New Blog Format

Bernard, Thanks for your story. You bring a perspective that's made you one of my favorite DRF posters for years. As a late '60 US university product I can relate to many of the things in your story. Remember all that was good about her.

Bernard Downes How sad, and bittersweet. Thank you for sharing, as I believe it may have hit home with many here. Bobc, your post was lovely and eloquent and sums up Dan's Formblog Family so well. BTW, I also had the Yahoo 'Anonymous' show up from time to time. I just log out, and log back in before I post, and make sure my name is in the heading :)

Alex I enjoyed your post regarding the Portland Meadows race and West Seattle Boy. His lifetime record (110-26-14-20) and the fact that he is still competing at that advanced age is quite remarkable. Since I am also somewhat of an ancient one, I always root for those old guys. I am familiar with him because Emerald Downs used to be my home track and all of his races have been either there or Portland Meadows. Dick W

Keith "after Microsoft bought up Emerald Downs for an Office Park..." Just for the sake of accuracy, I believe you meant...after Boeing bought up Longacres. I remember that because it was a sad day for horse racing in the Seattle area and I also made a few trips down to Portland just to see some live racing. Then, of course, Emerald Downs was built to replace Longacres a few years later. Even though I now live in Oregon, I have not been to Portland Meadows in many years. Dick W

Alex F. Sorry you took offense at my humor. If you are new to the blog, well welcome. And I do know Portland Meadows...I used to travel the 90 minutes from Olympia, WA in the 90s after Micocrosoft bought up Emerald Downes for an Office Park...just to play live races. But studying for your JD...congratulations. Just what we need her;, another "mouthpiece" to chew on from time to time! LOL! Keith L.

Bernard Downes: Sincere condolences on your double loss of Jan. I can relate (in a way), as I once ditched one of my first High School girlfriends for her best friend, but remedied that by eventually marrying the girl I had jiltted her for, who was my wife for 27 years until an empty nest and my wander lust to recapture the 60s split us up. I do have to say that if you find a catharsis in writing of your experience, you might try fleshing that outline out, and produce a script...with all due respect, it has a certain ring of authenticity, period conciousness, romantic locale, and human fraility that could make a rewarding "chick flick", I believe. Keith L.

Bernard Downes I wrote that post to you from Anonymous. I dont' know why it came up Anonymous as it was not my intention, otherwise I would have used AOL. I now use Yahoo to log on and did not think it necessary to sign my name at the bottom. I guess there are still some bugs to be worked out. LOL bobc

Bernard, Thanks for sharing a fantastically interesting story. DavidM9999, You had mentioned perhaps meeting up with Formbloggers at Arlington. If you would like to be included, there are a few of us who meet up periodically. You can email me at cmmemmot4@aol.com if you wish to be on the list. PGM, ChicagoGerry and I have met up a few times along with some others. KeithL (I think) and VQ, Not that the MKB owner of Brother Francis, (who is still a maiden), has any business trash talking the owner and supporter of a multiple graded stakes winner, Drill.........But, I think the horse would be better served by keeping him at either distances of seven furlongs or less and/or never shipping. I have seen everyone of his races and that horse wants no part of longer distances. Another eighth and he was going to be passed in his last. He was all out to hang on. He may have had a physical advantage early in his two year old season, but I don't think that advantage exists anymore. It is also my understanding that he is a bit hot headed. Perhaps that trait causes him to have trouble shipping, I don't know for sure.......but if he were mine, I'd be watching out for some well paying sprints for three year olds and if he stays healthy, aim for the BC Sprint on his home track. TBTA

Did Leparoux throw something away when returning to the winners circle with Battle Hardened after the Sam Davis win? Watch the replay about 12 seconds after the out rider releases him on the back side after the race.

Bernard Downes, The fact you felt a desire to share your story with us is what makes this blog so compelling and differentiates it from most any blog on the internet. Although this is a Horse Racing Blog it is heartfelt stories such as yours’ and many other bloggers over the years that has managed to bring us all closer together. These stories which express one’s life experiences and the thoughtful and caring responses that have followed, add an incredible sense of “Family”, to random chance meetings in Cyberspace. And, yes, like in real life we can sometimes be a “dysfunctional family” but somehow, someway, we always end up allowing the “Love” to shine through. Sometimes in life we wonder, “What might have been”, and speculate. Whether it’s choosing a job, a place to live, a spouse or a horse that would have completed a winning Pick 6 Ticket. (I’ll leave it to you to determine the order of importance of those choices. LOL) We may never know for sure, but I dare say you seem to be a “Good Bloke” and that Jan missed out on marrying a wonderful Englishman. As an afterthought, perhaps if you had married Jan your future choices in life would not have found you writing on this blog and we would all be the “lesser” for it. P.S. I don’t know if you still followed the Pirates after 1971 but they won the World Series again in 1979 vs the Orioles (Sorry Alan). Their theme throughout that year was “We Are Family” much like this blog.

Bernard; I did read the whole thing. I enjoyed it. By the way, I am a "capitalist stooge", although I wear the stooge-thing as a badge of honor. That's one of the reasons I like horse racing. I have the opportunity to further develop my "capitalist stooge" tendencies. Thanks again for the story. vs

Bernard, I'm truly sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved Jan. You're in my thoughts and prayers my friend.

Annie Steve T's 1/31/12 watch list horse GIVIMAWAY is entered again to make his debut in Friday's 8th @ SA. This time it's a $50K Maiden Claimer. Not sure what to think other than I miss our funny and insightful Uncle Steve.

Thanks Chok and other for the testimonials on gradeoneracing. I signed up for the year. Hopefully I get some value. I can see it being helpful especially at SAR and KEE. What I hope the workouts show is information on long layoff types. I saw this weekend a couple coming back from long layoffs where workout information would be critical in part of your assessment but the workout comments were not there. I know it can be hard ot catch every horses workout. Annie - I understand how you use the system now. Thanks for clarifying. OP - division two goes 1 second faster than division one. Woe is me. I bet Scatman in division two pretty good at 10-1 only to see him caught by Secret Circle. I usually try and swing against the day's biggest favorite if I see a potential chink in the armor so Secret Circle fit that bill nicely. You take a a bunch of tough beats doing this. At least I covered the exacta box to cover the Win wager losses. I guess America figured trainer Michael Lauer 10-1 or Bob Baffert sub-even money. Edge - Baffert. Not sure we saw anything that will factor in the Derby (KY not Ohio) yesterday. But it is early and plenty can happens and always does. SA - Baffert cleaned up this weekend as usual. He is a man among boys with young horses at this time of year due to his style and regimen. Nothing new been doing it for decades. SA Newsflash - Aguirre admits to altering racing documents. It will be interesting to see the penalty. Integrity is mandatory equipment with me 24/7. Don't know what his circumstances were/are but hopefully he does a personal inventory and respects the game a bit more. If this was Mullins or Dutrow....... Glad to see folks are figuring out the new posting mechanism.

Annie, Yes, I'm up...& No, it wasn't me who bet Basalt..Basalt can't run, as I dismissed him back in the day when I said even the Slewster can't help him run any.....Thanx for asking anyway........Your humor has been fantastic though...... & please let SR Vegas & Keith L. know, that I have never been the blogger, you feel lucky........I can never be cloned........

Hey Dan-nice piece on My Adonis...I thought he ran deceptively well in the H Bull...Don't know if he's a Derby Horse...but think he'll get his fair share... Not an award winning ride on Junebugred Brutus4633@aol.com

Hi folks, I wonder if anyone would mind if I shared some personal sadness with you (way off topic, but with a tiny US connection). I just heard that one of my first serious loves has died aged just 59. In the Summer of 1969 I met a lovely young girl by the name of Jan. Long straight brown hair, fun girl, sweet voice and even sweeter personality. The only problem, she was my best mate's new girlfriend. The 3 of us grew close and we decided to see Bob Dylan's concert on the Isle of Wight, sharing a tent, with all the possibilities that suggested (I hope that doesn't sound too smutty). I should say here that those possibilities were only hinted, not written in blood. As the weekend drew nearer I began to have doubts that I had read her signs correctly and in the end I wimped out by saying that I had to watch my football team play a life or death football match. I went 250 miles north to watch my team, and Jan and Rich went south for some great music and even greater passion. Roll on 2 years and they had become a steady item together, but I knew Jan really liked me (loved me?). On the occasions I took her out she was always totally at ease and she certainly laughed more in my company, but I could never bring myself to take that last step and try and steal my best friend's girl. However, come the Autumn of 1971 and I finally decided to make my play (or walk away for good), but I was not going to do it behind my friend's back. Jan was a committed member of the Socialist Workers Party (one step to the right of the Communist Party), and they were going to attend a private screening of the film Battleship Potemkin. Me, I have no political affiliations, although my views are left of centre (our National Health Service is still one of man's great ideas). Anyway, I was going to prove my devotion by sitting through the film and then at a convenient moment I was going to apologise to my friend and then declare my love for Jan. Problem was, back then I listened to the US baseball on AFN radio and my team were the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1971 they made the World Series against the mighty Orioles. No real chance for the Pirates, but they took it to a deciding 7th game and, sods law, it was the same night as the film. Another dilemma, but this time I chose Jan (over Clemente). The 3 of us watched the film together, but with half my mind on the baseball. A decent film, but all I really wanted to do was to adjourn to the bar afterwards, get my love speech over and done with, and then ring home to get the result. But fate intervened and the Committee decided to hold a Q and A session after the film. The people around us were obviously stirred by the fim and they kept speculating about when, and how, those revolutionary ideas could be repeated in Britain. I listened to more than a dozen of these would-be revolutionaries before I finally exploded and my big mouth got going. I totally rubbished their ideas. Anger and my pent up anxiety got the better of me. I rubbished Communism, I doubted their sincerity as Socialists. Amazingly they listened to my rant with barely an interruption, and I felt good, but when I turned to Jan the look on her face stopped me dead. She looked really hurt, I had betrayed her ideals, was I perhaps a capitalist stooge? I don't want to sound too melodramatic, but thats how it felt. She said nothing directly about it, but I knew then we were never going to make it together. It was over before it started. Jan and Rich got married (it lasted about 20 years); they got into the soft drug scene; we gradually drifted apart; and the truth is I haven't seen either of them for more than 15 years. But it still hurts. If the moderators have allowed this (thank you) and if anyone has had the stamina to read this long piece (double thank you). It has certainly helped to unburden myself. Best Regards - Bernard Downes P.S. At least the Pirates won that deciding game.

Test.....Test.....Test.....computernerds are out to get us!

Annie, Check your email. I sent you something you will enjoy! TBTA

Annie Another 4/5 on your pick 5... Paid $406 for 50 cents... What a kick in the butt!!! Right on target again... Keep on banging away... You will get a good one...I think that we should all be playing Baffert...Nothing but winners for that guy... Good Luck... Whackymacky Out!!!

Watched the re-run of the 2nd division of the SW Stakes, and it sure looked to me that the oft disparage Quinonoz surprised Bejarano and got the jump on him at the top of the stretch! Of course, that is hard to believe, but perhaps Bejarano had been looking at the tote board to see what the final oddswere when he almost got his horse lost in the dust? Does anyone know if the usual $5 million bonus purse for sweeping the Oaklawn Stakes and then winning the Derby is in effect for this year? As I posted before, Baffet really made out well having them split his two for this running in two divisions...now he has two shots to move on to the Rebel. Keith L.

