Mr. John Steinbeck described the Kentucky Derby as “the most beautiful and violent and satisfying thing” he had ever experienced.~

Posted on April 29, 2014 by John Daniel Begg under 2014~, Society

The precocious Miss, Untapable, ridden by another precocious Miss, la rockette jockette, Anna Rosie Napravnik.

People have their opinions: horses have the facts.

Back home, in England, we say:

Blood will out.

UNTAPABLE (USA) b. F, 2011 {8-d} DP = 4-5-8-1-0 (18) DI = 2.60 CD = 0.67 – 6 Starts, 4 Wins, 0 Places, 1 Shows Career Earnings: $548,125

  Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC
  Breeder: Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC
State Bred: KY
  Winnings: 6 Starts: 4 – 0 – 1, $548,125At 2: Won Pocahontas S. (G2,CD,8½f); 3rd Hollywood Starlet S. (G1,Hol,8½f)
At 3: Won Fair Grounds Oaks (G2,FG,8½f), Rachel Alexandra S. (G3,FG,8½f)Foaled February 13, 2011.Updated 29Mar14(CLOSE)

TAPIT (USA) gr. 2001	PULPIT (USA) dkb/br. 1994	A.P. INDY (USA) dkb/br. 1989 [IC]	SEATTLE SLEW (USA) br. 1974 [BC]	BOLD REASONING (USA)	dkb/br. 1968
				MY CHARMER (USA)	b. 1969 *
			WEEKEND SURPRISE (USA)* b. 1980	SECRETARIAT (USA)	ch. 1970 [IC]
				LASSIE DEAR (USA)	b. 1974 *
		PREACH (USA) b. 1989	MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]	RAISE A NATIVE (USA)	ch. 1961 [B]
				GOLD DIGGER (USA)	b. 1962 *
			NARRATE (USA)* dkb/br. 1980	HONEST PLEASURE (USA)	dkb/br. 1973
				STATE (USA)	b. 1974
	TAP YOUR HEELS (USA) gr/r. 1996	UNBRIDLED (USA) b. 1987 [BI]	FAPPIANO (USA) b. 1977 [IC]	MR. PROSPECTOR (USA)	b. 1970 [BC]
				KILLALOE (USA)	b. 1970
			GANA FACIL (USA) ch. 1981	LE FABULEUX (FR)	ch. 1961 [P]
				CHAREDI (USA)	dkb/br. 1976
		RUBY SLIPPERS (USA)* gr. 1982	NIJINSKY (CAN) b. 1967 [CS]	NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)	b. 1961 [BC]
				FLAMING PAGE (CAN)	b. 1959 *
			MOON GLITTER (USA)* gr. 1972	IN REALITY (USA)	b. 1964 [BC]
				FOGGY NOTE (USA)	gr. 1965 *
FUN HOUSE (USA) b. 1999	PRIZED (USA) b. 1986	KRIS S (USA) dkb/br. 1977	ROBERTO (USA) b. 1969 [C]	HAIL TO REASON (USA)	br. 1958 [C]
				BRAMALEA (USA)	b. 1959 *
			SHARP QUEEN (USA) b. 1965	PRINCEQUILLO (IRE)	b. 1940 [IS]
				BRIDGEWORK (USA)	dkb/br. 1955
		MY TURBULENT MISS (USA) b. 1976	MY DAD GEORGE (USA) b. 1967	DARK STAR (USA)	blk/br. 1950
				MABEKKY (USA)	b. 1951
			TURBULENT MISS (USA) dkb/br. 1969	PETARE (ARG)	b. 1951
				BEHAVING DEBY (USA)	blk. 1961
	BISTRA (USA) b. 1986	CLASSIC GO GO (USA) b. 1978	PAGO PAGO (AUS) b. 1960	MATRICE (AUS)	ch. 1951
				POMPILIA (AUS)	b. 1951
			CLASSIC PERFECTION (USA) dkb/br. 1972	NEVER BEND (USA)	br. 1960 [BI]
				MIRA FEMME (USA)	b. 1964 *
		CAROLS CHRISTMAS (USA)* dkb/br. 1977	WHITESBURG (USA) ch. 1969	CRIMSON SATAN (USA)	ch. 1959
				MIRABIO (FR)	b. 1960
			LIGHT VERSE (USA) b. 1970	REVERSE (USA)	b. 1962
				BRIGHTON VIEW (USA)	ch. 1962 *

Gentlemen:

First things first:

