Tuesday, April 30, 2013

SPRING IN KENTUCKY



The best time to visit Kentucky is in the spring.  Besides the spring meetings at Keeneland and the running of the Bluegrass Stakes, and the Kentucky Derby and Oaks at Churchill Downs, it is the most beautiful place on earth to see the cycle of life come about.  The Bluegrass is so green and the cherry blossoms so delicate and pink.  Black wooden fences frame the pastures and frolicking beside their mom's are the year's crop of foals, squealing and bucking, all blazes and socks, rearing and kicking.  Sometimes they race around so fast they frighten themselves and you can see the shock in their big brown eyes when they screech to a halt and snort having discovered just how effective those long legs really are.
The bird life is wonderful and the little back roads and stone fences will bring you upon some of the most incredible stud farms in the world.  Not to mention the occasional distillery and an exceptional bourbon too.  My favorite is Woodford Reserve in Versailles, the heart of the Bluegrass, surrounded by horse farms, but I like to collect the tops from the Blanton's bottles.  Blanton's, have a racehorse figure depicting every action of the gallop from straight-up to flat-out on their cork.  Underneath the horse's offside hind leg is a small circle with a letter from the spelling of Blanton's.  At the distillery, Buffalo Trace, in Frankfort, you can buy the whole lot mounted on a barrel stave but I thought it would be more fun to drink my way to a collection.
If you are not accustomed to bourbon don't let anyone tell you a Mint Julep is the way to go.  Single barrel bourbons are as fine as Scotch malt whiskeys and mixing them with powdered sugar, water and mint has destroyed their respectability.  Some, like Maker's Mark, have a slightly minty flavor naturally, and a drop of water is said to help open a bourbon up, but stay away from the sugar and simple syrup concoctions unless you just want the souvenir glass.  I might even see you at the Derby this year.

Luck at the window,

Annie Wade
  


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Welcome to my first ever blog and thank you for staying with me through the set up stages as I have only just started taking blogging 101.  Since my teacher insists I actually need to post something and not just play with the design page forever, here is a rough outline of how I expect "WagsandNags" to develop.
I love horse racing, from start to finish, from childhood to old age.  It gets under your skin they say, even though it may kill you, break you, or if you are lucky, make you.  It can disappoint you or make you sad, shock you and sometimes make you so happy you cry.  If you don't have some kind of emotional excitement at the track you're not one of the afflicted.  I like it on any day, in any country and never walk past a betting shop with a monitor and a horse race on screen that I don't stop, step back and check out the equine athletes.
I enjoy handicapping races even if I'm not going to bet on them.  It's like doing the crossword puzzle is for other people, it tests my skill and hopefully exercises my brain.  I might not remember your name when I meet you but I remember good looking horses and their impressive runs.
Since I live in New York I can't bet on Greyhound racing because it's not legal here but I still select my picks on the computer for the Palm Beach Kennel Club once in a while.  It keeps me in practice for when I get some place that has dog racing.  No jockeys and the grading system make handicapping dogs much easier than horses.
I admire racing animals but ball sports, that is anything that involves hitting or kicking a ball, bore me, even and especially polo, which I know to be quite cruel.
There, I've said it, what needed to be said, my confession and I'm not going to apologize for it even if it's not considered socially acceptable for a woman my age.  No body I know likes going to the track but that doesn't stop me; anyway there is nothing worse than being at a race meeting with someone who just doesn't get it.  It's a good way to sort the wheat from the chaff if you know what I mean.  I believe people show their true colors at the fence.
The great thing about a blog is, no editor to negotiate, so I can say what I think and feel.  If you like horse racing and are passionate about it, you may enjoy some of my short fiction stories that will be posted from time to time, articles, comments about racing events, sometimes from different places I visit, photographs and whenever possible, dog racing experiences.

Luck at the window,
Annie Wade