JC / Railbird

Announcements Archive

Quick Links, Impressions

– Back for one day only, Blinkers Off reports on the Joe Hirsch memorial held today at Belmont and the Thursday visit of Woolley and Borel to the NYSE.

– Google seems to be sending many people here in search of Belmont undercard information: For more on those five intriguing races, please visit Foolish Pleasure and Superfecta, both of whom have written superb round-ups of the racing this Friday and Saturday.

– Other than the Belmont Stakes, the two races I’m most interested in are the Manhattan Handicap, in which Better Talk Now, winless since the 2007 Manhattan, attempts to become the first 10-year-old to score a G1 victory, and the Woody Stephens, which has drawn a deep field of interesting 3-year-old sprinters, including two undefeated starters (Hull and Everyday Heroes), Hello Broadway (running blinkers off again), and Regal Ransom, making his first start since finishing eighth in the Derby. With its likely compressed odds, this might be more of a race to watch then play for me. Regal Ransom, one of my Derby picks, is coupled with Everyday Heroes and little tempts as a 2-1 morning line favorite; Munnings, making his second start following a sharp second-place finish in a Churchill Downs allowance, is a sound alternate pick, but probably not at 4-1.

– As for the Belmont, like Steve Haskin, I’ve become smitten with Mine That Bird, the little gelding who left me stunned and confused on the first Saturday in May. Watching the Derby winner at Belmont this rainy morning confirmed for me he’s ready to run again. Not only did he appear to glide smoothly over the sloppy surface, he looked fresh (especially as he came off the track), as though the rigors of the past five weeks have left him untouched. And while he was for the most part well behaved as he was being bathed and walked, Mine That Bird couldn’t resist a bit of playful bucking as he was led around the shedrow. “It’ll take a good horse to beat him this Saturday,” jockey Calvin Borel said on Thursday, and I saw nothing today to make me doubt the rider’s words.

– Chip Woolley, who hasn’t followed his rider’s lead in making any bold predictions, was also looking well this morning, at ease with the media crowd and speaking confidently about tomorrow. “I got a great colt and he shows up every time,” said the trainer. “We’re ready.”

– Is it possible that Mine That Bird will go post not as the favorite? Or better than 2-1? In at least one poll, the Derby winner is tied with Charitable Man.

Posted in Announcements, Racing on June 5, 2009 / Tagged Belmont Stakes, Manhattan Stakes, Mine That Bird, Undercard, Woody Stephens

Moving On

That’s the theme of this latest Railbird makeover. Over the past two days, I’ve migrated the site to a new web host, installed WordPress to maintain the blog in place of Movable Type, and adopted a stripped down look. But the biggest change is that Railbird, as it was, has been permanently archived. That blog, which began in June 2004 and ran through December 2008, is no longer online. This fresh site, this first post, is the new Railbird.

Racing will still be my focus, but it is no longer my obsession, which is what Railbird version 1 was all about — over the years I maintained the blog I went from newly engaged passionate fan to backstretch worker, dedicated handicapper to industry employee, blogger to revitalized writer. Those were the arcs that iteration of the site traced, and the blog came to a natural conclusion last fall after I returned from Saratoga. And although I attempted to keep the site going, it was clear to me (and I’d bet most longtime visitors) that the blog was done and other projects and interests were claiming most of my attention. So, Railbird version 2 — still about the horses, but also about media and technology, and especially about the nexus between those and the horse racing industry. I may not be racing-crazed anymore, but there’s still plenty I want to say about the game. I’ll also be posting more about what I’m doing elsewhere.

From launch to archiving, Railbird v1 amassed more than 1900 posts and 1100 comments, which add up to a 3.2MB plain text file and more than 420,000 words. I didn’t count the links contained, but the number is surely in the thousands. To all those who have visited and supported the site, and especially to all the friends, colleagues, and conspirators I met through blogging, thank you. It’s been a pleasure. I hope you’ll stick around for whatever happens next here.

Posted in Announcements on March 11, 2009