Ladies go…first.

~~~

The ladies have their own Derby, called the Kentucky Oaks, on Friday, 2 May, 2014.

Girls can compete in the Derby but the race is traditionally considered to be a showcase for future stallion prospects:

That is one of the prime reasons why Derby exists:

With an eye towards future baby horses in the unending cycle of life of the race horse:

Birth, racing, breeding, death and re-birth, through the generations on generations, inherited.

That is at least, for the traditionalists among us:

I am so sad to say that many other race goers view our wonderful enterprise as an arithmetical exercise involving numbers on a page.

Attention, mes amis:

Horse racing is about BEAUTY,

Beauty in the flesh. Beauty on the hoof. Beauty in motion.

Horse racing has nothing to do with:

Numbers on a page.

At least for the traditionalists among us.

If a girl competes in Derby, she gets 5 pound off and leaves with 121 pound instead of the flat 126 pound carried by boy horses in the Derby.

Three girl horses have won the Kentucky Derby:

Regret, Genuine Risk and Winning Colors:

The latter two, in our lifetimes.

This year, take a second trust, rob banks, sell narcotics, sell your daughters and nieces into the white slave trades and bet it ALL on:

Untapable.

To win the Kentucky Oaks, May 2, 2014.

Untapable will be ridden by the ebullient, unflappable, Miss Anna Rosie Napravnik, and, between them, they will go gangbusters and make:

YOU…

Money, hunney.

It won’t be much money, just a little happy meal, to get you ready for the big dance on Saturday in the:

Kentucky Derby, in which race, we see these factors now dawning:

And, so we go now, on to the boys of Saturday afternoon, 3 May, 2014 and their date with the ROSES…

CALIFORNIA CHROME (USA) ch. C, 2011 {A4} DP = 7-5-10-0-0 (22) DI = 3.40 CD = 0.86 – 10 Starts, 6 Wins, 1 Places, 0 Shows Career Earnings: $1,134,850

  Owner: Martin Perry & Steve Coburn
  Breeder: Martin Perry & Steve Coburn
State Bred: CA
  Winnings: 10 Starts: 6 – 1 – 0, $1,134,850At 2:
Won Graduation S. (DMR,5.5f), King Glorious S. (BHP,7f)At 3:
Won Santa Anita Derby (G1,SA,9f), San Felipe S. (G2,SA,8.5f), California Cup Derby (SA,8.5f)Foaled Feb 18, 2011.
Trainer: Art Sherman
The last horse to win a stakes race at Betfair Hollywood Park, winning the King Glorious S. on December 22, 2013.updated 5Apr2014

(CLOSE)

LUCKY PULPIT (USA) ch. 2001	PULPIT (USA) dkb/br. 1994	A.P. INDY (USA) dkb/br. 1989 [IC]	SEATTLE SLEW (USA) br. 1974 [BC]	BOLD REASONING (USA)	dkb/br. 1968
				MY CHARMER (USA)	b. 1969 *
			WEEKEND SURPRISE (USA)* b. 1980	SECRETARIAT (USA)	ch. 1970 [IC]
				LASSIE DEAR (USA)	b. 1974 *
		PREACH (USA) b. 1989	MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]	RAISE A NATIVE (USA)	ch. 1961 [B]
				GOLD DIGGER (USA)	b. 1962 *
			NARRATE (USA)* dkb/br. 1980	HONEST PLEASURE (USA)	dkb/br. 1973
				STATE (USA)	b. 1974
	LUCKY SOPH (USA) b. 1992	COZZENE (USA) gr. 1980	CARO (IRE) gr. 1967 [IC]	FORTINO (FR)	gr. 1959
				CHAMBORD (GB)	ch. 1955
			RIDE THE TRAILS (USA) b. 1971	PRINCE JOHN (USA)	ch. 1953 [C]
				WILDWOOK (USA)	b. 1965
		LUCKY SPELL (USA) b. 1971	LUCKY MEL (USA) ch. 1954	OLYMPIA (USA)	b. 1946 [B]
				ROYAL MINK (GB)	ch. 1948
			INCANTATION (USA) dkb/br. 1965	PRINCE BLESSED (USA)	b. 1957
				MAGIC SPELL (USA)	b. 1954
LOVE THE CHASE (USA) ch. 2006	NOT FOR LOVE (USA) b. 1990	MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]	RAISE A NATIVE (USA) ch. 1961 [B]	NATIVE DANCER (USA)	gr. 1950 [IC]
				RAISE YOU (USA)	ch. 1946 *
			GOLD DIGGER (USA)* b. 1962	NASHUA (USA)	b. 1952 [IC]
				SEQUENCE (USA)	b. 1946
		DANCE NUMBER (USA) b. 1979	NORTHERN DANCER (CAN) b. 1961 [BC]	NEARCTIC (CAN)	br. 1954
				NATALMA (USA)	b. 1957 *
			NUMBERED ACCOUNT (USA)* b. 1969	BUCKPASSER (USA)	b. 1963 [C]
				INTRIGUING (USA)	ch. 1964 *
	CHASE IT DOWN (USA) ch. 1997	POLISH NUMBERS (USA) b. 1987	DANZIG (USA) dkb/br. 1977 [IC]	NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)	b. 1961 [BC]
				PAS DE NOM (USA)	br. 1968
			NUMBERED ACCOUNT (USA)* b. 1969	BUCKPASSER (USA)	b. 1963 [C]
				INTRIGUING (USA)	ch. 1964 *
		CHASE THE DREAM (USA) b. 1984	SIR IVOR (USA) b. 1965 [IC]	SIR GAYLORD (USA)	b. 1959 [IC]
				ATTICA (USA)	ch. 1953 *
			LA BELLE FLEUR (USA) b. 1977	VAGUELY NOBLE (IRE)	b. 1965 [CP]
				PRINCESS RIBOT (USA)	b. 1964

California Chrome will win the 2014 Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 3, 2014, but for:

An endorsement from Andrew Beyer.

Andrew Beyer alone can stop California Chrome from winning the roses May 3, 2014.

Be cautioned:

Andrew can, and often has, proven, a very powerful impediment to a horse with rose-colored blinkers on.

You know our Andrew, nice Jewish boy Andrew, who, by very odd legerdemain, inherited the, abruptly vanished, Gentlemanly Jewish boy, Gerald Strine’s, newspaper column in the Washington Post.

Andrew is the quintessential Washington boy:

Hired and paid, rather well we understand, to do something, the particularities of which:

Andrew knows nothing about at all.

Think of him as a contemporary politician.

Andrew broke into racing;

Can that possibly be the correct phrase to describe what happened?