Rats! (Sorry, Chalky). Now we have a dumb ass, drunk, blinged out,all male review afficinado MKB owner-resident of the Vegas Strip (and strip joints) hooving it forward in the Triple Crown Trail. Geeze Louise! Baffert flys in and sweeps the lion's share of $500K in two division Grade 3 Stakes, a pretty rich pot of gold indeed! And the unbettable Secret Circle wins for some guy named Alex F. who spent the day writing about some 13 yr old claimer out to win his 100th race at Portland Meadows, which for some godforsaken reason DRF chose for the second time this month to feature as their venue for the Race of the Day. Guess the good old days of getting free formulator PPs for races we actually want to wager on are gone, gone, just like foremats 1 and 2 of the formblog days. Keith L.

Well, imagine that. A Baffert/ Bejarano Southwest Sweep. Castaway - Secret Circle. Chalky is happy that her MKB kicked some horsie butts, LOL!. Now, she will be unbearable to live with :) Dick W Chalky says thanks for the Congrats...squeal ! Not that 'Futures' mean much this early in the Derby season ( who knows who will make it to the Derby gate? ) But she is holding a 225-1 wager on her Castaway :)

Southwest Stakes, in two Divisions I am paraphrasing, but not by much. Q. "Mr. Baffert, when do you ship your horses East?" A. "When they are ready to win." I have learned to ignore this at my peril.

******ANNIE******* Curt V. Slewster, You're up. I see BASALT has been bet down to the 2-1 favorite. Did you do that? :) Good luck! Annie

******ANNIE******* MKB winner number two! ALEX F'S Secret Circle wins division 2 of the Southwest. CONGRATULATIONS! Alex Annie

Hey Chalky, I hear squealing coming from some where!!!!! SQUEAKKK!!!!! lol

******ANNIE******* CHALKY! Congratulations. You said he was going to kick some horsie butt. LOL! Chalk up another winner for the MKB. :) Annie

Chalky Congrats on the win by Castaway ! Imagine that, a Baffert 3 year old wins a stakes race :) I swear early on there was $100k to show on Longview Drive. A bridge jumper must have got the jitters and canceled his bet. Anybody else notice that or was I seeing things ? Now we will see how Secret Circle does. I am not wagering on these. Dick W

******ANNIE******** NOOOOO! Not the firster in that race. The one with the stupid, stupid name. Who names their horse A.K.A Xe? Yes, I knew if one of the two firsters won, it would be that one. I debated and debated whether to include him with the two obvious runners. But, I did not. :( Of course, SUBTLE GREEK runs 2nd but couldn't quite catch him. I am going to have to throw more money into this darn bet. I'm being nickled and dimed to death here. And, how is your day going? :) Annie

Annie Thanks for the LUCK recap, would have loved to see GUM win that race :) ...and CHALKY is looking forward to seeing her MKB CASTAWAY today. She was squeaking out something about ' kicking some horsie butt '. Weasels, lol!

******ANNIE******** As I said, we are coping very well with the new blog format. I think our fearless leader is hiding in a corner somewhere letting us hash it out, so when he returns he won't be bombarded with whining complaints. LOL!!! Just kidding, just kidding. :) But, you can see that we won't let them put you down, Dan. Nobody has more devoted fans than you. :) Annie

Keith L, I have had a hard day today with some paperwork and my brain is hurting, but for the life of me I can't see a malt scotch in that horse No 1's stupid name. Please give me a clue. Good luck with your betting today. Best Regards - Bernard Downes

Oaklawn's Southwest Stakes: First Division is loaded with speed types, so will go with Smarty Jones Stakes winner #6 Junebugred, the best closer here, 7/2 ML got him a Win/Place wager and a boxed exacta play with #2 Unbridled's Note (who should get a good stalking pocket trip under Laparoux) from the hot Asmussen barn. Ready Jerry looks like a closer off his last, but he usually runs attending the pace when he isn't hung out wide as he was from the 12 post in the Smarty Jones, so I don't expect a repeat performance from him today given all the other speed. 2nd Division is all #9 Secret Circle's to lose. We know he's fast, can last the mile, and can ship and win...sharp last work coming in. I'll put him over #2 Adirondack King and #6 Pee H. Dee for the Exacta Key tries here. I'll bet #6 Junebugred in the 8th with #9 Secret Circle in the 9th for a Special SW Stakes Daily Double and back that with another cheaper double wager #2 Unbridled's Note with the #2 Adirondack King and #9 Secret Circle. Keith L.

*******ANNIE******* Hey you guys, you're suppoed to ignore the Anonymous and just read Annie, not Anonymous Annie. But, then you know that. :) Got back in time to watch BARON VON RED blow them away in the first at SA. I was hoping my other selection for the Pick 5 in that race would somehow beat him. TWO PARTS and Nakatani gave it a good try running with the Baron in a match race of their own, but it was not to be. Oh well, I'll take it, but am now wishing that I had singled the Baron. For my single, I went with the horse I talked to Bernard about, HIS BOY ELROY, in the 2nd. I figured if O'Neill is going to such lengths to get him his second win, he just may be able to do it. Leg 3 - Candy's Girl and Subtle Greek Leg 4 - Antidote (only speed), Imponente, Acafella and Profido Leg 5, - To the Top, Kids Table, Tiabelle, Siempre, Coparcenary and big LS Cha Da Boom, who actually broke MD at a higher level than the rest. 2x1x2x4x6 = $48 Actually, we are managing very well with the new blog format. It's starting to look like the old days. :) I am a little concerned, though, about some of the missing people. DRF better not be messing up my MKB. These people will be having horses running. Sure would like to hear from them. Annie

Nice pick by Brad Free in the 1st at SA. The #7 opened at 2/5 and closed at 2/5... Won by 8 in a walkover..2 of the 7 starters were left in the gate so the bridge jumpers were given an early gift.....Still cannot fault Brad of the $20 Pick 6 score of $41K ... Whackymacky Out!!! PS: Keep an eye on Chantal's mounts today... She might bring in 2 winners today...

Nothing like a 90-1 shot to kick off the late pick 4 at GP..... Whackymacky Out!!!

Test R-r-r-ruffles have R-r-r-idges

Annie: "Now we know why Chantal isn't playing the part of the female jocky. Partial nudity is required in the role, and we all know Chantal wouldn't do that!"; from "Luck" recap posting. Actually, after her layout in American Vogue, Chantal was sought after for a layout in Playboy....she discussed it for sometime with the Men's Mag people, but decided the money talked about wasn't near enough for her liking! She related this fact in an interview after the Vogue edition went to the newstands. As has been noted by Maiden Kings website, the phrase "Chantal Sutherland nude" is the 2nd highest search term utilized by the public in searches redirected to that website! Evidently there is quite a market for her nudity to show up in mags, TV, film, internet, etc. So, sooner or later the price she has in mind will be met, imo! Keith L.

Santa Anita Park 2-20-12 Presidents Day R2 #3 Hostile Waters throw out that last race where he had tons of trouble at the start and take a look at the second down where he showed some early interest only to be five wide in the stretch think he runs much better in this drop in class sprint. #4 His Boy Elroy gets the bug boy today for oneill and this one likes to hit the board as his record shows. should be running them down in the lane. #7 Warrens Patron another fine finish in his last and pedroza seems to know when to push the button on this colt second time with the shades is a huge angle for sure. R4 #4 Danderek (GB) a nice one for a low percentage barn and an unknown jockey would lead you to believe you should run from this one but that was a very nice rally in that last race getting away slow then steady movement to the wire and today takes a drop in price. what more do we want? #5 Imponente Purse (BRZ) has won three at this distance so knows the teritory for sure is a one run type that rolls late stretch when he does his best. #8 Acaffella new distance for this guy but has the style to get there and will be a factor at the wire with espinoza up. R6 #3 Madeoftherightstuf sheds the blinkers today for miller and gets a new rider in rosario back to the green where he has two seconds think rosario sends him early for best try against these #6 All de Victors a career maiden who comes to life today with flores again to ride after nice effort in last going longer. the cutback will have this one in the picture today. #8 Lethal Intent O for four and last he showed some interest with chantel and cuts back today and think will show speed again in this one. must improve much to beat the horse to his inside. R7 #5 Rule by Force third time back could be the charm and gets talamo to ride going shorter today will be flying down the stretch to get a piece of this on the outside. #7 Caffeine High two for three and a close third is enough to get you to include this gelding in your ticket today. rosario is good with this type from off the pace. the one to beat here. R8 #1 Wild Mia not her best distance today she prefers longer for sure but I think david knows this and will adjust for that here. 11 for 16 in the exacta you could do worse. #3 Cambina first back after BC and those usually run out of the money with exceptions shes working fast for her comeback so think she will be a part of this one today. #11 Briecat second in this race last year after showing the way with PV up so think she leads these around today for her best try. will staulk camille early and go by that one on the backside and be the one to beat down the lane. good luck all MH01

Southwest Races If Calvin can get #10 Laurie's Rocket to the rail either on the lead or very close, I think his speed will carry him through. My alternative will be Toby Keith's #8 Reckless Jerry. He was closing well after a very wide trip in the Smarty Jones. In the second division, I don't see anyone even pressing #9 Secret Circle =====Yogi=========

Southwest S. (G3) OAKLAWN PARK 8TH race Looks more contentious than the second split of this stakes, take a chance on some closing types like; 8- Reckless Jerry and 9- Ring It Up. Others are closely matched but consider; 5- Longview Drive, 11- Castaway and 2- Unbridled's Note. 9TH race Even money on the line for: 9- Secret Circle speed / 2nd start at 3 (Watching the inside posts) 3- Scatman possible pace foe 2- Adirondack King looking for a late run 1- Z Rockstar was 4 wide in last

Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons......for thou art crunchy and good with catsup.........

