All Sides

I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to see many sides of the Thoroughbred industry lately. I have of course been at The Blood-Horse and the Lane's End broodmare division for almost six weeks, and beginning Sunday I will be spending one day a week in the office at Lane's End seeing that side of the business. I am catching on to Horse Farm Manager, which will be an invaluable asset.

As I'm sure everyone has heard, Kentucky has been belted by snow this week. Records of snow in 49 states turned to 50 of 50 when snow was photographed on the Mauana Kea mountain in Hawaii. Hawaii has snow, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is struggling to keep enough of the white stuff for the Olympic Games? Are there pigs flying in either of these places, by any chance?

Production at The Blood-Horse was pushed back this week to accommodate Monday's holiday stakes; ironically, one of the main events, Oaklawn's Southwest Stakes, was canceled and rescheduled for Feb. 20 due to poor track conditions. While we have irony on the brain, my good friend Lauri Kenny reminded me this same thing happened in 2006, when the Southwest was won by Lawyer Ron (by Langfuhr). A legitimate case of irony could strike again if the 2009 edition is won by race contender Kitty's Turn by, you guessed it, Langfuhr.

All this three-year-old talk is infusing me with a growing case of Derby fever. If we're talking three-year-olds, I can't help but mention Sidney's Candy, the sophomore that I was most impressed with over the weekend. Whether or not he can stretch out his speed, he looks like a seriously gifted runner, and I look forward to seeing him compete wherever his niche may be. And I always like seeing homebreds out of homebreds do well. Keeping it in the family, you might say.