Long time, no speak

We left off shortly after the Belmont Stakes. Cricky and Truly Ahvee were about to run. A lot has happened since.

We were at the Belmont with our dear friends, Don and Barbara. We had a lovely day and went out to dinner that night. As the week progressed, Cricky showed he didn’t like the mud and It’s Truly Ahvee showed he didn’t like the grass. In fact, Truly Ahvee bled during his race and has been turned out to relax at Eric’s farm (stress is a contributor to bleeding). The harness horses didn’t perform well either.

More importantly, Don went golfing and lost consciousness on the course. He appeared to have another heart attack. You may recall that many of you said prayers for Don when last this happened. To make a long story short, he had a double bypass, got an infection and started bleeding internally. This week they cauterized the bleeding and found an anti-biotic that is getting rid of the infection. Though he is still not off the ventilator, he’s making progress. Please say a prayer for Gidon ben Ruth.

Barbara has been an aishet chayil (a woman of valor) while dealing with her own physical problems. If you’re lucky, your spouse will always be as dedicated to you as Barbara is to Don.

On top of that, our dear friend, Joyce, had a serious health problem… so serious, it turns out, that she was touch and go for a while. She seems to be on the mend now. Let’s hope so and keep them both in our prayers, as well as our other friends.

Clyde Rice, Linda’s dad, had vascular surgery last week. They’re trying to save his leg. This type of surgery has helped my Mom over the last few months. We pray it helps Clyde as well.

Jeanne Adsit, Eric’s wife and Abby’s mother is in the hospital with a severe breathing problem and chronic cough. She’s getting a little better but they still haven’t totally identified what is going on nor gotten the cough under control.

Lastly, my dad’s brother, Uncle Melvin, whose been fighting colon cancer, c-diff infections, et al, just found out they found spots in his lungs. This kind of news makes it difficult for him and those who love him.

Yes, life goes on… we celebrated birthdays, worked on the house, had our delicious grandson, Hanan, and his two mommies with us in Saratoga, watched the harness horses race live for the first time (They both finished fourth from the worst post position, number 8), and we visited Ahvee’s Destiny, who scared us when we saw her face covered in a mask. It turned out to be netting protecting her from the hundreds of flies surrounding her and the other mares in foal.

The cycle of life does go on and so does horse racing. So, congrats to Larry and Jennifer for Elusive Rumour’s victory, to Tom Gregory and his mates for Karakorum Elektra’s hard fought win and to Patsy for Trix in the City hitting the board in a stakes at Belmont.

I hope the news turns better. I generally like writing these ruminations. It’s much more fun when the news is good.

Have a nice weekend and holiday!

Best,

A.

Horses and crows

First, did you get the possibly too subtle reference I made about “crowing” yesterday (ie. Like Peter Pan singing, “I’ve Gotta Crow!”)? I know my biggest Peter Pan fan missed it, so I assume everyone did!

Now, a quick review of Belmont Stakes day… It starts out at 7AM, when I painfully discover swelling in my gums behind a root canal tooth that’s never been right since (well it is on the right side!). Luckily, Super-Kayla, my dentist, rushed to her office and met me shortly after 8AM. She treated it and by afternoon it was back to normal. Therefore, no matter how my bets went, I was already a winner that day. Thanks, Super-Kayla!

I didn’t plan to go the Belmont, since my Rabbi’s daughter was becoming a Bat Mitzvah that morning and I had tickets for the Yankees-Mets game that night. However, when I’ll Have Another won the Preakness, my friend from Saratoga called informing me that my new friend from Louisville (who had engineered our winning Superfecta bet on the Derby) wanted to go to see history being made. So I invited Don and Barbara to join us and got six tickets for the Turf & Field Club. When potential Triple Crown winner, I’ll Have Another, scratched on Friday, imagine how I felt. Forget about the 50,000 people who didn’t show up that day… forget about the friends from out of town… forget about all those who bought reserved seats and traveled from near and far… instead, Cry for Me Argentina (Sorry, I can’t seem to get away from the theater this week!).