MKB workouts : ---------- 2/19/12 Hollywood Park - All Weather/fast Holy Candy - 6F 1:13.00 Handily - Hairy Santa Anita - Dirt/fast Midnight Transfer - 7F 1:25.20 Handily - Dennis of Moline Sabercat - 5F 1:01.80 Handily - Capt. Ron Palm Meadows - Dirt/fast Gemologist - 5F 1:03.88 Breezing - Longwaytomay El Padrino - 4F 0: 48.91 Breezing - CHAAZZ Our Entourage - 4F 0:48.91 Breezing - SR Vegas / IMS Union Rags - 4F (Gate work). 0:48.81 Breezing - Laura Lawduck ..Where are you LL? Gulfstream Park - Dirt/fast Cozzetti - 4F 0:49.80 Breezing - Calvin Carter Currency Swap - 4F 0:47.00 Handily - Dick W Hansen - 5F 0:59.00 Handily - Danny B ...A Bullet! Belmont Park - dirt training /fast Da Vinci - 4F 0:50.03 Breezing - Byanose Festive Spirit - 4F 0:48.93 Breezing - SR Vegas / IMS ------------ 2/20/12 Santa Anita - Dirt/fast Hierro - 5F 1:00.80 Handily - Spartan Tom / IMS Palm Meadows - Dirt/fast Algorithms - 4F 0:49.09 Breezing - Bernard Downes Discreet Dancer - 5F 1:00.24 Breezing - Ned Daly ...A Bullet! Hollywood Park - All Weather/fast Out of Bounds - 5F 0:59.80 Handily - Gracie Payson Park - Dirt/fast Forward March 4F 0:50.10 Breezing - Annie Anoynomous :) ------------------ MKB Entries: Optimizer - Partick S El Padrino - CHAAZZ in the 1 1/16M 300K Risen Star GR II at Fair Grounds on Saturday http://www.drf.com/race-entries/FG/USA/2012-02-25/D/11

Plays at Laurel today...the 4th, 8th, and 9th Races. Race 4 is a MSW for 3 yr olds at 1&1/16th. #1 Big Monster is the short priveced 8/5 fav and by his name I suppose he looks like he fits the name. By Fusaichi Pegasus out of a Broad Brush mare, this guy is coming off a good placing in his last effort, and should pop here for Trombetta, with Pimental riding. Keep an eye on him, for if even though he didn't debut until New Years Day, he may be a Trail Horse after this run (at least for the Frederick Tessio and Preakness consideration). Win/Place for me here. 8th Race is an AOC $40K-$30K 1 mile on the Main for non winners other than Maiden, Claiming, or restricted for 3 yr olds, and again Trombetta and Pimental pair up with the speed of the field being the #7 Hard Facts, a Hard Spun out of a Known Fact mare...outside speed horse here broke his maiden at Charles Town and ran well coming back here last out in an AOC similar class. Win/Place here. 9th Race is the General George Handicap (Grade II) at 7 furlongs on the Main and Dutrow and Pletcher are here to compete, the latter with Bernard Downes' favorite 7 yr old horse hyped by the mystery man in some North England pub as you all might recall before the Rise Jim Victory. However, Caixa Electronica comes from off the pace to run em down, but today she meets a tired old campaigner from Dutrow's barn in Phil from Philadelphia and a good router in Yawanna Twist, The speed of the #1 horse named for Bernard Downes' favorite malt scotch comes to play also in routes, so that leaves me looking again at the outside speed here of #7 Fourdangshare, also with the Trombetta and Pimental pairing. This is this 5 yr olds first Stakes attempt, and he comes in off two solid wins in AOC company. A late starter, this guy only ran twice as a 3 yr old, and then was off a full year before coming back in Apr of 2011. He has been steady as a rock since then, however, running monthly, and getting into the exacta quite a bit if he isn't winning them. He's fired nothing but bullets for Trombetta at Fair Hill in prep for this, is light weight here at 112 lbs, and I think he has a very good chance to wire this field at his 10-1 ML odds. He's worth a W/P/S wager to me. Be back with something from Oaklawn latter if I can make some sense out of the split divisions. For the Santa Anita Buena Vista Stakes, see my reply to Whacky's last post below for a very nice 20-1 ML live filly I'm touting him on (Chantal is So Belle!)! Keith L.

Jimi (and Annie), Yes, class (i.e. proven ability) is an ABSOLUTELY crucial factor. When I say weight I am generalising. I don't necessarily bet the low weights. What I am trying to find is the best horse at the weights to be carried. Are the class horses in the race carrying level weight, or a small weight disadvantage? If it is a big weight disadvantage, is that disadvantage likely to bridge the gap in ability? But listen, I have admitted that I think weight is MORE a Euro thing. And just as importantly, Annie bets and wins a 1000 more US races than I do, so I think her view carries a lot more weight than mine (almost a joke in there). Best Regards - Bernard Downes

13-year-old gelding (and folk hero) West Seattle Boy is running the second leg of the Claiming Series today at Portland Meadows. This is over 100 for him... His lifetime PP's are longer than the Gettysburg Address. (Availible as of last year here: http://www.drf.com/news/west-seattle-boy-still-going-strong-age-12) He's got the best trainer & best jockey at my old spot Portland Meadows (a finer track you'll never visit). I'm putting a nostalgic W/P/S on him at 6/1 (& likely to climb). He has a neat pedigree, Princequillo both sides (although, despite the name, is not a Slew): I like Pleasant Colony and he's by Majestarian out of a Pancho Villa mare. I also like soundness and this fella's the epitome. Neat horse...

********ANNIE********* SR Vegas, Just for you: LUCK - Episode 4 I have to admit that not a whole lot happened in this episode, but things did move along somewhat. Let's see, Ace had two meetings this episode. He met with Claire, the woman who wants to start a farm to rescue horses and pair them up with prisoners to take care of them. She apparently has acquired a farm next to a prison somewhere I didn't catch, and the prison has agreed to it, but they won't pay for the guard, etc. that would be needed. She needs $225,000 from Ace to start things up. She gives him the budget she set up, and he tells her he will consider it. Later, Gus says something to Ace about him maybe being attracted to her, but Ace said about sexual attraction: "That ship has sailed some time ago." So, we can't expect much action from that duo. :) The other meeting was with a British or Scottish or something man on a big, fancy yacht. BTW, he was hard to understand, too. LOL. Ace obviously dislikes this guy, but is getting him in on buying the racetrack and putting in a Casino. Don't know how they're going to manage that anyway. Aren't Casinos American Indian territory in California just like here in Minnesota? Rosie comes back from Portland Meadows to ride Getting Up Morning in his next race. At SA, she is shown to the tiny room reserved for female jockeys. The last one was injured, so Rosie will be the only one in there. She's very excited about riding in her first race. Things don't go well at the beginning of the race. GUM gets off 10 lengths behind. Well, of course, you know what happens then. In an incredible burst of sustained speed, he passes everyone and wins the race. Wish my horses would run like that. :) Walter Smith gets pretty sappy over this, and talks to GUM's dead sire, hoping that he knows that this is his son and how good he is. Of course, everyone else has taken notice of how good he is too, so expect complications to arise. :) Now we see why Chantal is not playing the part of the female jockey even though she is a jockey. Partial nudity is required for the role, and we know Chantal wouldn't do that. Jill celebrates her first win in her very first race with a roll in the hay with the apprentice jockey. Well, not actually in the hay. That is just an expression, SR. :) Other than getting to celebrate with Jill, the apprentice jockey (I need to catch his name one of these times), is having a tough time controlling his weight. I'm surprised he had the energy after running and running all morning. :) Anyway, his stuttering agent is really on him to keep the weight off or he won't get rides. The agent only has two jockeys, and his other one, Ronnie Jenkins, is nursing the broken collarbone. Ronnie is having a hard time dealing with the setback. He's back on the booze and drugs and feeling sorry for himself. He even goes to some spot where a bunch of drugged bums kind of congregate. There was a segment in which Gary Stevens did a pretty good job of looking and sounding like an actor. Oh, and GUM bled from the race. Walter wiped his mouth with his hankerchief. Jo, the vet, scoped him after the race and recommended antibiotics, and lasix for racing but not needed for breezing. They showed what it looks like when bleeding inside. Escalante had seen the race too, and he tried to get some info from Jo while sitting in his boxers on the sofa. But, she wouldn't tell him anything, at least not yet. The racetrackers had seen the race too. Must have inspired them to go to the barn to see their horse. All except for Jerry, who's too busy losing all his money at the Casino. The other three go to the barn and happily feed the horse carrots. They don't know what to do about Jerry. Renzo suggests that they pool their money and re-divide it, but the one in the wheelchair says you don't fix what's wrong with a guy like him by giving him money. Probably true. The guy in the wheelchair starts feeling really sick. He's always using an oxygen mask from time to time, but now he feels worse. They want to take him to the ER, but he wants to get Jerry out of the Casino first. Jerry has left the Casino and is playing a private game at his nemesis' Chinese restaurant, and is losing there too. Nemesis keeps taunting him and getting him to bet when he shouldn't. Anyway, the gang finds him there, and he has to decide whether to stay and gamble or go with his friend to the ER. He finally decides to go. Deep down, these 4 characters seem to care about each other, and try to help each other. That's about it for this week. Annie

Well, Drill held on , at $9.60 a very nice price,i'm glad, had him a few times. They over bet CC......later for him. Lets see what Baffert, has for Oaklawn today!

*********ANNIE********** Bernard, The second race at SA today could be a race in which weight is likely to make a difference, because none of the horses have any class. :) It's a 12500CL N2L, and trainer, Doug O'Neill, appears to be going all out to get a second win for HIS BOY ELROY. Not only has he hired a successful apprentice (16%) to ride, but he is grabbing another two pounds off by running Elroy for 10,500 CL instead of 12,500. Elroy will carry 114 lbs., 9 lbs. less than he carried last time. His main rival, WARREN'S PATRON, will carry 123 lbs. These two last raced together, and both carried 123 in that race. WP beat Elroy by 2-1/4L, although Elroy was the favorite. Looks pretty likely, but odds will be terrible. :) Annie

********ANNIE******** GR3 Southwest Stakes - Division 1: BILLY'S Longview Drive 5-2 Favorite CHALKY'S Castaway 5-1 BIGEASY BIGCHOK'S Unbridled's Note 10-1 GR3 Southwest Stakes - Division 2: ALEX F'S Secret Circle - Even money Favorite and only MKB in the race. Good luck all! Let's get some more MKB winners today! Annie

bernard I agree with the other posters about the weight factor I was just giving you an example that I include in my handicapping methods. I had bet sky cape and was a little worried about the bug boy going against the better jockeys in the race a lot of them but after analyizing the replays I could see that the 5lb difference must have made a difference for sky to come back after being hooked in the lane and win the race. I have seen many times when the shift in weights has put a horse who was beat previously to reverse the loss to a win against the same horse that had beaten him before and the only difference being as one factor the weight break. I know other factors come into play the jock the distance and the track conditions but I feel you have to consider the weights in any given race in your handicapping for sure. MH01

*******ANNIE******** Curtis V Slewster, Good you joined us today, as your BASALT will try to make you proud in a 1 mile Allowance race at OP. He's 6-1, has Leparoux up, and is the only MKB horse in the race. :) Good luck! Annie

I can't get the race of the day. When I tried to download from my email, I was told the race had already happened, or some such thing! On the main page, I can't get it at all. Any advice?

Annie Thanks for looking up my tree. Won't let it happen again. And what are they going to do with GIVIMAWAY? The straight maiden races @ SA are loaded with talent right now. Maybe a trip north, or just kick back in the stall with me for a while. Clearly a Cowboy

SR Vegas, Hi Sharon! That is indeed Skype's nose in the photo. On my Facebook page you can see her whole head, LOL. I will pass along your hello to Travers. He thought taking care of thoroughbreds was high maintenance. But the 2 legged filly is really high maintenance. She is as sweet as can be but she sure does know how to push all of his buttons.

I'm not saying anything........BUTTS: Whatever........

********ANNIE*********** Jimi, Yes, I think class supersedes the weight breaks in most of the races here in the U.S. Annie

VQ; I thought you WERE an avatar (snort)!