By writing a book called “Picking winners,” which is, at a minimum, comedic, as:

Our Andrew can neither write, nor pick winners.

Again, the quintessential Washington man.

As point of reference, our Andrew bet against Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Spectacular Bid, to cover the high points of the 1970s alone.

To our best recollection, our Andrew has, never, ever, bet on a winning Derby horse that he has endorsed in his little newspaper column.

EVER.

In his book, Andrew makes the classic, and sad mistake, of attempting to reduce our dazzling enterprise called racing to:

An arithmetic exercise.

How dismal, Andrew!!

Racing is about, beauty, power, blood lines and luck, and never about arithmetic.

Of course Andrew is a Washington man and of course, his little arithmetic equations are now adopted, you guessed it, wholesale, as Scripture, into the lexicon and newspapers of the racing business, in which horses are assigned this mind-numbing calculation:

A Beyer Speed Figure!!

A number that, by justice, ought to eliminate the highest Beyer number from any and all consideration.

Selecting winning horses, as with many other enterprises, is a process of elimination:

Hence:

The Kentucky Derby is affirmation for one horse, brought on by the elimination of the other horses in the race.

That’s it:

That’s all there is to it all.

As we know in the clubhouse far better here than do most, that, as government ought not be run as a business, as government is not and has never been intended to be a business but rather a necessary evil, arithmetic has no place in racing which is about:

Beauty.

Today we were to the doctor, lovely girl, Polish, and of course, Catholic, who grew up in Warsaw under the Communists, who said to us:

“John Begg, everybody knows that Herrenfrau Clinton will win the Presidency in 2016.”

We are old softies here, in our clubhouse, for pretty girls, so, we didn’t laugh, we simply said:

“OH!!

Doctor dearest, we’ve heard that tune, it was popular when you were a young girl in Poland in 2006 and 2007.

The tune was released back then as:

“The Inevitability of Hillary 2008.”

The tune had a catchy toe tap to it, but the story line, somehow just didn’t work out.

So sorry, love.”

As with our Andrew’s ham handed attempts to reduce the beauty of our sparkling sport of racing to arithmetic, there are many in this, not pretty city, who would reduce politics to number counts and arithmetic as well, unaware that:

Politics is most appropriately about having startlingly good ideas and about making direct appeals to:

Raw emotion.

Yes, we said:

Appeals to raw EMOTION.

Shortly, you, my dears will have our Andrew’s note about the Inevitability of his Derby winner for 2014.

Then, we will all know for certain, as, if our Andrew picks California Chrome, the horse will be either struck in the head by lightning just after leaving starter’s gate, or drop poor Victor Espinoza, a really deserving lad, over the fence on Clubhouse Turn, or snap one, or both, forelegs, or, run a good, solid 19th all the way round.

California Chrome has done his best.

There is simply no reason not to bet on California Chrome.

But to say that:

His fate is up to you:

Andrew!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Should Andrew Beyer plant the kiss of death on California Chrome, or even mention him in a laudatory manner, bet on this horse:

Intense Holiday

Should Andrew Beyer plant the kiss of death on both California Chrome and Intense Holiday, bet on this horse:

DANZA

Should Andrew Beyer make laudatory mention of California Chrome, Intense Holiday or DANZA, bet on this horse:

Ride On Curlin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YOUNG JOHN DANIEL BEGG’S

~~

“MAGNIFICENT IMPOSSIBILITY”

~~

Posted on 1st May, 2014, Thursday by John Begg under Society

That Magnificent Impossibility:

Here, achieved!!

My dears, when I was young, long, long, years now, I had but 2 ambitions:

To be a great writer and an even better race rider.

Few get to live their dreams.

Most of us are relegated to watching, in grief and some sadness, as others realize our dreams for us.

Before the savage combat, the Derby is led off, at parade to the post, by a song that, if it does not bring a tear to the eye, is evidence prima facie of one’s having no heart or emotion of any kind.

Attend, please:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phHhTeD5mcA

“My Old Kentucky Home” lyrics

State Song of Kentucky – Contemporary lyrics (1986)

Originally by Stephen Foster

The sun shines bright in My Old Kentucky Home,

‘Tis summer, the people are gay;

The corn-top’s ripe and the meadow’s in the bloom

While the birds make music all the day.

The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,

All merry, all happy and bright;

By ‘n’ by hard times comes a knocking at the door,

Then My Old Kentucky Home, good night!

Chorus

Weep no more my lady

Oh!! weep no more today;

We will sing one song

For My Old Kentucky Home

For My Old Kentucky Home, far away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blood on the turf~~blood on the saddle~~

Be it running in tumult and sweet triumph:

In fully extended motion.

