Full of Run

Earlier this week, Luke Kruytbosch was found dead in an apartment in Evansville, IN where he was the race caller for Ellis Park. There have been, of course, many news articles about his passing. Comments from people like Trevor Denman and Mike Battaglia have paid tribute to Luke as both a race caller and a person. I did not know Luke as a person, but he was a favorite announcer of mine. I mean no disrespect to Tom Durkin, but I could never wait to visit the Churchill Downs website to hear Luke’s call of the Kentucky Derby. His deep voice, his cadence, and his effeciency of speech was a pleasure to listen to and provided needed insight to bettors.

I was always amazed at how he not only called the action but peppered his delivery with nuggets of info that made races that I may not have even handicapped very interesting. As a fictitious example, one might hear on a Thursday afternoon in a $25,ooo claimer something like this; “Larry Melancon in the Klein silks moves the filly So-and-So to the rail exiting the chute.” There is a lot in that sentence, and to say it during a race call is quite impressive.

Two of my favorite, oft-uttered nuggets of his were “set down for the drive” and “three parts of a length in front.” I don’t know why, they just sounded like Luke.

The last race I ever heard him call live was this year’s Stephen Foster; a Grade 1 race for a Grade A race caller.

Jess Jackson, majority owner of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin, is seeking fan input on where we might like to see Curlin next. A poll on the Stonestreet Farm website asks fans to vote on whether they would like to see Curlin undertake a Turf Campaign, Dirt Campaign, Synthetic Surface Campaign or Retirement.

I like Jess Jackson’s approach to Curlin. He really seems to enjoy what Curlin represents, and he understands what Curlin means to his fans.

Of course, he left off my choice of what to do with Curlin, which is for him to undertake a 3 year campaign of both Dirt and Turf exclusively at Churchill Downs….

What the heck does Curlin have to do to please some people? He is a winner of over $9 Million, has won 5 Grade/Group 1 Stakes including the Preakness, the Breeder’s Cup Classic and the Dubai World Cup, and has done it all in a racing career lasting (so far) a little more than 17 months. He’s won 9 of 13 starts and has never finished off the board. His tour-de-force in the Breeder’s Cup was a tick off the track record, and his World Cup vistory was by a record margin (which he accomplished with ease).

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I don’t have much to say here. Jeremy Rose, who rode Afleet Alex so masterfully in 2004 and 2005, has been suspended for 6 months for whipping his mount IN THE FACE. He strikes her not once but twice with the whip in his left hand. She has since been taken to the Bolton Medical Center and is expected to recover without loss of her eyesight. In this video, a head on view, you can see the horse (Rose is wearing yellow, the color of cowardace) on the rail at about :55 seconds. Then at 1:00 he hits her and she jerks her head to the right. Then he hits her again and she runs across traffic, endangering other horses and riders.

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When I was taking flying lessons, my instructor had two sayings that he loved to repeat. The first was, “There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots. But there are no old, bold pilots.” I suspected he liked this saying because he, himself, was an old pilot. He had been flying since the 40′s.
His second saying I found to be much more profound. Continue here →