Coldest Spring I ever spent....

Was without a doubt freezing at Keeneland yesterday. The best thing about the day was the absolutely choclaty goodness that the Nestle Hot Cocoa machine was dispensing. The seats were cold, the snow at one point was sideways and crazy, and my brain too frozen to handicap so I shut down and let my daughter and her horse-crazy friend pick and they won 4 of 10 but I mistakenly cost them their biggest payout by entering the wrong horse.....wow! So, we felt lucky to hit the exits down about $32 and with no discernable frostbite. I refused to take any pictures yesterday as I kept my gloved hands in my pockets. At one point I begged the girls to leave after the 9th but they insisted they were tough and sat there for the 10th! At one point between the 9th and 10th it was blowing and snowing and I retreated to a glassed and heated enclosure just up the steps from the Grand Stand seats they were in and looked left and right and not another soul was still in those seats! The announced attendance was almost 17,000 but you had to really look for them even with crowds inside, I think many people, like my son and his friends bailed out after 3 races (which is about the time I could not longer shrug off the cold and started running back and forth between a heated sanctuary and our frozen tundra seating.) The funniest thing I heard all day was when I suggested we trek down to the rail for the 10th amid the heaviest snow of the day and someone shouted "I've got Rudolph across the board in this one". Anyway, we will be back late in the meet and I may slip out for some late races during the week but I just wanted to post the fact that there are two hardcore Thoroughbred fans among the younger generation as my daughter and her friend can attest. They were all smiles and happy as they could be the entire race card! I guess Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he lives at Keeneland.

Kristmas in Kentucky

That's right, Keeneland (ooh new web design too!) opens today and yours truly makes his annual opening day pilgrimage to the mecca of horse racing. It has gone from 80 degrees this past Monday to a crisp 28 degrees this morning. Not great for race fans but the horses are sure to love it!
And the Spring Meet looks to have once again drawn the top jockeys and trainers right outta the gate on opening day.
A couple of interesting races shaping up and one with some Derby implications is the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes is Sedgefield who ran a good second in the Lane's End to Hard Spun, is hoping the $93,000 win here will help propel him to the Derby. With Bejarano up, he is an 8/5 early morning favorite here.
And Funny Cide cruises back to Kentucky in an Allowance Race in the 8th.
Overall, the fields look large, the payouts should be good and here's to healthy, fun but chilly day at the track!
(Handicapping note: I will only share that info if I win! But past performances by me in this area indicate you are not missing anything).