The horse will run Saturday at 3:00!

When I started working at Emerald Downs in 1997 I had no idea how long a furlong was, nor what it meant to get gelded (ouch), or even how to place a wager. I went there because they had a job for me in the Video Production Center that paid pretty decently in 1997 dollars.
My co-workers were very patient with me as I asked question after question my first couple of seasons. I mean the lingo is really like a foreign language and long-time owners and trainers can tell within seconds if you are a non-maiden worker. Bryson Cooper, Joe, Withee, and Robert Geller speant hours telling me all the details and history of Washington State horse racing from Longacres to Yakima to Auburn. And of course my buddy and traveling partner Grant Forster (yes, the Longacres Mile winning trainer Grant Forster) filled me in on the questions that I was too embarressed to ask the others. Which was many.

Over the course of my three years at the track I made a bunch of friends, ate gay ice cream with Marty, rocked in softball, picked three winners in a row for my sister's friends, hit on recent Enumclaw High graduates, and spent way too much time at Las Margaritas. But most importantly I became a horse racing fan. I mean I really do read the previews and results every day in the paper and I really can recall with great pride the past Longacres Miles winners. I can also laugh every time I picture the pint-sized lawn jockey in the paddock (the little guy reminds me of the miniature stone-henge that the dwarfs danced around in This Is Spinal Tap). Plus it's really cool having one of my best friends as a trainer to give me all the scoop.

There is a feeling that is difficult to describe when you see your horse cross the finish line. It's euphoric and fills your head with pride. It's even more gratifying if you pick the horse on your own after going back and forth in the form for 20 minutes between races. And it's even more gratifying if you had $20 across the board and was 10-1 on the tote board. But I digress.

Bottom line is this: if Is the Bar Closed finishes strongly or runs a very nice race I will be ecstatic. If he wins, well then look out because Trent Mitchell will be on a mission in transmission.

One last thing. If my horse wins, then I will forgive the horse that gave me a two-hoof boot in the back that lifted me eight-feet across the track and laid me up in the hospital in 1999. No questions asked.

Post time on Saturday is 3:15. Be there.