Or spilt and shattered in painful passion:

Is royal, noble, pure, blue blood come Derby Day.

The great John Steinbeck described the Kentucky Derby as “one of the most beautiful and violent and satisfying things” he had ever experienced.

The Kentucky Derby, run first Saturday of May at Churchill Downs beneath the Twin Spires, is:

What the irrepressible horseman and social gadabout John Daniel Begg long ago christened:

“That Magnificent Impossibility.”

This year, That Magnificent Impossibility, looms May 3, 2014.

The Kentucky Derby is, beyond reasoned argument, the most enchanting of all social and sporting events in the American calendar.

It is over in 2 minutes.

The Derby is colorful, dramatic, thrilling, awe-inspiring and absolutely impossible to suss out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn_ZbX60Oa4

The horses who compete in the Derby are babies.

The race is limited to 3 year olds:

But many are not even full that tender age.

All thoroughbreds have their birthday on January 1st, so, conceivably, a horse could be one minute old in real life and yet a full year old the next minute.

Conversely, one would like one’s horse born as early on New Year’s Day as possible.

Just a minute past the champagne.

Both outcomes are unlikely as the foaling cycle is in Spring.

But just when in Spring is important.

One will have a “young three” or an “old three,” dependent upon one’s luck.

The difference of a few months is terribly important as the horses running in Derby are well off of being fully mature.

An age reached at full 4 years.

And many are just coming into themselves:

While others developed very young, already made their flash in the pan, and are already past their prime periods.

They peaked too soon.

By Derby Day they are what we call “jaded.”

Over raced.

Off peak.

Worn, frayed and tired.

As with everything else of consequence with the Americans, The Derby:

Child of the English:

Dar~~BY

Called after Lord Dar~~BY

Well before we were born a nation, is imitative of the English version of things.

Here, Her Majesty appears keen of intent on taking her flyers at Epson with quite a good deal of seriousness.

Bravo, Mam!!

Lamentably, things here seem to have come a cropper for Queen, as she appears very much vexed by the outcome of a race in which she had taken, a quite serious, flyer.

So sorry, Mam.

Called, appropriately, The Sport of Kings, horse racing in America, and for that matter in England, is nevertheless dominated on the one end by very poor men with holes in their soles, who support the business on the gray days of winter and on through the year. At the high-end, by the silk hat crowd, who, in America and England, come out for the big dances–most notably:

The senior prom.

The big dance.

The one that counts.

The Kentucky Derby here and The Epson Dar~BY over the waters..

On first Saturday, May, deep within the American middle orders, men of modest ambition and riches, and yet, far, far, worse taste in suits than their English cousins, succumb to Derby fever and to:

That Magnificent Impossibility.

Some such:

**********Credits~~The Kentucky Derby Museum and Derby Central*****************

US Presidents are fans of the Kentucky Derby

Posted: October 2nd, 2012

Download & Share our PRESIDENTS AT THE DERBY Infographic!

The Kentucky Derby is rich in tradition and can be considered one of our nation’s greatest sporting events. So great, in fact, several of our nation’s Presidents have attended the Derby, one while in office. The Derby ties run even deeper when we examine details of those Presidential race fans visits. Here are some facts about our Commanders in Chief you might not know:

Harry Truman.

Kentucky Governor Earle Clements invited the President to attend the 75th running of the Derby in 1949. In a letter declining the invitation, Truman stated that he would like to attend “another Kentucky Derby” someday, because it was a spectacle he had enjoyed in the past. (Truman Library, President’s Personal File (PPF) 3550)
~~

In a letter to a Kentucky friend, Truman pays tribute to the Derby as one of several great Kentucky traditions, although he does not mention attending the event. (Truman Library, President’s Personal File (PPF) 2575)
~~

A pair of “Kentucky Derby cups” were presented to the President and the First Lady around March of 1952. (Truman Library, President’s Personal File (PPF) 9-G)
~~

Lyndon Johnson

Senator Lyndon Johnson described his visit to the 1952 Kentucky Derby as “my day off”. (Louisville Courier-Journal, 5/4/1952)
~~

Johnson in 1952: As Senator attending the Derby, he was said to be “uncommunicative” saying “I’m not talking. This is my day off.” (1993 Kentucky Derby Souvenir Magazine)
~~

Richard Nixon

Nixon in 1968: attended the champagne toast for the winners with Kentucky Governor Louis B. Nunn and Churchill Downs President Wathen Knebelkamp. (1993 Kentucky Derby Souvenir Magazine)
~~

Nixon in 1969: Several accounts say that he was touting the eventual winner Majestic Prince, which hailed from Nixon’s native California. As Majestic Prince crossed the finish line, Nixon apparently yelled, “He won, he won!” (1993 Kentucky Derby Souvenir Magazine)
~~~

