Backstretch with Gordon

Lexington knows all about college basketball's "The Shot," and now harness racing has "The Wave" after Ron Pierce bid adieu to Trond Smedshammer as he went by with Passionate Glide to win the Filly Futurity raceoff yesterday afternoon.

It was an exciting Filly Futurity as Smedshammer's Queen Serene handed Passionate Glide her first defeat of the year in the second heat to set the stage for a raceoff, and when Pierce moved to the outside after sitting second until the top of the stretch, he waved goodbye to Smedshammer, which sent a buzz through the crowd, and an even louder roar when the replay was shown on the Jumbotron.

Ron told me afterward he did it all in fun, and I haven't had a chance to talk to Trond yet but I've heard mixed comments as to his reaction. I had a chance to ask a few other drivers their opinion, and it was pretty unaminous in that they really didn't know if "The Wave" was good or bad, but that they all didn't want it done to them.

It was actually pretty quiet in the backstretch this morning as I did a walkthrough with former Red Mile race secretary Nick Salvi, who was around this year and helped with the publicity at the track. Nick kept pointing out all the empty stalls as horsemen have begun to ship back to their home bases. We did stop at Trond's barn but he had yet to arrive.

I think maybe it was quiet because all them Yankee fans I keep seeing around here were soaking their heads this morning. I passed on the sale last night and instead went out and watched the game (can you say Tigers 6, Yankees 0, thank you Kenny Rogers for the game of your life?). I saw Joe Holloway and David Scharf after the game ended as they were walking out and David told me he was going back to the hotel "to sulk." I did get a handshake from Tyler Stillings, although he was shaking his head in disgust as he did so. But it was great getting to watch the game alongside so many horsemen and horsewomen.

And of course, today is Kentucky Futurity day, the 114th year of the trotting classic. The fillies will be hard to top, but I'm looking forward to the first-elim match-up of Glidemaster and Chocolatier. The weather looks good, with a high expected to reach near 70, but we need that same northeast wind that we had yesterday to calm down a bit.

Finally, to close it out, I'd give you the gas prices again but since this is the last day, who cares? And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to do my own Pierce wave later today, and say goodbye to the Yankees. Good luck and great racing. Thanks for listening.

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