Dan, I would like to pick the 9th race from Tampa Bay on Friday the 24th for our next handigambling contest. This flat mile on the Turf is a 32k optional claimer, and looks to be wide open. Thanks, Randy

KeithL no i didn't bet him going 2 watch the race now i guess DRF doesn't beleve in giving a lot of space 2 put up an avatar how cheap can u get VQ

Annie, And everyone else reading this! When replying to anyone, DO NOT click on the reply!! Start a new post to whom you are replyling to. Hopefully, no one will miss a reply! Copy and paste does not seem to work now. Unless, you goto the RSS feed, I think. RSS feed is that little orange box next to the comments number. Example, 258 Comments- little orange box. However, I see that the RSS feed is not current to the comments number. Let me see if I can copy and paste from earlier, a post of mine. Looks like it works. Stronaching people who wanted to change what worked VERY WELL before!!!! I need another beer!!! Copy and paste below. Keith L, This stronaching new format will not let me copy and paste!!!! Sign in to Yahoo, upper right hand side you see "Hi Keith. Click on that, you should see "profile", click that, now you should see your name. To the right you'll see 3 little pics, click on the middle pic. Now you should see an arrow pointing up next to where the avatar pic will be. Click on that arrow and choose your avatar. And, BS on scrapping HG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One thread for it! No posting selections out of the HG thread!!!! If anyone posts selections out of the HG thread, they are disqualified!!! ANNIE, Get a Yahoo account!!! lol Jeanne

Getting ready for the HP world series and thought I'd try to get some advice from the Contest Superstars (Chok and Allan abd anyone else who'd done well in tournaments) The biggest difference is that there are no mandatory races-15 optionals (and it's 3 days) First, what minimum odds do you suggest? Secondly, did you pick several contenders in a race and take best value or did you pick one horse per race and skip the race if you didn't get the price you wanted on that horse? Of course any other tips would be appreciated!

Annie" ..".How many will go back, and , back , and , back" ( okay taken a bit out of context since I didn't copy & paste , or go to the other page ...) I agree it is just easier to post ' currently' to someone , than to try to add to the' tree'. At least with the tree , one is responding to that post, and not taking anything out of context of who started the post. With the 'copy and paste' option gone from here (now)..It is one way or the other. Right now, I have also been going back through multiple posts, but it is cumbersome and time consuming to see if someone added to a 'tree'. Ok, back tomorrow with MKB workouts, and there is quite a few :) Hang in there DAN, we will work it out !!

Happy that I continued to play my girl Chantal today at SA. Played her yesterday and finished up the track...Finally got of the shnide with a $20.60 winner and $6.80 placer in the opener...Tough on finding a winner over the past few weeks, so I needed that one....Going to sit back for the week and wait for the weekend races and for the blog to settle in... well, might look at Monday's races... then take a break....Oaklawn Baby.. Good Luck All... Tons of Favorites around...Aqueduct was brutal..!!! Whackymacky Out!!!

Anonymous Annie I see my boy Currency Swap worked 4 furlongs in 47.0 handily at GP Saturday. Sounds like they are starting to get serious with him. Pretty fun ! Dick W

Well, VQ (and Curt V): Drill surprised the disbelievers with the victory in the San Vicente. Hope you had a little something on him. VQ! (I passed with the short field, myself). With Creative Cause only getting the Show today, a lot of singles in those exotics left them shalking their heads I suspect. I really love this game! Let's see how Baffert makes out tomorrow, then it will be guessing time on what plans he makes for his top three (just who those are is anyones guess now) going into the San Phillipe and Santa Anita Derby, having had to absorb an unexpected set back with Liaison and Sky Kingdom in the Robert Lewis Stakes. I'll bet having Drill come back to form so nicely has him shaking his head a bit now too! Keith L.

OK, got home in time to watch the San Vicente. CONGRATULATIONS to VIRGIN QUEEN. Your Drill could do it for 7F anyway. Martin was sure whacking at him though. JERRY'S Creative Cause ran 3rd, but he is certainly prepping for longer, so not to worry. No MKB exacta today, but it certainly would have been a tiny one anyway if it had come in. Annie

Ran Manley BTW, ..Is that Skype's nose pointing into the side of your picture? Please pass along a Hello to Travers, I hope he and the 'fillys' in his life are all happy :)

A bit frivolous , but .. These avatar pictures are soooo tiny here on the Blog, what is the point ? Now, now, before anyone gets riled up, I like them and I am sure some are very creative :) PGM ( heylaserbeam) HEY! I can barely see you peeking out from behing the twitter bird .. Bear and Dan Illman in the AP paddock , Ray Manley, knowing what a handsome devil you are in person, I can barely see you all. BTW, nice to see you posting, my best to your lovely wife. So any thoughts ? I'd like to fiqure out how to add one of my own eventually ...But who's going to see my PGH? LOL!

Whackymacky ...just tuned into Calracing.com, to watch the San Vicente...and who do I see? Vegas Rules in race #6 get bet down to 8/5..and what do I think..Bridgejumper? Vegas ran 4th, and the 3 longest shots on the board go 1-2-3 'Place' pays were 23.60, 10.80, 11.80 .. and the exotics paid HUGH!! Maybe this field had too many horses to consider that strategy (10) but I was thinking about you. Now let's see what happens in the San Vicente.. scratched down to 4 horses, bummer. Good luck VQ (Drill) and jerry (Creative Cause) with your MKB horses.

Meathead, Having been gambling for so many years I know from experience that weight is one of the most critical factors in assessing Euro races. The particular race you described sounds a good US equivalent. That said, I think the posters on the previous thread made some good points about weight not being as big a factor in US races - flat tracks unlike the UK, far fewer real handicaps and the different style (pace) of racing. But it will always be some part of my betting. Best Regards - Bernard Downes

******ANNIE******** I looked at the results for the first couple of races at SA today. The winner of the first race was 4-1 M/L, she paid $20.00 The winner of the second race was also a 4-1 M/L horse, he paid $16.00. I'm telling you, the oddsmaker at SA knows what he is talking about. :) Annie

Another English Channel vicotor on the Turf at GP in Irish Sea's Maiden breaker in the 9th. Looks like Right Angle should go back to dirt for Mott, imo. 38-1 closing odds would have been nice with the WPS on him, but oh well! As to the San Vicente turning into a 4 horse race, it's watchable only. I know they need a 7f for the late starters, but looks like with Creative Cause coming in there a lot got scared off. Too bad! Keith L.

********ANNIE******** Jerry, OK, I will do that, but I have to go out for awhile, so it would be a bit later. Good luck today! Annie

Highly recommended! Go to Bloodhorse.com and on first page Latest Features you'll find a slide show link to Anne Eberhard's photos of Rachel Alexandra and her cute little bugger frolicing together in winter quarters pasture at Stoner Street Farm. Also, feature two is Steve Haskins new edition of his Derby Dozen and those "knocking" at the door. Keith L.

*******ANNIE******** Jeanne, Yes, I think that is the only way we are going to be able to easily see everyone's replies. For instance, your post to me is already on the second page, so I am answering you here instead of putting a branch on your "tree", because if you don't go back and look, you'll never see my reply to you. And if you don't come back here for several hours, it may be even further back. What were they thinking? For a blog with this many posts, it just won't work. I have purposely gone back and back and back, and have caught many nice replies that most will never even see. How many people are even going to do that? Annie

No scrapping the HG, please ! Dick W

Gulf Stream 2-19-12 I like a horse in the 8th race today #7 Guns and Religion looks like he may be the one to beat in this mile turf race he is three for three in the exacta at this distance. Ill tie him with #2 Tohs Grey Cat and #11 Ha Long Bay in the exactas. In the seventh #9 Solar dOro looks like a play back after thre months off and saez stays after getting the maiden win in last. good luck today all MH01

bernard I see you have been commenting on what weight plays in a race well I have an example for you in the ninth at santa anita on saturday #9 Sky Cape looked to be home free deep stretch but along came #3 stoneside alongside and put his nose in front but sky cape fought back and regained the lead by a neck or there abouts for a come back win. the weights were #9 116 and #3 121 a diference of 5 lbs. weight does mean a lot in the races in my opinion otherwise sky would have lost the race. what say you sir. MH01

I do hate be a whiner but c'mon DRF if you are going to do away with one annoying bulletin board format why are you going to a system that is clearly just as annoying? There are so many more bulletin board/forum platforms out in the cyber-universe that are being used and have been used successfully for years. Oh well I do feel better now that I've said that. It is one hour to post time here in Cali. I better get my head back in the paper and see what I can find. Good luck all and have an enjoyable three day weekend!

oooops

VICTORY!!!!!!!

OverturnH8, I took a long look at the place photo for the Santa Maria. And I have to agree with you. By the smallest of margins it does appear that the inside horse (the 3) nipped the outside horse (the 7). The stewards do not rule on the photos, the placing judges, however, do. I would assume (you know what happens when you do that) the placing judges called for a finished print and took a magnifying glass to the print to determine the correct positions. It is really, really tight. But I think with the print and the glass you could determine the proper finish. That is a tough beat.

Gulfstream's 9th is a MSW for 3 year olds going 1&1/8th on the Turf. Chad Brown's #4 Irish Sea (an English Channel) is a deserving 3-1 ML fav off his 2nd in his debut here in Jan, and Paco Lopez stays with him. However, I like the odds better on both the Mott runners here, #6 Right Angle (by Rock Hard Ten out of Dynaformer mare), who is 12-1 ML after his 6th place finish (basically ran evenly) in his debut 1/19, and #7 Reserve Currency (also by Rock Hard Ten out of a Lemon Drop Kid mare) who is 8-1 ML and ran a decent 5th in his debut on 1/19. Maragh replaces Lezcano on the former here, while Laparoux is back off his winning ride on daddy Nose Best in the El Camino Real yesterday to take the reigns on Reserve Currency. Wagers: Win/Place on the #7 W/P/S on the #6 Exacta Box: #4,#6,#7 Trifecta Box #4,#6,#7. Keith L.

bobc and Annie: Thanks for the help, and here I am! VQ (aka ?Drunk Chic"): No "men's diapers on the sunny beach apparrel" for me, dear. Just a younger version of Hugh Hefner (albeit with "Silver Fox" like hair) in a bedroom locale clad in a gray robe, (and not much else). Avatar's up, and I'm ready for business! LOL! Keith L.

Fellow FormBloggers, I played around and tinkered with FormBlog 3.0 and I'll give a report of its observations. I wanted to wait, as I had another committment to tackle first, namely, writing for Thorofan on the San Vicente. Thorofan is a site that Laura (Iron Maidens) wrote for before for the Davis S. at Tampa Bay. The direct link is at http://www.thorofan.com/backend/News/csNews.cgi?database=THOROFAN_Handicappers.db&command=viewone&id=1&op=t If the link is bad, it should be in the "Handicapper's Corner" section of the Thorofan Main site. Laura of Iron Maidens has written for them in the past, most recently the Davis S. at Tampa Bay Observations: 1) Users who are experiencing the issue of their name changing randomly may find an alternative solution by switching to or signing up for GMail. I recommend it also because it's fairly easy to set up two accounts there. When I organized the first FormBlog Convention at Arlington in 2010, I had my personal account and another account with the second account handling all the convention-related things, q-and-a with attendees, conversations with Arlington Park, etc. You can set it up to automatically forward from one account to the other, which is helpful in that it allows the secondary account to catch all the yucky spam. If you're leery about switching e-mail account.s, try setting up a dummy account with your present e-mail provider that contains the name you want to use on FormBlog. 2) A new feature on the new blog is the ability to critique comments. These are the thumbs up/thumbs down icons that appear at the bottom right of the comment scene. The thumbs up/thumbs down function like the "+1" feature on Google/Google Plus and the "Like" feature on Facebook. 3) (Appears on Firefox and unknown to appear on other browsers) If you move your mouse around near the thumbs icons, a gray flag will appear. By clicking the flag on the comment, you have the opportunity to denote the comment as inappropriate and (most likely) an e-mail is sent to Dan or to other members of DRF's Technical Support. 4) Those who have Twitter and/or Facebook have the opportunity to link what is posted on FormBlog to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. It is a *voluntary* decision, and if you leave all the boxes unchecked, the post won't appear on the Facebook Feed, or Twitter Feed, or etc. I will use this feature, but that's also because I use Twitter for horse racing, for promoting handicapping works, etc. That said, the name wlll be "heylaserbeam" for the intent it DOES get co-mingled with my Twitter Feed. But I will sign posts at the bottom as PGM for the purpose of continiuity. ----PGM

******ANNIE******* Good luck today to JERRY (Creative Cause) and VIRGIN QUEEN (Drill) in the San Vicente! Let's have an MKB exacta! Annie

******ANNIE******* Ray Manley, I did see your latest post to me attached as a branch of the "tree". But, only because I am purposely going back and checking, just to see how this is NOT working. :) As far as ONE SOCK DOWN, well, you can't expect to have the Derby winner every year, now can you? :) Annie

Here is what DRF needs to do to make this blog easy to use for Dan and easy to use for us. Send Uncle Steve an e-mail and ask him to make this thing work. And PAY Uncle Steve for his services. Should Uncle Steve accept the offer, I guarantee everyone will end up happy.

