the issue have arguments that are pretty poorly defended, but what it amounts to is essentially offensive urban design versus economics.

Derby Prep

I have never lived in Kentucky, I don't own a horse, I have never raced horses, but still I go through the effort to celebrate the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. The Derby makes for a good excuse to latch onto some traditions and party like it's 1947 (year selected at random). The mint julep is one of those storied traditions. The drink and its octane level were expertly described by Walker Percy (another NC notable) in the chapter titled "Bourbon" in Signposts in a Strange Land:

. . . mint juleps, famed Southern Bourbon drink, though in the Deep South not really drunk much. In fact, they are drunk so seldom that when, say, on Derby Day somebody gives a julep party, people drink them like cocktails, forgetting that a good julep holds at least five ounces of Bourbon. Men fall face-down unconscious, women wander in the woods disconsolate and amnesiac, full of thoughts of Kahil Gibran and the limberlost.

I don't know anything about the works of Kahil Gibran, nor do I know what limberlost really means, but the innocent, proper looking drink above will knock you down, confusing you on the way to the floor with a haze of sugary sweetness.

I know there are horses involved with this event, but I usually focus on the food and drink. For those of you keeping score, here's the list of Derby Contenders. It has lots of funny names and pretty colors which will be useful tools for placing bets come Derby day.

Fencing

There was mention a little while back about replacing some fence that had fallen down. Said fence was pictured in its gravity crippled state and the new fence was shown while in progress. Well here it is:


This is a big improvement over A) fencing running horizontally, keeping the ground from levitating and B) the old, gnarled pickets of the previous fence, most of which didn't have enough material for the nails to hold onto.

You can see the big chunks of concrete from previous fence posts that came out of the ground. Given the location it is safe to assume that there actually were multiple fences along the property line. The kick test suggests that some date back to the original fence built in 1909.

In business news . . . what would you do if you were the head of a "global powerhouse" in the candy industry? My guess is if you and your friends have enough clout to put together a $23 billion buyout of another company, you do just about whatever you want. My only hope is that this deal will result in a Willy Wonka-esque world, but since that brand is owned by Nestle, I'll have to wait for them to create their own super power by buying both Hershey Co. and Cadbury Schweppes PLC.

128K

Nothing like having numerous people call you from the race site, before you have left your house, telling you not to bother because large objects are blowing across the highway and it is snowing sideways. I had to draw inspiration from the immortal David Farragut ("Damn the torpedoes, full blah, blah, blah, etcetera, etcetera . . .) to get out the door and headed east. It was a lovely day.

Deer Trail was about as expected and so was the race. With the majority of the race being either into the wind or with the wind at our backs, it pretty much stayed together. Krughoff and Gragus were in the minority, showing the necessary gumption to maintain a gap in the first part of the race. They were however reeled in on the last section heading into the wind. Amazingly enough the winning move slipped away in the downhill, tailwind section before we hit the crosswinds where the remainder of the race blew apart, pun fully intended. I got to the front of what was remaining of the group just before the left hand turn into the final section and ended up in the first of the chasing echelons. We dumped a few people at the last turnaround, thanks in part to my heinous turn, and rode it on in. I ended up 12th, could have been better, could have been far worse.

Post race we hung out, waiting for results in the arena/barn/night club/tornado shelter/other uses not listed-type building in "town". I think Derek's face says it all.

Post race festivities were much more exciting. I packed up the supplies and headed up to Walker's house for his semi-annual get together. The evening started out fairly standardly until trouble came driving up the road. What do a P.O.S. $1000 pickup truck and a $128,000 Porsche Cayenne Turbo have in common?


If you drive them into a creek/bog, they get stuck. Nothing you can't fix with a $35 tow strap and a $4500 Nissan Pathfinder. Add a $14 car wash and despite all blog evidence, nobody ever has to know it really happened. Hats off to Clay and his pulling stuff out of the mud abilities.


I spend Saturday night at Casa Brenner, in their newly furnished guest suite. I have to say it was quite lovely and I had one of the best nights of sleep in a while thanks to the cool, clean mountain air. Before making me slave away setting some tiles in the master bathroom, we brunched on some delicious banana, nut pancakes and drank a multitude of espresso drinks.