When Nixon attended in 1969, it was not immediately known whether or not he placed a bet on a horse. He said he would “take the California horse” (Courier-Journal, 5/4/1969)
~~

Nixon in 1969: He said, “I’m going to savor this race, Kentucky style” when asked whether or not he would try a mint julep. His usual drink was Scotch and soda. (Courier-Journal, 5/4/1969)
~~

Nixon in 1969: He watched the sixth race on Derby Day with California Governor Ronald Reagan. (Courier-Journal, 5/4/1969)
~~

Nixon in 1969: There are conflicting reports as to whether or not Nixon actually bet. In 1978, John V. Brennan, assistant to Nixon, claimed someone else placed a bet on Majestic Prince and gave the ticket to Nixon. (1993 Kentucky Derby Souvenir Magazine)
~~

Nixon in 1969: “Security was tight from the spires on down to the tulip beds and over in the barn area. Secret Service men, whose serious mien was indistinguishable from that of the normal race track player, inconspicuously infiltrated Churchill Downs long before Richard Nixon became the first President of the United States to witness the Kentucky Derby. Louisville police, Kentucky state police, National Guard troops, Churchill Downs security guards, and Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau agents co-ordinated security efforts with walkie-talkies to insure protection, not only of the President, but of the Republican governors whose spring conference in Lexington was concluded the day before the Kentucky Derby.” (Jim Bolus, Derby Fever)
~~

Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford has attended more Derbys than any former president with his wife, Betty. He stated that Genuine Risk was his favorite Derby winner. In 1989, said “We’ve always been thrilled with the excitement of the Kentucky Derby. It is one of the great American sporting events.” (1993 Kentucky Derby Souvenir Magazine)
~~

Jimmy Carter

Carter in 1983: spent a lot of time with Kentucky breeder Tom Gentry. On Derby Day, Gentry lost Laffit Pincay, Jr. as the rider for Flag Admiral in the fourth race. Carter accompanied Gentry to the jockeys’ room to find a replacement rider. Apparently, Carter impressed many in the jocks’ room with his command of Spanish. (1993 Souvenir Magazine)
~~~

Carter in 1983: Dale Sights, Kentucky State Racing Commission member and Carter’s host for the Derby, stated that the former president accompanied Gentry to the paddock to help saddle Flag Admiral for the fourth race. Carter supposedly gave jockey Jorge Velasquez instructions on how to ride the race “and the race worked out exactly the way he told him to ride it.” (1993 Souvenir Magazine)

Carter in 1983: apparently had placed a bet on Flag Admiral on Derby Day. The colt ran in the Preakness two weeks later with Carter as part owner. Apparently, Carter stipulated that any financial gain from the investment go the Carter Library in Atlanta. (1993 Souvenir Magazine)
~~~

George H.W. Bush

George H.W. Bush attended the Derby in 1993, 1995 and 2000. In 1995, he bet on two horses for the Derby but kept his picks to himself. (Lexington Herald-Leader, 5/7/1995)
~~

George H.W. Bush in 1993: wore a red, white and blue tie with stars, stripes and a Texas longhorn. His pick for the race was Personal Hope because the owners, Lee and Debi Lewis, were from Lubbock, Texas. (Personal Hope finished 4th.) Bush presented the trophy for the Churchill Downs Handicap. (Blood-Horse, 5/8/1993)
~~