Dan, 02/19/2012 Hawthorne 2 Smart Masterpiece 6 Rack Daddy 7 Team of heart 8 Remembermealways Thanks, chicago gerry

Well, It seems I still don't have it right with Yahoo!!! Annie, To get rid of the tree thingy, just start a new post? Do not click on reply? Jeanne

Keith....bad idea on scrapping the hg, we all like it.....and this new format is not as hard as some peopleare making it. Some people will move on, so bye bye to them, new people will join in, so welcome to them. In time every thing will filter out.......and then it will be business as usual.

*******ANNIE******** OK, here's why this "tree" business does not work on a blog that attracts hundreds of posts. Pages ago, P Ensign posted a comment to me. I replied and my comment attached right after. So far, so good. But now P Ensign recently added another comment to that "tree" which I just happened to see because I was checking back to see if other replies had been made. But, really, how cumbersome, and who besides me is even likely to do that? The "tree" concept might work fine on blogs where there is only one topic, and the "tree" just keeps getting taller and taller. But, you know FormBlog has never been limited to just one topic per thread. HA! There are always many discussions going on at the same time. I checked the "other" blog and there's all of 3 comments on the latest thread and 20 some on the previous one. Riposte had jokingly said here earlier that DRF should change the format every week as Dan's blog had more posts than ever. That was back when there was about 149. Not true, hundreds of posts are the norm here. :) Anyway, I guess the only thing that would work for us is to have a weekly Handigambling thread with the requirement that all HG wagers most be posted there (that would make a Redwood tree), and for everything else, just post a new comment whenever replying to someone or continuing a particular discussion and ignore the Reply button. JMO Annie

Hi DRF Executive Staff,, "If it's not broke, don't fix it!" Obviously, I'm referring to your new blog system. You made a simple process very complicted. I guess you wish to discourage any comments. Why not fold your tent and slip into the Sunset? In the meantime, fire your software team! Any attempt to improve a computer product should be friendly user. You have failed miserably on all counts. Solution: I will propbably keep my commentary to myself and enjoy beating the ponies. I never did need the DRF staff or other handicappers comments to score1 Adious and Goodby! Diceman

********ANNIE********* Bernard, Check out the photos on Barbara Livingston's latest thread. There is a photo of your ALGORITHMS resting on the floor of his stall. :) MKB OWNERS: Barbara has nice big color photos of many of the MKB horses on her blog. Unfortunately, no FORWARD MARCH. That could be because he hasn't done anything yet. :) Annie

Keith L Not sure if this will help with your Avatar problem or not. Make sure after choosing your Avatar that you Save it by hiiting the Save button at the bottom of the page where you choose and edit your Avatar. The first time I tried, I did not see the Save button as you need to scroll down to see it.

Keith L, This stronaching new format will not let me copy and paste!!!! Sign in to Yahoo, upper right hand side you see "Hi Keith. Click on that, you should see "profile", click that, now you should see your name. To the right you'll see 3 little pics, click on the middle pic. Now you should see an arrow pointing up next to where the avatar pic will be. Click on that arrow and choose your avatar. And, BS on scrapping HG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One thread for it! No posting selections out of the HG thread!!!! If anyone posts selections out of the HG thread, they are disqualified!!! ANNIE, Get a Yahoo account!!! lol Jeanne

Dick W Thanks for noticing the PH results. I stole the "slam the form shut" from Ron Zuercher. Would have been better to have not lost the El Camino by a nose, but 2/4 with positive ROI is a pretty good place to be. Good luck to all today.

*************************D I c k W************************* Hi ***********************ANNIE******************************

It's not a ton of money, but I feel ripped off by the Santa Anita's stewards (or whomever actually makes the decisions regarding photo finishes) in today's Santa Maria Stakes. I had a decent sized (for me) exacta from Ellafitz - --> Miss Mittagong. The exacta was paying $13 until the last stride when Miss Mittagong (supposedly) got dead heated at the wire for second by Vision in Gold. Also, had a WPS on Miss Mittagong at an overlayed 19-1. Thanks to the deadheat I got a whopping $5.80 as well as a lower place payoff with second choice Vision in Gold eating into my $$$. The problem is that everyone I have shared the photo finish with clearly sees the #3 in second alone -- even with the lower resolution -- I can only imagine the higher resolution would be more damning. Anyone else notice this today? Have a similar wager? Here is a link to the photo: http://santaanita.com/sites/default/files/2.18.12.r8.jpg - robertSD PS. Though I was initially excited about the new blogging software I am not fully committed, but hopefully they can improve some things. One thing I would like to see would be pages rather than the simply clicking for more comments -- makes it tough to keep track. Also, using my Twitter account pulls both my name there (you could make one specifically for here) and photo for those having anonymous issues!

Testing a made up a twitter account with a fake name and no info. I hate facebook and twitter and all of it. This kind of crap is annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now have gone through a third intermediary LiveJournal) and still can't get the "yuwipi" handle to head a comment. Ugh! If I didn't think so much of DRF I would just give it up!!

******ANNIE******* SR Vegas, FINDER, the failed racehorse that became the star of WARRIOR HORSE will appear in an episode of CSI Miami tomorrow night. Bo Derek will also be in the episode. Annie

Ah Ha !!! It took awhile, but now finally, DRF is recognizing my change in my yahoo profile from Richard W to Dick W. Not that it was that big of a deal. Ned Daly...you slammed the form shut on the right horses. Nice job. Nice job to the others who had 2 winners in PH. Me and BSB got a fishcake at Turf Paradise. Dick W

"Testing... testing...Anonymous...Anonymous..." Looks like a General Message board for self-inflicted Identity Theft (Amnesia-Related Symptoms). Don Reed (02/18/12)

Nope! An suggestions?

A string of Place finishes for me in the HG contest today, two by only a nose separating them from victory. Still, on the two I wagered on. got my money back and then some, havng the Place/Show payouts on 7-1 Troilus in the GP Champ Sprint and the $40 Tri (cheap, but I'l take it), and the Place on Lucky Chappy in the El Camino. Baffert did well to get Oaklawn to split his entries into the two divisions of the Southwest Stakes. I guess they see a benefit in having him ship in. but if I were one of the local trainers I'd be hard put to keep biting my tongue over that. Still can't figure out how to get my Yahoo Avatar up! Exported to both Facebook and Yahoo Network, but no go. Will try signing out and back in, and see is he magically appears. Keith L.

Annie, If that is so it makes it hard to keep the HG in tact as you would have to keep scrolling back to find the thread to post on. And then whoever decides to be scorekeeper will have to keep sorting. Alo how do you find responses to specific postings? mpm101

2 mins post GG. Wish odds betterr but think Nakatani will be patient and sit in good postion and then make move. At least hope so. mpm101

I still do not understand when I hit the orange rss box and go to that location it shows only 120 postings while the blog says there are 183. Do some ge t" lost in space mr robinson" or is there another reason mpm101

test- test - test - who will appear : Anonymous or SR Vegas :)

We are all anonymous sometimes,Thank you SR and hopfully he can live upto the MKB honor. He does seem to be the class of the race. Late P4 at Sa 37/2/23/12,10 mpm101

Dan, I feel the most sorry for you - you set up and nurtured the longest and best horseplaying blog around and changes are made (I'm sure without your input) that threaten all of your hard work. I never thought I would ever say this, but tell your DRF bosses to.....Bring Back CAPTCHA! I'll never complain again about my comments ending up in "Captcha Hell"! Did that Captcha Denial go through to Formblogia or is it somewhere in an "internet boiler room" in Kazakhstan? Are we leaving you and Formblog? No, you are still stuck with us! We will stay and we will conquer any new blog software threat thrown at us! Formblog über alles!

MPM101 Well, I became' anonymous' again That was my note about your HANDSOME MIKE , and Mike and Dan liking him in the El Camino in the Race of the Day video.' I'm going to have to fiqure this out ,because as I post this my moniker says 'SR Vegas'...

Trying again. I hope someone had Mamma Kimbo in race 6 at SA. She was a blue baby, a Discreet Cat out of Bag Lady Jane. The splits were sub 22, sub 44, sub57 with a sub 108 finish and she was on the pace every step of the way. I'm guessing we won't be seeing 6-1 on her for awhile.

Spot play... SA Late Pick 4 $.50 cent play 3,7,10 / 6,7 / 3,5,8 / 1,2,3,4 = $36.00 x 10 tickets Play Win Money on #6 Great Hot in the 8th ($300) and the #1 What A Rush in the 10th, also $300 to Win. See if Ms Sutherland can bring home a couple of winner's..... Good Luck!!! Whackymacky Out!!!

Oaklawn Park Race 10. #7 Lightly Wound comes out of a Gulfstream Park MSW race that has produced three winners, two places and a show horse. This will be Lightly Wound's second time around around two turns a OP. Ron Moquette and Calvin Borel make a pretty strong pairing to put the cherry on the cake. 8/1 on the ML doesn't hurt.

I am giving the new format a whirl. Animal Kingdom looked great on the weeds today.

MPM101 Dan & Mike both like your MKB HANDSOME MIKE for the El Camino Derby 'Race of the Day' video. Enjoyed the video Dan ,you guys looked good :) I have an eye on Russian Greek . My uncle likes him, and so did Mike Beers. and let's see if the Hollendorfer filly runs with the boys here. Lady of Fifty ...that's in my demographic, LOL! Good Luck !!.

How about a caveman pick-4 Santa Anita R7 1,3,5,7 with 2,3 with 1,3,4,5 with 3,8,10 $48 That's how I played it, its a toughie Good luck today!!!!

