Cholly
05-01-2013, 09:45 PM
Tim Rice operates a horse farm in Folsom LA (mostly polo ponies, but some thoroughbreds) and dabbles credibly in writing. Every year he puts out a Derby Letter, and the 2013 edition just came out hours ago. It opens with these words:
"Entering a North American racing venue is remindful of passing through the fantastical gates of Willy Wonka. Both reveal a collection of humanity combining Leonardo daVinci’s sketchbook with Federico Fellini's films. But every now and again in the Mondo Bizarro of turfdom, events transpire that stun both the observers and the denizens of those precincts."
The first nine pages detail a fantastical event of "putting one over" at Belmont in 1977, followed by six pages of Derby analysis. This year's analysis seems disappointingly chalky (for a guy who called Giacomo's victory in his Derby Letter several years ago), but the writing is damn good:
http://www.innisfree.org/
"Entering a North American racing venue is remindful of passing through the fantastical gates of Willy Wonka. Both reveal a collection of humanity combining Leonardo daVinci’s sketchbook with Federico Fellini's films. But every now and again in the Mondo Bizarro of turfdom, events transpire that stun both the observers and the denizens of those precincts."
The first nine pages detail a fantastical event of "putting one over" at Belmont in 1977, followed by six pages of Derby analysis. This year's analysis seems disappointingly chalky (for a guy who called Giacomo's victory in his Derby Letter several years ago), but the writing is damn good:
http://www.innisfree.org/