George H.W. Bush in 1993: Apparently had been betting and losing all day but said he would “…make it all back in the Derby.” He didn’t, as he bet on Union City, which finished 15th. (Jim Bolus, Derby Fever)
~~

George H.W. Bush in 2000: Won big by betting on his friend Will Farish’s horse, Secret Status, in the Oaks; declined to say whether or not he placed a Derby bet saying “Don’t ask, don’t tell”. (The Courier-Journal, 5/7/2000)
~~

Bill Clinton

Clinton in 1994: Clinton never attended but was the first president to call and congratulate the winner of the Derby (Go for Gin, 1994). (Jim Bolus, Derby Fever)
~~~

George W. Bush

George W. Bush in 2000: Attended as Texas governor; appeared in the paddock and made a presentation in the winner’s circle; dined in the Skye Terrace with his father, former president George H.W. Bush; said to press “I don’t think I’ll be wagering too much. This is a great day. It’s a spectacle.” (The Blood Horse, 5/13/2000)
~~

George W. Bush in 2000: “I’m really glad I came. The energy of the crowd is magnificent, the horses are beautiful. It’s a fantastic experience.” (Thoroughbred Times, 5/13/2000)
~~

George W. Bush in 2000: “I’m not a good bettor-I’m not against betting-I’m just against losing money, especially my own. You should have seen me 20 years ago. I would have been betting and drinking out here all day.” (Thoroughbred Times, 5/13/2000)
~~

George W. Bush in 2000: Said he did not bet, but if had it would have been on The Deputy, which was “an interesting story”. (The Courier-Journal, 5/7/2000)
~~
**********Credits~~The Kentucky Derby Museum and Derby Central*****************
~~

I am asked the winner of this year’s:

Magnificent Impossibility, and very appropriately so, as I thought that name of it!!

TREVE!!!!

**Pedigree of Treve, bay filly, 2010^[15]**
Sire Motivator (GB) b. 2002	Montjeu (IRE) b. 1996	Sadler’s Wells b. 1981	Northern Dancer*
		Sadler’s Wells b. 1981	Fairy Bridge
		Floripedes b. 1985	Top Ville
		Floripedes b. 1985	Toute Cy
	Out West b. 1994	Gone West b. 1984	Mr. Prospector
		Gone West b. 1984	Secrettame
		Chellingoua b. 1983	Sharpen Up
		Chellingoua b. 1983	Uncommitted
Dam Trevise (FR) b. 2000	Anabaa (USA) b. 1992	Danzig b. 1977	Northern Dancer*
		Danzig b. 1977	Pas de Nom
		Balbonella b. 1984	Gay Mecene
		Balbonella b. 1984	Bamieres
	Trevillari b. 1987	Riverman b. 1969	Never Bend
		Riverman b. 1969	River Lady
		Trevilla b. 1981	Lyphard
		Trevilla b. 1981	Trillion

Note: b. = Bay

Above:

Winning ,the 2013 L’Arc.

Le Gran Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, a Longchamps, a Paris, 2013.

The greatest race on The Continent, run each year, during L’Arc weekend, first weekend of October.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjERZEXqD0Y

TREVE–L’Arc winner, 2013

Racing is:

So brilliantly, so ferociously, so savagely, fast.

So exhilarating. So terrifying. So terribly dangerous.

Mr. Steinbeck was right to remark:

” The most beautiful and violent and satisfying thing”

Mr Steinbeck had ever experienced.

Let us pray that it be God’s will that all who race and ride be spared the violent savagery that can, and does, attend this most beautiful of God’s Sports, even as many others have not been so spared in the going of :

That happy, colorful event, that beautiful race:

That Magnificent Impossibility.

Amen.

John Daniel Begg

Washington DC

Thursday, 1st May, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~

~

~~La crema y nata~~

~~Artista de la conquista~

~~In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man~~

~

Non Sibi~~

Finis Origine Pendet~

  ~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~

Rejoice and Glad!!

Amen~~

~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~



~~EX LIBRIS~~

~~THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS~~

Thursday Morning, 1st Day Of May, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2014 Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.com

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http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=hb_tab_pro_top "Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he's the only one who's sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own."~~ French actor~~Alain Delon

CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Seal of The Catholic University of America

Motto~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~



Our Ubiquitous Presence

~~

The Queen

~~

In office now 62 years on

~~

Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

He has rolled back the stone!~Our ideal blessed Perfection is Risen this day.~

Posted on April 19, 2014 by John Daniel Begg under 2014~, God Jesus Himself, Society, The Case for The Creation~

Simon Dewey, He Lives, painting

‘He Lives’

Painted by Mr. Simon Dewey.

This sort of art, called by some, over-idealized, is very realistic painting, showing a triumphant Christ, is very much disparaged by the Art cognoscenti, but it is very popular, and in fact Simon Dewey is one of the most visible religious artists of the late 20th century.

The painting’s message is strong and direct: Christ is risen, he is our Saviour.

The stone is rolled away, and darkness and death are behind him.

We show today, Easter Sunday, Mr. Simon Dewey’s painting to demonstrate just this:

Jesus is our IDEAL.