***********ANNIE************ OK, down to business. MKB UPDATE: BRUTUS' Sir Bond won on Thursday. (Where's poor Brutus?) Today, MPM'S Handsome Mike will represent the MKB in the GR3 El Camino Real Derby. Go, MIKE! And, tomorrow in the GR2 San Vicente: JERRY'S Creative Cause will go head to head with VIRGIN QUEEN'S Drill. In the first division of the GR3 Southwest Stakes on Monday, three MKBs have ended up in the same division: BIGEASY BIGCHOK'S Unbridled's Note BILLY'S Longview Drive CHALKY'S Castaway That leaves ALEX F'S Secret Circle (Baffert) as the only MKB in the second division of the race. :) Much luck everyone! Annie

Dan, Don't know why my user name says Joe? So I guess its OK til I get it straightend out. chicago gerry

Dan, Some of my picks below: Hawhorne 5th Easwood Dacat 6th Big Smooth 7th Test Market 8th Taptowne 9th Sicomoro Gulfstream 10th Bold Warrior 11th Dr Maureen H Thanks

I took Troilus over Force Freeze in the GP Sprint Championship based on his cutting back from the two 1 mile races and his third off the layoff form...he sprinted at this distance well enough at Saratoga in MSWs early on. W/P/S on Troilus, and over Captain Candy Can Man and Force Freeze for the Exacta. The Captain may have lost a step or two, but he is a fovorite of mine, and I have made a sum of money on him in the past years. I took Lucky Chappy today over Russian Greek as my W/P wager (and my Exacta) as the shipper who has faced toughest competition. Garcia fits the Motion horse, and the latter gets a bump up here based on his local success. Asmussen's Daddy Nose Best with Laparoux looks tough to, and I boxed those three for my trifecta here. Keith L.

Wow! For some reason, my monikor did not appear and I became ANONYMOUS in my last post. Sorry folks... The note to bobc, Reposte, MKB workouts and entries were posted by moi' SR Vegas.

okey, dokey ...let's see if my copy and paste skills work in this new format. :) bobc I can not copy & paste the text from these posts here (unfortunate, as that WAS an option of the old format) but I can from the 'orange box/RSS ' side that someone recommended ( maybe you?) Reposte/Don Reed I wanted to 'copy and paste' your copy and paste comments made in an earlier 'reply'. One can only read the text here. On the orange box/RSS page one can read, copy and paste from there. BUT, there are no 'replys' listed under any of the indiviual posts on that RSS page. I believe they are referred to as 'trees' ? Bummer, at least it would have been an option. Dan Perhaps your DRF IT geeks can look into it and hopefully wouk out some of the bugs? BTW Reposte I am totally lost in most things IT and not very computer-literate. I manage when I need to. But I got a smile regarding your option #7. Thanks for the laugh. (I get mine at the local casino, if I need to :) ------------------------------------------ MKB workouts : missed one on 2/13/12 Santa Anita - Dirt/fast Brother Francis - 4F 0.51.00 Handily - TurmbacktheAlarm ---------- 2/17/12 Palm Meadows - Dirt/fast Battled Hardened - 4F 0:49.80 Breezing - Jeff T Fair Grounds - Dirt/fast Exfactor - 4F 0:50.00 Breezing - Swede Oaklawn Park- Dirt/fast Longview Drive - 4F 0:48.20 Breezing - Billy Belmont Park - dirt training /fast A Boy Named EM - 5F 1:01.75 Breezing - Keith L ... A Bullet! Payson Park - dirt/fast Forward March - 3F 0:38.00 Breezing - Annie ------------ 2/18/12 Gulfstream Park - dirt/fast Dullahan - 5F 1:01.80 Breezing - MSD Takes the Gold - 5F 1:02.00 Breezing - AnneM Palm Meadows - Dirt/fast Casual Trick - 5F 1:00.41 Breezing - knm / IMS Motor City - 4F 0:51.12 Breezing - Dave B Belmont Park - dirt training /fast My Adonis - 5F 1:00.27 Breezing - okiesharp ... A Bullet! Hollywood Park - All Weather/fast Empire Way - 5F 1:01.80 Handily - Yogi B-L-I-N-G-O - 6F 1:12.00 Handily - Dan our Man ...A Bullet! MKB Entries: In the "split" 1M 250K Southwest Stakes at Oaklawan Park on Monday. Race #8 Castaway - Chalky / IMS Unbridled's Note - BigEasyBigChok Longview Drive - longwaytomay http://www.drf.com/race-entries/OP/USA/2012-02-20/D/8 Race #9 Secret Circle - Alex F http://www.drf.com/race-entries/OP/USA/2012-02-20/D/9 Basalt - Curt V (or is it You Feel Lucky ? ) 1M 24K allow at Oaklawn Park on Monday ...didn't quite make the SW field :( http://www.drf.com/race-entries/OP/USA/2012-02-20/D/10 Good Luck! ------------------------------------

How To Improve Our Racing Social Media: Frustrated, like everyone else, I called Andi, our neighborhood computer whiz. He suggested the following instructions. They should eliminate the confusion now being created by the system changes forced upon us. 1) Create your own social media icons. Design & create 25 or 50 of them. Having already memorized the connection between the pre-existing 2949 media icons & the function that they represent, increasing the number of icons will increase your social media efficiency. It just stands to reason. He also suggested creating your own personal icons for "I lost the photo" [a "K," for Kodak]; "My horse broke down" [a "Red Cross"]; "I've been unfairly DQ'ed!" [picture of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus], etc. Why waste time typing? Just hit one button - your personal social media protest is launched! 2) Create additional personal passwords/identities that correspond to your 2949 pre-existing icons (one per icon). Repeat exercise, for the 25-50 new ones. You are now "Rabbit/Horse/Cleveland Bagel/Buzzard 4591/Fire Hydrant #6," etc. Each identity fits like a glove. Not even members of your family will know who you are. Remain anonymous forever! 3) Immediately cease caring about spelling words correctly. With this new system, there's no Spellcheck function. You're off the hook! If you've only typed six of the actual twelve letters in the word "thoroughbred," no sweat. Close enough. 4) Keep honing your computer social media skills as a substitute for using this blog site for its original purpose, HANDICAPPING. This will help you forget that you're already $2,369 in the hole, year-to-date, since January 1st. 5) The greeting card industry is ailing. Help them. Send a condolence card (not an email!) to every person above who has posted a message of desperation to DRF about not being able to post. (Andi writes for Hallmark on the side & will collect commissions generated by the enactment of this suggestion. I get a cut.) 6) Next, throw all your stamps & envelopes away. The U.S. post office, already on its last legs, will cease to exist. Then, when our poorly-maintained, patch-worked national electrical grid explodes in a final spasm of white-hot smoke, the ultimate expression of social media will be achieved. Dead silence. 7) This will force you to retreat to your local newsstand/liquor store, where physical copies of DRF might just still be available in time for you to tackle tomorrow's Pick Six carryover. No more useful advice from the internet handicappers - you're on your own now. Good luck! Don Reed (02/18/12)

Annie, I see your giving it the college try. I am not using aol.....so cant help.

Nancy B, Oh yeah, we value Dan's blog alright. We will obviously go thru hell and high water to post here, and since we value our names so much, wade through mud and quicksand to get our names right. LOL! Annie

PH thoughts Only "slammed the form shut" on two of these today. 10th at Gulfstream - Force Freeze 7th at Turfway Park - Derive Good luck to all. Hang in there Dan.

No doubt that Ellafitz is the horse to beat in the Santa Maria today but she could be a bit vulnerable since it is difficult for any horse to put together more than a pair of superior races. She has had difficulty in the past doing this. I like Great Hot. This 4YO Avila trained mare likes the dirt and this is her third off a layoff. Chantal keeps the mount and there is no doubt she can get them home . Right Whacky?

Testing again. Annie

Testing. Annie

What out for all Bridge Jumper play against plays today!!!! First at Aqueduct, Animal Kingdom, others.... Watch the boards around if you can... Good Luck!!! Whackymacky out!!!

good morning I got my name back thanks for the help Have a great day and good luck to all

Alex, Got it!! I hope. lol Jeanne

OK, is it me or is Black Caviar getting a free ride to pad onto her winning streak??? Yes, she can run, but against what?? Just like The Big Z, she ran against nothing much until her last race, and we saw what happened... time to stop letting these winning streaks to become real and not not just for the hype and big crowds... I might be wrong, but with 6 horse fields running against Zenyatta and Black Caviar, what is the real test????? JMO !!!! Whackymacky Out!!! PS Zenyatta was a fantastic runner, but look at what she ran against, and where she ran... Still amazing at what she did, but........

NancyB(?), Thanks, I did see your Black Caviar post. But I have yet to catch a recording of the race. The Aussie fans have been blogging like mad on the Racing Post website, and their praise is through the roof. I don't worry too much myself about times, but they are claiming a very good race time, including an exceptional mid race acceleration. I have not read anything to suggest she won't go to Dubai. Have you? Annie, Your TV show Luck got a good mention this morning on our Saturday racing programme. Coincidentally, the presenter's name is Nick Luck, the number one racing presenter in the UK. Best Regards - Bernard Downes

Hi guys, So happy to see the new format, look forward to joining back in with new found enthusiasm, its been a while.

Another DRF idea that they cannot execute without serious flaws. Remember you website redesign you scheduled for the beginning of the Saratoga meet a few years ago? What a disaster, and that's what finally led me to drop DRF altogether and get my pp's from a cheaper and better source. Wonder if this will even be posted.

Hope everyone gets their tech problems worked out.......we got horse racing to talk about.

Just a note to say that I was able to edit my Yahoo e-mail account to get my name changed from Omaha to Bear. I was also able to change the generic Yahoo background to this picture of Dan Illman and me in the walking ring area at Arlington Park at Formblog Convention One. I wish it were more of a close up but this is the only one I had. Dan is, of course, the good looking guy on the left :-)

I would love to talk to the IT guys at DRF. There are definitely some oddities with this new format. The "anonymous" head is only anonymous here. The picture I chose shows up at other places. I have also noticed that the "like" and "dislike" buttons work when you are signed in, but the next time you log in, none of them are shown. I guess they launched without checking for bugs first. Hang in there Dan, this too shall pass.................

Back to horse racing Working on this weeks PH and I see in the 8th at Tampa the trainer stats for the #1 Western Prospector. Do my eyes deceive me? Is Jamie Ness really 43 for 90 this year? Is he really a 33% winner for 2011-2012? Has the J/T team of Leandro Goncalves and Ness won 51% of their 51 starts in the last 60 days? I know the world is upside down this week, but still. Any help out there?

I like and dislike this format. It's easy since I'm a member of Facebook, but what if I have zero interest in social media? Why should I have to be a member of anything to sound off? There should remain an area where people can prove that they are not "bots" and then post. This way, they are not subjected to signing up for these places.

I hope that we can get back to the Sport of King's!!! I could use a few winner's!!! The past few weeks have been tough.... The world is full of change everyday, and I think that this new change in the blog will take some time and we will be fine at the end. Annie I don't know if you play GG at all, but yesterday, the 50 cent pick 5 came back $8,265.75. $7.80 / $16.40 / $6.60 / $9.80 / $4.20 Baze had 2 of the 5 winner's.... I know that it is not as easy as it looks, but 4 of the 5 were A's according to the morning line...We are talking 50 cent play's here, not $2 pick 6 plays.... BSB I did make a mistake in reguard in what I was thinking about Annie and her pick 5 play's... I wanted to get her selection's and add money to the play's so that 'I" could hit some of these pick 5's. I would give her a bankroll if she needed it, but I would charge 2 points a week instead of the 3 points a week like the chump on Luck!! LOL :) Check out Brad Free's article about how you don't have to be a whale to hit a big one... Good luck with the new format and good luck at the races all!!! Whackymacky Out!!!