Anyway, the atmosphere was nice, even though there was no Triple Crown try nor was it as festive as the Kentucky Derby. Still there were plenty of football professionals (Rex Ryan, lots of New England Patriots and, most importantly, several NY Giant Superbowl rings for the girls to study carefully (Yes, there still girls to me!). The race was exciting, though the time was slow (leading this wag to believe that I’ll Have Another could have won even with his injured leg). I only had two winners and Linda’s five entrants in four different races did nothing to help me. Since I was driving, I neglected to drink my way into oblivion like we did in Kentucky. That made it a long day… from 11AM to 8PM (and then four of us went out to dinner which didn’t get started until 9:30PM). However, all-in-all, it was nice being with our friends and there were many good races.

Speaking of races, Cricky’sGoldenEyes will run in tomorrow’s 7^th race at Belmont at 6 furlongs on the dirt for a tag of $15K and It’s Truly Ahvee will run 6 furlongs on the grass for a tag of $35K in Friday’s 7^th race. Cornelio Velasquez will be the rider in both races. Nothing yet to report on the two harness horses.

Best,

A.

5 Tony's for Peter and the Starcatcher

Our harness horses performed poorly last week and, yes we were at the Belmont Stakes. Cricky’sGoldenEyes will race on Wednesday in a $15K 6 furlong claimer on the dirt at Belmont with Cornelio Velasquez in the irons. However, today’s news is about crowing a little (OK… a lot!) about last night’s 5 Tonys for our show, Peter and the Starcatcher.

We would have liked to win every one of our 9 nominations but it’s hard to go up against a play that won last year’s Pulitzer Prize or a director named Mike Nichols. Even so, Peter and the Starcatcher won more Tony awards than any other play this season.

Happily, Christian Borle won a Tony for Best Actor in a Featured Role saving me perhaps, $25,000. On Opening Night I told him if he didn’t win a Tony for his performance, I’d buy him one. Finding an old Tony award that someone is selling can be quite difficult and expensive. But now I don’t have to look for one, since he’s got his own. Yay!

Mary Beth, Wes, Rhoda and I were on hand at the Beacon Theater last night. As you can imagine, it was a fun night. Kudos for everyone associated with Peter and the Starcatcher but especially to our very own partner and Queen of Broadway, Eva Price!

More on horses in a few days.

Best,

A.

Any racing this week?

Nothing’s happening with our thoroughbreds this week… but I do hear there will be some races at Belmont on Saturday. One of them will be at 1 ½ miles. It’s known as The Belmont Stakes, where I’ll Have Another will be looking for another win… a win that will put him into the history books as the first winner of the Triple Crown in the 21^st century. So, no matter what I decide to bet, part of me will be rooting for the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years. I saw Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed do it in the 70’s on TV. We’ll be at Belmont for this try.

As for betting on the Belmont, it’s hard to take an odds-on favorite on a risk-reward basis… but I’ll leave that for a time closer to the actual race.

On the good news front, it seems that Dr. Patty Hogan believes that Awakino Cat’s throat ulcer can be handled without surgery. I hope she’s right because it is always better to avoid surgery… unless it’s the only cure. It’ll be at least a few weeks at the hospital for treatment, turn-out and monitoring. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to race at Saratoga which has been his favorite racetrack!

Marvelthisbliss runs at Saratoga Harness tonight and Numismatic runs tomorrow night… both run from post position 7, which is a disadvantage. We’ll see if they can overcome their posts. It’s race 8 tonight at 9:25 and race 12 tomorrow night at 10:45. We’ll be rooting!

Have a lovely weekend!

A.

Racing results

Marvelthisbliss won on Thursday night at Saratoga Harness. This time they didn’t catch him! It was a good win after being nipped the last two races.

Numismatic came in 4^th after having to be severely checked when the horse in front of him slowed dramatically and when Numismatic tried to go to the outside, he was pinched back by a horse to his outside. Still finished fast to garner 4^th place.

Awakino Cat finished 3^rd today at Belmont. After a good beginning, Alan Garcia took him back than seemed to sit on him quietly for most of the race. He said he was breathing funny. When he was scoped after the race, he was suffering from palate displacement with an ulcer on his throat. He will be evaluated for possible surgery in the next few days.

After today’s race, we went to see the Mets sweep the Cardinals tonight. Lots of action… but we worry about Awakino Cat. Ahvee’s Destiny had similar surgery and it helped her. We’re hoping for the best.

Have a good week. Next weekend the Belmont Stakes with I’ll Have Another looking for the first Triple Crown in 34 years on Saturday and the Tonys where our play, Peter and the Starcatcher is up for 9 Tonys (most of any play) but we’re not favored to win much. Nonetheless, we can hope!

Best,

A.