Jesus cannot be over-idealized.

Jesus is perfection.

Jesus is:

The IDEAL.

A perfection this morning, now returned to us, who have missed Him so.

Yes, my dear, HE LIVES.

HE LIVES.

The Holy Week through which we have now just come, demonstrates to man all his desperate conceits and frailties.

Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, Jesus came into Jerusalem a HERO.

Within 5 days, the HERO was vilified, condemned, beaten, executed and buried.

Demonstrating these things to us all of us:

His Children.

He asks:

How much is man as a city that is crumbled, broken down and without walls, as:

Man controls not his own spirit?

For:

How weak is Man?

How often does he stumble and stray from the straight and narrow path?

How little does he control his appetites?

How much does he resemble the analogy of the Scriptures that Man is as:

“A city that is crumbled and without walls, as man controls not his own spirit?”

These are the many and myriad lessons of this breathless last week.

And now, in the new week, The Easter Sunday and the Easter Week:

We watch our exemplar, our Blessed Perfection, come back once again into our midst, bringing with him:

The absolutely remarkable message that He has shown the Way, shown to all of us the potentiality to secure for ourselves:

Everlasting Life.

Life Eternal.

Of all the silly, hapless, vanities of man throughout the Ages, taken collectively together, we now see them as nothing.

Trivia.

Idle vanity, when compared to The Holy Week and now, The Easter Sunday:

The Perfection.

Man makes silly noises about seeking the perfectibility and historical progress of man here on this, transitory, earth:

All the while overlooking the Holy week of Jesus which shows the way to Everlasting perfectibility and progress for man.

The toils and strife of this earth do not matter at all.

What matters is the message of Holy Week and now of Easter Herself.

That message alone endures.

That message alone matters.

That message is:

Our Ideal ONE is now Risen and has shown us the way to be PERFECT.

If only we, come, follow HIM home.

This is why the Holy Week and now, today, Easter Sunday morning, is a collective recounting of the only week in the history of man that:

Matters at all.

At all.

We have now seen Perfection and we have seen how we can share in that perfection.

Let us ask ourselves, this Easter Sunday Morning:

Having seen the searing Light of His Perfection and having been offered it ourselves, how could we possibly be satisfied with anything else at all?

How could we be satisfied without HIM?

At all?

With HIM, who could ask for anything more?

Ambrogio de Stefano Borgognone, detail of head and torso, The Resurrection

The Wounds of the now Risen Jesus.

Ambrogio de Stefano Borgognone, AD 1510.

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The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~Instead, the rich man ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally~~man to man~~

~~

The principal need in America today is~~financial and industrial De-Globalization~~to facilitate the promotion of the possibility for the average man to get and keep a good job with good benefits paid by the employer~~as was done not very long ago.~~

~~Bene Nati, Bene Vestiti, Et Mediocriter Docti~~

~

~~La crema y nata~~

~~Artista de la conquista~

~~In sunshine and in shadow~~I hold tight to the Republican view of time and money~~I write night and day~~yet~~while impecunious~~I am vastly overpaid~~in that taking pay to do what I love is unfair~~to my employer~~in a fair system~~under such circumstances~~I should pay him~~not he me~~I am far, far too old a man to be sexually confused~~praise Jesus~~but I am yet young enough to be politically confused~~is anyone not~~in an absolute sense~~I am a Catholic Royalist~~in a practical sense~~I am a Classical Liberal~~a Gaullist~~a Bonapartist~~an American Nationalist Republican~~in either sense~~my head is soon for the chopping block~~to hasten my interlude with Madame La Guillotine~~I write without fear~and without favor of~any man~~

~

Non Sibi~~

Finis Origine Pendet~

~~Κύριε ἐλέησον~~

Rejoice and Glad!!
Amen~~

~The Original Angry Bird~~The Catholic University of America Screaming Red Cardinal Mascot~~

~~EX LIBRIS~~

~~THEOS EK MĒCHANĒS~~

Easter Sunday Morning, 20th Day Of April, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2014

Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.com

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"Jean-Marie Le Pen is a friend. He is dangerous for the political set because he's the only one who's sincere. He says out loud what many people think deep down, and what the politicians refrain from saying because they are either too demagogic or too chicken. Le Pen, with all his faults and qualities, is probably the only one who thinks about the interests of France before his own."~~
French actor~~Alain Delon

CONCEPT OF THE CATHOLIC AND ROYAL ARMY OF AMERICA (CRAA)

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Seal of The Catholic University of America

Motto~~Deus Lux Mea Est~~

Our Ubiquitous Presence

The Queen

In office now 62 years on

Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~

On Watch.~

Posted on April 19, 2014 by John Daniel Begg under 2014~, Society

In wee youth, now flown, there was what, was called: The Watch.