Curiouser and curiouser. Now that I created an AOL account -- so I could have a tabula rasa without links to make my contacts or other PII, I too can not log out although I don't seem to be logged in either. And even though it says welcome Nanzyb, I see I'm rendered anonymous, by the software. Also can't find the way to exchange the avatar, but I will diligently try to apply what others have recommended to fix it but meanwhile -- there's some horse racin' goin' on! Hours ago I mentioned that Black Caviar would be going for a record #19 tonight and I hope that Bernard(at least) - on whose branch of the tree I inadvertently posted took note and maybe even saw it. It was truly an epic run by both the mare and Hay List, who ran his heart out trying to beat her. Connections don't seem to have decided whether to go to Dubai with her, but seem to have Ascot as their ultimate goal. I'm wondering now if, having seen how easy the stretchout to 7f was for her, they aren't imagining at least trying her at a mile. In any case she does seem something really special. I've been wondering why it is that most of racing's exciting performers of recent years have been female. One thought is that only the truly athletic and promising young females are put into serious training, since the well-bred ones from good families are assured of some value as breeding stock, whereas our post-agricultural society really has no alternative use for the males and so the only way to monetize them is to put them into training, no matter how unpromising. Dan -- have you got a picture of how much we all value this blog?

jimi, I never do anything to change things. I am an ignoramus on computers. I sign in to the various websites that I use and thats it. When I sign in here with my AOL details, it tells ME I am from Great Britain. The DRF site has always known that I believe and thats why I saw £ signs on Entries racecards instad of $ (at least thats my theory). Best Regards - Bernard Downes

Johnny Paycheck said *take this job&shove it* i say,take this new Format&Shove it Baba Looey

Annie, I don't know if this will be of any help, but I am able to get to Manage My Account on AOL after I log on by putting the cursor over the word Help. A drop down menu appears with one of the choices being Manage My Account. You can click on it and find options, one being mail. Click on mail. Once I got to this point I attempted to edit my information but failed. Hope you have better success. If not consider Yahoo. It seems to be much more user freindly.

A so far frustrating night. Yahoo will not let me utilize "yuwipi" as an alias, although posting through it is a seamless experience. Tried WordPress, got my handle, but can't post. Seems their log in box is not enabled. The battle continues.

Oh oh, I went to AOL to see if I could get my name to come up as TBTA suggested. But, now the page no longer comes up, "Welcome so and so." And gives no place to go to "My Account" so I could edit. This is even if I am logged out of DRF. The really strange thing, is that the page has no log out feature on there. Apparently, I now can't log out of AOL. It's like Hotel California. I can never leave. Anyone else run into this? MPM, I see what you're saying, but there is no box for AOL below the comment box. I think that shows the other options you can share with other than the one you are using ? I really didn't want to share with any of those society- ruining entities (JMO), including AOL, but yet here I am. ANNIE

I figured out the answer to my Copy post. I was able to click on the orange box next to the # Comments. That brought me to the page where the blog format is more familiar and allows one to copy the post. However, replies to posts do not appear on that page.

Bernard Downes Have you tried or succeeded in entering England as your country?

Has anyone attempted to Copy a post and been successful? I have been able to paste a post in the Comment box but I have not been successful in trying to copy a post.

Thought I was lost but now I’m Backkkkk!!!!! No longer do I have to live in the land of “Anonymity”. Had to use Yahoo though. Sorry TBTA as precise as your instructions were my AOL screen was different and very uncooperative. But taking notice of Alan using a long ago forgotten account, I decided to give Yahoo a shot. Since I have never used that account I figured it couldn’t hurt. This might be a viable choice for anyone who wants to post but does not already have a network that can be found in the drop down box. Things are looking Sunny once again!!!

test

Go to the main page & if you sign in it will say "HI, _____" in the upper right. Click on it and you go to your profile. There should then be an edit option in the upper right there...

It worked!!!!! just a test all MH01

Alex, Would you be so kind as to give detailed instructions on how to upload a picture for the avatar on Yahoo?? Pretty please??? lol It was so much easier on The Squirrel board for me then Yahoo!! Jeanne

Sorry forgot to sign my name Jerry

Still getting anonymous name and generic picture Any idea on what Im doing wrong

test number 2 Jerry

Good afternoon all This is my test I will be in later to talk about Creative Cause running Sun

Annie, UUncheck the AOL box beneath where you type your comment. It is a share with box so whatever you type is shared with that entity mpm101

Oh My: Hovdey is back with his loving description of the infamous Spinal Tap album cover he has blogged about before in his latest offering, this time used in support of Dr. Hansen's request to color his horses mane and tail in brilliant hues matching his silks. His strained logic in descrubing a naked girl smeared head to toe in glistening oil and down on all fours with a leash attached to a dog collar around her neck and a mans long arm extending holding a glove to her nose to sniff as being the least offensive of what was planned by the cover artist as an argument comparable to what Hansen wanted to be able to do is a bit strained, imo. But...! If VQ gets hold of him (even in cyber space) he is doomed...doomed I say! Keith L.

This is gonna be interesting.......... If you need to open an email account, click on the windows live icon and create a new email address. I used pippen as my first name and 0707 as my last name.. it appears here as pippen 0707 just like i wanted. Hope this helps...

sent in a post yesterday..don't see it..I am trying again...Joe L.

Now eveeryone can become the ubiquitous anonymous.

Annie, L.ook to see if you checked the AOL box underneath the comment writing box. That may be why it is posting on AOL. mpm101

hello!

yo

I am happy to be Anonymous above the post, but me, the whole me and nothing but me underneath. Best Regards - Bernard Downes

This is Bear. I agree with Alan that we all need to work with this new format and continue posting. I set up a new e-mail account with Yahoo and used Omaha as my first name and Bear as my last name and this is what I got. I tried to put in a picture later but it does not show up. If you want a picture, I think you need to do it when you first set up your new e-mail account.

test # 4, first two failed, third appeared, then dissapeared DOM

One thing, DO NOT trusted the graded entries odds that are included with the PPs. Those are not the M/L odds. Not a bit. I had to redo my sheets after GG M/L finally came up. I went by the graded entries odds, and they are way off. GG is my contest race for tomorrow and I thought I would get a head start. NOT. Annie

So, here's a tip to ease the transition... If you have/create a Yahoo account, which I'm pretty sure is real simple, you get to manage your own profile, i.e. name, &c. As you can see I was able to make my name my name (rather than my yahoo login or email) by editing my Yahoo profile. I was also able to upload this sweet picture for a logo/avatar thing. I would recommend that to anyone who wants control of their moniker, photo, &c...

Ok, here is another helpful hint. If you are going to follow my directions, don't be signed in here and trying to sign in on AOL mail at the same time. Make a handwritten or Microsoft word doc of the directions and then complete them. I just tried to add some other instructions by flipping back and forth between screens and AOL completely fritzed out on me. How to make a cool picture next to your name instead of the "Anonymous" head. Sign in to AOL mail. Locate where it says "HI Your screen name" Next to your screen name is the "Anonymous" head. Click on it. After you click on it, "edit" will appear at the bottom of the head. You will see a box labeled "expressions" with a bunch of categories to browse. Click on the one that appeals to you. I picked "Peace" When you find an icon that appeals to you, click on it. The word "apply" will appear. Click on that. The next time you see your sign in screenname, your chosen screen name and the icon will appear. See how I just went from a Dove with an Olive branch to a Peace sign. If I can figure it out, anyone can.......really!

KNM, I see our TWIRLING CANDY went to stud at Lane's End for $15,000. He's going to make babies. :) ANNIE

TBTA, I was looking up at the top of the page and not right above the comments. I am not posting this as a reply because it seems you may have to go deep into the comments to ultimately find it. I agree with Bernard better to just put a new posting than use reply if you want to be read. mpm101

I did it. I did it and you can too!!!!!!! AOL users, Here's how to become "not anonymous"! First, sign in to your AOL mail. Second, in the top right hand corner, under your screen name is a button named "options", click it. Third, click on "my account" Fourth, click on change or manage screen name. Fill in what you would want to use and save that change. Presto, in a couple of hours, you will be able to sign in with your chosen screen name.

Hi TBTA, I don't fear it, but us old dogs don't like change. I do like the idea of everyone posting HG picks to one thread. That at least makes sense. So far my Firefox doesn't buy the orange box thing though. And since I use Linux, IE isn't an option.

test # 3, couldn't post from Chrome DOM

I'm not gonna curse, I'm not gonna curse, I'm not gonna curse. Bet your A$$ I'm gonna curse. Now I had to get another alias email. No contacts allowed. Any spam is tied directly to DRF. Imagine that. Poor Dan. The price of success is pretty high. Tennessee Ernie Ford said it best.

Dick W /Richard W Check with drf.com customer service..They were very helpful with me this morning. I called ( instead of email) because the 'member center' link was not allowing me to make changes to my account and I wanted to talk to a live person :) Maybe they can help you, or answer your questions 1-800-306-3676 Good Luck.

People. Try creating an new email account (gmail for example) your mail server should offer this option. Set your preferences on that account to be as private or public as you wish. You may be able to set the "account name" to a moniker you like. BTW you can always delete the account for any reason.

Hi all, To get my "moniker' I used yahoo, and signed up for a new account and email. This one I will use exclusively for my 'Horsie' stuff MKB watchs, DRF.com and Dans formblog. I entered SR Vegas as my 'first name'. DRF was also able to replace my old email, with the new one in their data base, so now I won't have 100+ 3 yos running rampant in my personal email, and can manage it better. Eventually (I hope) all will become easier here at Dan's Formblog and I echo Alan's sentiments that we should work through this to support our Fearless Leader, whom without, would not have brought about the freinds we have made here. TBTA and Ned Daly and who ever else also mentioned it.. thanks for the orange box and )) tip. Reading in that format was easy. Dan Hang in there , don't pull out your hair over this and I'm sure things will get back to normal. Whatever ' normal' is around here ...LOL! You Feel Lucky I saw the article about the Zenyatta stature. For those who missed it, Jay Hovdey did a nice write up on her and the artist Nina Kaiser..She also did the John Henry statue in the Santa Aniata paddock area. http://www.drf.com/news/hovdey-zenyatta-gets-john-henry-treatment-santa-anita-statue ..also I couldn't help but think , You Feel Lucky, that you remind me of a previous poster ...are you Curt V , perchance ? :) Back later with a few MKB workouts , Good Day to all..!

Annie Happy to see you are back posting. I'm sure over time we will all get used to the changes. Change is never easy and hardly ever easily accepted; But we did it before and I know we can do it again. I would suggest however, that unless DRF posts a response submitted by using "Reply" as both a new post and underneath the post being replied too, it would be better NOT to use reply. Just write a "New" post and address it to whomever you may be replying. Otherwise it may never be read, depending on the number of posts preceding yours. I believe Bernard was the first to suggest this and I concur wholeheartedly. bobc P.S. If nothing can be done, Anonymous will most likely overwhelm this board. LOL

Can't wait for next handicapping exercise. They are a lot of fun.

