Dear Derby Diary,

This week, Louisville is the Hat Capital of the World! They come in all shapes and sizes and there are lots of ladies wearing them to the big parties all week. They have auctions and openings with hats and the Derby itself will be full of them. Quite a spectacle and just one more thing that makes this week unique. All of the celebrities are running around in their big floppy hats including this fitting by Jenny McCarthy. I guess I will just continue to wear my old baseball hat to keep the sun off of my bald head. There are some pretty wild ones though. Somehow I don’t think I would look that great in that one with the crown on it below.

Sometimes I wonder how you could keep some of those monstrosities on your head for any length of time. I haven’t seen any of our Sim owner’s wives running around with anything too crazy but there is certainly a first time for everything.

Last evening was the Post Position draw and Jockey Assignments. There was excitement in the air at the Churchill Downs Jockey club. Pills were pulled from a bottle for each horse in both the Derby and the Oaks. There was lot’s of praying in that room and as the post positions dwindled, you could see the anguish in the remaining owners eyes. All in all, it comes down to who runs the best and not from where and that was the tact that most owners shared when telling me how much they “liked” their post position and Jockey assignment. For most of them, this was just “Old Hat”.

Afterwards the first Morning Line was set and it appears that this Derby is going to be a really tough one to handicap. There is only one colt with less than 10/1 odds and that is WIRELESS EAVESDROP at 9/1. He has McClendon in the leather and looks like he is certainly ready after his Chicago Lock race but the owners have to worry about that 19th post position out in the secondary gate. On the ladies side, BLACK FLAG FLYING is the favorite going off at 7/1 and she is parked outside as well in the 18th slot.

After the draw I spoke to Trainer Vett of the QwikVett Stables and he was really fuming. It seems that he had tried to sneak his colt ROCK HARD KORN into the Derby at the very last minute by pulling him from the Florida Stakes race and grabbing the last spot in the Derby. Unfortunately for him, another owner had the exact same plan and just beat him out. He ended up with the twenty FIRST entry and a SHARP horse that will have to sit around without a race this week! It’s a shame because he is already here with about his prized filly PORN STAR. He told me, “This is definitely my prize filly. I knew it from her first race. My goal last year was to breed lots of 2yos with a long term goal in mind of horses who can get a distance of ground. I also wanted to breed something that can make it in the Derby. I’ve always had good luck with Mr. P & Nijinsky II as my ds/dds so I decided to try it with Empire Maker since he was the hot sire. And so I did, breeding over ID #69 and Porn Starr was born. Her name you ask? Well, all I can say is I keep good company and the name seemed to fit. The little entourage of girls with me here are Nevaeh (heaven backwards), Ashley, Tiffany, Amber and Nextbonus’s favorite, Candy (but everybody LOVES candy right?). In fact this is what they will be wearing on Derby day to support our filly. (see attached pic!). Makes it pretty easy for me to get a drink too with no waiting! Needless to say, there’s always a crowd around, you should have seen when I checked in at the Seelbach Hilton, it ended up being a 30 minute photo shoot for some reporters.”

He went on, “Anyway, on to my filly. I always run my potential stars on just a work for their first run, so when she ran 2nd in her debut I wasnt concerned. I let her loose next time out and she wired them. On paper it shows a 1 length win. Not impressive? Well the 3rd horse was 8 1/2 back! In her first stakes race, she won on an off track improving her speed again. Time for the Hoserhead Grade I she ran a lifetime best but was only good enough for show that day getting beat by SILVER CITY GAL.” “After an injury and two month layoff, she closed out her 2yr campaign with a win in the Grade I Thxmsslew with another lifetime best SPF and better yet, getting revenge on SILVER CITY GAL by trouncing her!”

He then added, ”When she turned 3, I knew I had to get her to go a route and take on the boys, so I did. I entered her in a mile stakes and when the gate opened my heart dropped. She fell to the back of the field and I thought it was a replay of her first route disaster. My son (Zzombie stables) was watching with me and voiced what I was thinking “She’s hurt again!” She was 10 lengths back when the lone frontrunner hit the stretch. Then she fired. She made a furious rush only to miss by about a length and threw another lifetime best sp! I knew I was running out of time, so it was on to a couple of Grade I’s. The California Oaks was her last chance to get some valuable Graded points to earn her way to the Derby with one more prep race to go and she ran 4th to Rattyburg who is entered in the Oaks. Always confident, I entered her against the boys again in the Wooden Indian Derby Lock Grade I. It was her last chance to sneak in. She ran awesome. She tracked the leaders, made the first run at them, pulled clear deep stretch by about a length only to get caught and miss the Derby by 1 1/2. To make it worse, I also got to watch her stablemate Rock Hard Korn miss by about the same margin in Chicago on the other Lock race that week.”“So here we are at The Bluegrass Oaks. Revenge on Rattyburg would be great, but there is some heavy hitters. I’m concerned with BLACK FLAG FLYING & SENSIBLE. I can tell you I’m sitting on a huge race, but so are they. Is that my early trifecta prediction? Okay, you know who I want on top 😉 But hey, win or lose it’s gonna be a great week! We can go back to the hotel after the race, the girls can get out of their little uniforms and into something a little more comfortable, and the party and drinks are on! So if you need to get into party marathon shape, the girls will give you a crash course on it! I have two Presidential Suites and I even had one modified with a … well lets say entertainment platform. So if you want to ride in the limo back to the hotel with us in the limo, be my guest. Nextbonus will be with us too. How do I afford all these luxuries? Well, let’s just say I have an Empire of my own 😉 Does my filly’s name make sense now?”

I also caught up to Trainer Econ, of the Opcon Stables and Morning Line favorite colt WIRELESS EAVESDROP I asked him about his draw and about his colt. He sat back in his chair reflectively and slowly told me, “I love having the favorites role but I wouldn’t mind being a bit more in the middle at the post. I was hoping to draw something between post four and nine. I’m not really worried though because this colt can overcome most anything.”

I have been watching this colt and talking to Econ since way back after “EAVESDROP’s” third race. He knew then that he had something special. He told me yesterday, “When I watch the races he has had he just moves better than any of my 100 horses. Just sits there and takes them on at last turn. Loves to win and not only that he loves to distance them if he can.”

He added, “My only worry is that he’s come up RTG after being on that for the third week now. I only hope it’s the “special sharp” that Mike talks about. He seems like he hasn’t meant an obstacle that he can’t climb as yet. Yeah I’m nervous, like all the other owners and big name players with starters this year. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this week, I am breathing every breath with anticipation!”

He told me more about his horse, “I finished 4th with ST. KILDA a couple of Derby’s ago. He was my only other representative in the big race. He was huge odds and of course ran brilliantly. I am leaving no stone unturned with “EAVESDROP”. I made sure I was very careful choosing a jockey because of our high choice and we are very happy with McClendon. I named WIRELESS EAVESDROP at the time I was looking at my wireless router and was wondering if next door could link to it and use my internet connection. Hey the router is sitting there when you are thinking of a name..you know how it is! LOL”

He went on to tell me that he is most worried about FOLSOM BLUES and TRADING JACK, the two Evil Empire Stable entries as his competition. He seemed to be totally in awe of all that is going on at the moment with the derby and his colt being in the highlights. I had a great time trading stories with him.

Well that’s it for today. I am beat and there is still plenty going on tonight. Hold on to your HATS folks, because the week is drawing to a close and the race is getting nearer. I can hardly wait!

Good luck to all runners!