After the final service at the Cathedral on Good Friday, it was obligatory for witnesses to be On Watch over the tomb of Jesus, as He was by then, gone from us and not alive.

The Watch extended until Midnight Mass Easter Sunday morning and volunteers for the watch were requested to watch over the altar of Jesus to keep an eye on His, figurative Tomb….

In the Cathedral, now draped in purple.

As with many customs of Mother Church, sadly, The Watch has largely been neglected of late and yet, there are still men who keep The Watch in the very darkest of hours.

Any Catholic, in any Church or Cathedral in Christendom, could keep watch, but in wee youth it was deemed logical that the men and younger boys would keep the late hours Watch.

I remember that my appointed hour was always 2 AM until 3 AM, when my relief arrived.

If my relief did not arrive, I Watched until it came to me, when it came to me, in those dark hours of late night and early morn on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

While I understood that it made sense in the modern era for the men and grown boys of the parish to keep the late night and wee morning hours…..

‘The Penitent Magdalene’: Caravaggio, 1597

It always struck me a stunning curiosity that the parish women, without whom, a Catholic parish of any size simply could not function, were encouraged to take the hours deemed easier and safer of The Watch, as, we know from our reading, it was of course, the women, who kept The Watch Original, outside the Tomb of Our Saviour Jesus all ’round the clock.

Mother Church does change in a cosmetic sense, but never in a doctrinal sense:

For instance, for many centuries, Cathedrals and Churches were never closed.

Ever.

It is a sadness to me now to see how tightly locked and barred is the House of Jesus, when not in official use.

I have read that Papa Francis has said that the:

“Church must always be open to the poor and to those with aching spiritual needs,” and I commend Him for that thought.

I surmise that Papa Francis was not speaking of The Church being, literally, open all day and night, but if He were talking of such a plan, I roundly commend Him for it, as:

The Church of Jesus, never should be bolted, locked or barred.

If the precipitate reason for padlocking God’s Church is the potentiality of being sacked by vandals coming in, I suggest to Papa Francis that He decree that The Watch of Passion Week be extended throughout the year so that God’s House may remain open always and be always accessible to those who have need of Her solace–whose name is legion.

Let The Watch be universal and every day and night.

My dears, Jesus is now dead and gone from us and we Watch over His Precious Tomb remembering and strengthened by His Words to Simon Peter:

“Canst thou not watch with me an hour without falling asleep?”

Jesus of course forgives, with His Love, all manner of human frailty, and He would of course, forgive us this night our dosing off a bit.

The origin of The Watch derives from the Words of Jesus to Simon Peter:

“Watch a little while with me.”

He has said to us, in a different context:

“Again a little while, I am with you, again a little while, I am not with you.”

As this is written, in the small hours of Holy Saturday, Jesus is not with us.

He is in His Tomb.

His Cathedral is bare and barren.

But for those of us who keep The Watch.

When I was a wee one, an English Naval Officer, whose station of duty in America was The Naval Medical Hospital in Bethesda, was very curious about The Watch of Passion Week.

The officer was not a Catholic, but, as with all naval men, he was well familiar with the notion of the watch, most particularly in the wee hours.

So it was that the English Naval Officer was very impressed with The Catholic notion of The watch over the Tomb of Jesus and every year, for three, consecutive, Passion Weeks, he joined my brothers and I On Watch, in the darkest hours and he later wrote us that he had, on years’ later reflection and reading, become himself a Catholic.

God does move in ways most mysterious.

In my family, we ever after referred to this as :

“Our Passion Week Watch conversion.”

So, now, we Watch, you and I, until Jesus returns in Glory to us Easter Sunday morning.

Until that time, you and I keep:

The Watch.

In our Cathedrals, in our hearts and thoughts.

We Watch.

I will pray for you my dears, if you pray for me.

Do you and I have our Easter Sunday deal to do that?

Penitent Mary Magdalene by Nicolas Régnier, Palace on the Water, Warsaw.

Mary of Magdalene was the very first Watch Keeper over the Tomb of Jesus. She was called later, By Augustine, “The Apostle to The Apostles.” Such was her significance to Jesus and His followers.

Mary was most prominent during Jesus’ last days. When Jesus was crucified by The Romans, Mary Magdalene was there supporting him in His final moments and after, mourning His death. She stayed with Him at the cross after the other disciples, save for Saint John The Beloved One, had fled. She was at his burial, and she is the only person that all four Gospels say was first to realize that Jesus had Risen and to testify to that central teaching of faith.

“Mary Magdalene Approaching the Tomb”

Gian Girolamo Savoldo, painted 1535-1540

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