Van Savant, So, YOU are the invisible man. I've read about you. LOL Actually, this is fun. I can just post without entering anything as long as I don't click Logout. And no Captchas! One caveat, what is AOL doing with my posts? Maybe putting them in a book? :) Annie

You feel lucky, Thanks for your advice. But with AOL I'm afraid that is easier said than done. As other posters have commented each network provider seems to have their own way of doing things and not all are as user freindly as yours, I believe Yahoo, may be. I would also think that some, especially myself, might not be as technically savy as you might be. Probably why some frequent posters have not posted recently. Thus, I would think that a consumer concious company that makes a rather significant change would do everything it could to provide as much information as possible to make the changes as "Easy" as possible for all. I know Dan will do his best to assist us, but as in the past, he may be limited, as this is probably in the hands of the DRF Tech Whizards. bobc

Checking out the new format. Not sure I like it....not that it matters....like most everything else in life, you get used to it, or you can quit. Dale

MPM, There is an orange square with a circle, then two )) curves in a lighter color in the same line as the "54 Comments". The same symbol is also to the left of the box that says: "Subscribe to this blog" Hope this helps. TBTA

Where is the BSBaZZ.......I see where S.A. Iz erecting a statue of ZZZZZZZZ.

Grrrrrrrrr ! So I use my yahoo account and DRF picks up my moniker in that account which is Richard W. So I go into my yahoo profile to change my moniker to Dick W so it will coincide with what I have been using on DRF. So far so good. However, when I log back in to make a post, it uses the old yahoo moniker Richard W. So it's like DRF picked up that old moniker and saved it somewhere and now I am unable to change it. It doesn't pick it up from yahoo each time I log in ? So I guess I am stuck with Richard W ? Dick W

A little late,but testing. knm

Testing the new format - looks like it puts my full name rather than my old AnneM - and I had to use my facebook account to log in. Not sure I like this.

AOL = "Anonymous" In many ways, that is fitting considering the prospects of that company! One advantage of the new blogging software is having all HandiGambling wagers in one "Comment" (we all reply to the same comment). Another advantage is that multiple Alan's can now comment without any "identity confusion"! Attention all Formbloggers, We need to make this work! We owe it to Dan - without him and Formblog, none of our friendships would ever have happened! Get on board!

TBTA Sorry I forgot to post my former screen name at the bottom of my last post to you. A necessity now that it does not appear in the headerand I am but one of a number of Anonymous posters. Dan I hope you can somehow get the "Powers that be" to look into this. Change may be necessary, but not always good. bobc

TBTA This is my second attempt to reply to you. It would be wonderful if you are able to work out those last couple of details. If not I'm sure there will be oppurtunities to meet in the future. The information I wrote about in my earlier post was based on using Internet Explorer, I have no clue as to what other browsers may also work; evidently Google Chrome is not one of them. I also use AOL to log onto this blog. I believe that is where the Anonymous heading comes from and I'm not sure that can be changed. I do not Tweet, Facebook or use any other social media, nor do I plan to. Thus I will probably be destined to live out my DRF blog life in "Anonymity" LOL. P.S. I don't see many frequent bloggers posting since the new format began. This is not a good sign. Hope to hear from them soon.

Brutus: Congrats on your MKB Sir Bond's Maiden win yesterday...impresive wide rally into a very honest pace, and a good 91 Beyer earned in the two turn 8.5f at Fair Grounds. However, once free of the field, he sure looked like a kid with the training wheels just taken off his first bike....talk about green! Keith L.

Another possible loss in this change is the long running HG spread sheet that tracked the HG results...surely we can't expect tencentcielo to decipher who is who with the new postings losing old monikors or having totally new ones for those who have been forced into new social media or e-mail accounts in order to keep posting to formblog. Or did we lose that with the laxt change? Keith L.

I like it! Hope everyone comes back to continue wherethey left off. First Sat. in May...Union Rags.... Bodemeister....and I aint changin.

Dan, I enjoy your insights as you have become one of the primary voices of racing today. I also enjoy the weekly HG. I too am a horizontal wagerer and enjoy playing the HG as a change of pace. Unfortuneately, the HG has taught me to remain a horizontal bettor! The HG is fun, but is there any chance that every now and then you give us horizontals a chance at the free formulator by making the contest a Pick 4 wager? Regardless, keep up the great work. Your loyal reader, DSully

Now, not certain that I really like it, but change happens and we must live with it. Just hope that the privacy won't be an issue. The show more comments thing is a good improvement i believe, but i would rather been given the choice to use either the new format OR the old format for a while. For online contents, readers' view (should be) a priority.

Seems to me that the history of this blog reveals that some posts engender considerable back and forth (exp: the RA vs. Z discussions, or real dirt vs. synth). That means that some of those trees and/or threads are going to be considerably lng, and I suspect that whoever wishes to make a further statement on an issue wil either have to find the thread (maybe several pages back and make a "reply" posting, or start a new thread entirely. So how exactly does that help? And if I'm catching up on my reading once a day, and find a comment that I wish to respond to a page or two back, and hit reply to join the tree or thread, who is going to read my comment two or three pages back? It's like firing off thoughts into cyberspace without rhyme or reason! I don't see any of that as being an improvement on what we had! Keith L.

Almost forgot with the new format have to sign the old moniker at the bottom. Another option I hope can be changed/updated... Patrick S

Testing, 1, 2, 3. I must admit I had to sign in using the account I used the least (Twitter) because the fact DRF REQUIRES access to contact lists, can update profiles, etc is VERY worrisome. No way am I signing in using my main email account (Hotmail) or Facebook. I don't get it. Maybe Dan can answer why these are requirements of using the various log-ins (maybe this format is so new that IT hasn't worked it out completely?). I've never used any application or blogosphere that is this intrusive and demanding. I like the new format, but I bet we'll lose quite a few frequent posters that are scared off by the level of intrusiveness (I know I was at first, thus my attempt to use an account that has few/no info to "use"). I hope they change that part of it quickly. Just a few thoughts.....

So now I am trying to figure out what happened to my face (I am actually quite handsome, really...or so I am told)? The picture next to my name is shown without it. Could this be CAPTCHA's way of FINALLY getting me back??? How DID IT know??? Bastage!

6-5-4-we have ignition sequence - 2 -1 BLAST-OFF!! err, ok it works, hack-cough

just testing

Unless something changes, the newest posts will be at the top of the list. It is going to be a worse pain than b/4 to keep track of where you left off reading, and hitting "show more comments" one page at a time to try to get back there. Good luck, everyone. Caseyjeaux

Good night Irene! If this goes through it is a miracle of the first order! Just spent an hour cleaning out an old unused Yahoo account of 18 months worth of junk mail. I'm not a Luddite, but geez is this interface changing ever going to stop? Have no idea what moniker will come attached to this message. Yuwipi presses post with fingers crossed

If you manage to get on this site and would like to read the blogs in a somewhat similar manner to the way they appeared in the past , it is very simple. 1. Just click on the Orange box to the right of the # of Comments. The blogs will appear from newest first to oldest. If you want oldest first, look to the top right box where you will see 3 choices. If you click on Date that will change the order to oldest first. If you click on Title or Author it will list each post alphabetically by name. There might be a difference in the number of comments from the main page as it does not seem to carryover the reply posts (those in the gray boxes) Hope this is helpful. P.S. If anyone knows how to change from Anonymous to my regular screen name, Kindly advise. bobc

Why should ANY of us have to do ANYTHING (like join Facebook, twitter, etc.) in order to participate? DRF SELLS our hits to its advertisers. The hundreds of hits Dan’s blog gets every week dwarf all the other blog hits on DRF. The other bloggers don't even post very often. Our log-ins and hits are valuable property to DRF that they use to attract and bill advertisers. They are about to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

*Tap Tap Tap* Testing, FormBlog 3.0. --PGM

Test-test- just a test. ...Sir Bond looked great winning today ..Congrats to Brutus4633 !!

testing

Dan, Something tells me this might just help eliminate so many of the "glitches" so many of us found when using the last incarnation of drf.com blogging software. For that, a big YES! As well, a byproduct might just be the return to posting from some of the previous FormBlog peoples -- at least I hope so. I know I will give it another chance. Finally, I am thinking of spending a few days up in Los Angeles this weekend and wondered if any FormBlogger's were planning on being at Santa Anita? Not confirmed yet but I sure would like to find out of if my $10,000 Mystery Mutual Voucher is a winner! Wishful thinking. :) - robertSD PS- With this new blog format -- I guess you also get to put a face to the name ... uh oh -- for some of us anyways.

Laura, Don't know if you saw it yet, but the N.Y. stewards have told Dr. Hansen he will not be permitted to paint his horse. Common sense prevails! longwaytomay

Dan, I'll post a new race for HG 271 early next week, after we see Weds/Thurs entries. Thanks, Randy

wow!!!--I STILL THINK YOU ARE COOL DAN-ITS OKAY

Re-posted from the previous blog: Fellow Thongs & Boxers, It's that time of year again. The annual Road To The Roses Contest (a/k/a RTTR). As I have for the last four years, I've set up the DRF BLUE BOXERS AND THONGS League. Here's how to enter. Go to http://www.roadtotheroses.com and sign up. If you've signed up in previous years, you don't need to sign up again, just enter your stable name and password. 2. Create your stable. Select 15 horses, 2 jockeys & 2 trainers, name and verify your stable, then pick 2 power horse. 3. Once your stable is created, you can join a league. On the left side of the webpage, you will see your stable name. Under your stable name you will find the titles in light gray "Power Horses "Remaining Stable" and "Stable name Leagues" Under "Leagues" you will find a link to join or manage a league. 4. The "Create or Join a League page will appear. Click on Join A League. Enter the following: League Identifier: 647939968 Activation Code: 2173828917 You can create up to three stables. 5. Here are the rules of the game: http://www.roadtotheroses.com/G=98/official_rules.phtml Every week, you will pick 3 horses from your stable as power horses for the upcoming stakes races. You can add horses during the two supplemental draft periods (March 19 & April 16). I'll post when the drafts are open, plus you'll receive a reminder email from RTTR. Every week, I'll post the leaders in the game. If you have any questions, please email me at: lross@ironmaidensthoroughbreds.com Laura

This is Dick W testing the new blog ...just wanted to see if I could post a comment. Dick W

testing to see if any comments I make will now show up on my Facebook... that would be annoying I have been wishing we could go to a thread-based structure like Yahoo Groups. As it is, it's very hard to follow topics of conversation which is one reason I don't post more often. Just to add some content, I like Montego Bay in SA6. Currently 5-1 (hope the odds drift up). Should improve at a route and had trouble in his last while still earning a marginally competitive BSF.

Dan, Does this mean I can no longer post in the name of my alter ego, uh, you know who? TBTA, English Channel maiden on the GP turf alert in GP10 today! #4 Jonathan C is far from a FTS (0 for 5, including 2 on the GP lawn), but he moves inside...and is 20/1 ML...

Hi Dan, Test 1-2, and how do you do. This is only a test...sibilance, sibilance, test. Good luck with the new format.

Just checking out your new Blog Dan. I see Sir Bond runs in about an hour in race 7 at fairgrounds. He better step it up today "byanose"

I like the new format, and hope the Formblog experience will improve incrementally as a result. Kudos to the DRF for continuing their commitment to a better browsing experience.