The problem we set out to solve was exaggerated below for blogging purposes.


In all reality, there wasn't that much damage to the drywall on the window sill in the master bathroom, but moisture does condensate on the window and accumulate on the sill below. We cut away the offending drywall and paused for some espresso.

We then set a piece of WonderBoard, canted properly so water would not accumulate on the sill in the future, yet not so severely that plants could not have a home sitting in the window. After another shot of espresso, we got to tiling.

Fine work was done by all. Joey will be on his own for grouting and caulking, but he'll do just fine. The new tile sill should last for years to come and should be a bit more resistant to moisture than textured drywall.

After a couple more shots of espresso (there was a theme to the morning) we got out for a ride. I hate you Joey Brenner.



We didn't ride for all that long and there wasn't that much climbing, but it was enough to hurt each other, especially with the wind. That was my weekend . . .

Looking Forward to Deer Turd

Looking for change and excitement? Head to Deer Trail, CO, it is ripe with history, mystery, adventure, and fun . . . or something like that. I haven't spent much time in town per se, but I have passed through a couple times. Read the town's history, it is interesting to know that a cemetery was platted at the same time as the town.

Despite the Deer Trail race being "pre-reg" only, the promoter has decided to open the afternoon groups for race day registration as well with a small fee for this convenience. When I show up tomorrow and the wind is blowing at hurricane force, adding to the cold and possible rain from the forecast, you can be sure I will be cursing the promoter for duping us with the pre-reg only ruse. While I suspect there was no dishonesty intended, money is a powerful motivator.

Predicted race conditions are actually pretty typical for Deer Trail. I remember one year hearing the tornado siren going off at the start line while we were getting our instructions from the race official. We got sleeted on for a little bit, followed by some rain, and then it cleared up. I guess the wind is good for something. The race is usually won and lost in the crosswind sections since the headwind and tailwind bits tend to stay together. It is when you really have to fight for a draft, in the gutter, that the field starts coming apart.

Pinkerton and I got some practice in the wind yesterday, he on the TT bike, me on the road bike. The plan was to head out to Lookout, blast up it, and head home before it got dark. The wind had other plans for us. We fought our way out west, started up the extra credit loop in the neighborhood at the base of Lookout, decided 30 mile an hour wind combined with slow speeds of climbing wouldn't be all that entertaining so we put up the spinnaker and coasted home at a good clip.

Cherry Creek Finally

For the first time this year, it wasn't snowing and/or raining and freezing cold for the Wednesday evening Cherry Creek Time Trial. I drove out knowing that I would actually be racing (punctuated by the fact that I picked up the standard three shots of espresso to be consumed 40 minutes prior to my start time) instead of looking at the thermometer, turning around and going home!

Mike has been doing a good job with the coaching and what not as of late and I didn't have the same "off" sensations I had last year at the start of the series. Last year, I felt like I was struggling to get on top of the gears and was nowhere near as fast as prior years. Last night, I felt fast from the start and pushing the 55x11 was no problem. I got stuck behind three cars after the first few bends in the road and actually had to sit up and brake because they were hugging the shoulder so tightly. Approaching the one roller on the course, I tried to back off a hair, attack the "climb", and get back into the big gear as quickly as possible. I could have gone much, much faster on the turn around, I think I heard Dennis laughing when he passed me on that part. There might have been a slight headwind for the final section, but I just tried to keep my rhythm and plow through to the finish.

According to MapMyRide.com the course is approximately 10.65 miles. I beat my best time by seven seconds, turning a 21:46.31 according to the results, which would be an average speed of 29.35 MPH . . . I'll take it. The goal now is to get below 21:30.
Back at the ranch, the fence project started yesterday. According to Todd from No Hassle Fence, there were 2-3 fences built in the past, resulting in multiple chunks of concrete that had to be removed prior to setting the new posts. I'm glad I decided to pay somebody to do this project. I should have a completed fence by the weekend.


It might be time to have another fire themed party in the back yard . . . speaking of parties, Gwyn (of JD and Gwyn) and I (Deb is in the mix too) have decided to host a party for Kentucky Derby 134 on May 3. Get out your drinking hat and your Mint Julep cup!