Thursday Backstretch with Gordon

It was a bright, sunshine-filled Thursday morning at The Red Mile in Lexington (although it was drizzling when I left home but it never rained at the track) as I began strolling through the backstretch. I promised my colleague, Gen Sullivan, I would stroll, since she told me I was doing too much wandering. Maybe it's just a matter of semantics! I strolled last night through the opening night of the yearling sale at Fasig-Tipton, so stroll we go again this morning.

 

I had told Steve Elliott I would drop a couple extra Little Brown Jug issues of The Horseman and as I strolled over to his barn Fred Grant yelled over to grab a donut or cookie. I told him that I needed to work up an appetite and I’d try to grab something on my way out later, and he said to be sure to do so. Fred said, “Make sure you come back, everything is fat free.”

 

Speaking of fat free, I vow to not eat for two weeks after everyone leaves town in a couple days. I didn’t need any more pounds to carry around and with people in town and wanting to dine out every night, I shudder to think what the scale would tell me now. However, the word must have gone out since I’ve heard from Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem and Weight Watchers about joining the great sponsorship I already have for this backstretch column from Steve and Cindy Stewart’s Hunterton Sales Agency. I told the companies they all need to contact my agent.

 

I saw Erv Miller in his office so I went in to say hello, and of course he was on the phone. But he quickly hung up and we chatted for a few minutes. I asked how the search for a replacement for longtime assistant Tony Alagna—who is soon leaving to open his own stable—is going, and Erv said he’s still trying to decide what to do. He was also watching a race replay from Yonkers on the computer, so I asked what race it was.

 

Erv said he was watching a claiming race in the hopes of finding a horse to claim. I laughed and asked why, since didn’t he have more than enough horses in his stable. Erv said the purse money is so good at Yonkers he has to look at everything. He also told me that he expects to downsize his stable slightly next year.

 

I strolled back to Fred Grant’s barn and I grabbed a donut. I told him he just wanted to make sure I stopped by so he could be mentioned on Backstretch With Gordon, and he and Meegan Sattelberg laughed. The horse in the first stall, Advantage Hall, saw me eating the donut and starting banging on the gate, so Meegan went and gave him a cookie to settle him down. Maybe this will wake the 2-year-old trotter up as he’s made only two starts this year. He’s a Tom Ridge half brother to the famous Hall brothers: Conway, Angus and Andover.

 

I started to stroll out and John Duer hopped out of the Peninsula truck in front of me so I said hello and asked if he at least bet a couple dollars on his 93-1 winner yesterday afternoon. John drove the 5-year-old trotting mare Caress The Senses to a 1:54.2 win in a $14,000 late-closer, returning a hefty $188.60 for a $2 ticket. And if you boxed the horse in the exacta with the Ron Pierce-driven Pleasing Lady at odds of 38-1, you received a nice payoff of $1,252. John smiled and said he wished he had made a small bet.

 

Caress The Senses is a daughter of Andover Hall out of the Pine Chip mare Fiery Chip, who you may remember won the Kentucky Sire Stakes championship at The Red Mile in 2001 and also won the American National that year as well as elims for the Hambletonian Oaks and Filly Futurity.

 

I finally made my way out—my final stroll of the morning—and headed back to the office. Gas prices went down last night to around $2.27 around the racetrack. As for the weather, the forecast for Thursday calls for a chance of rain later in the day but if you’re coming to the track on Friday, get the rain gear ready. The prediction is rain, including a pretty good chance of a thunderstorm in the afternoon.