Mohammedan ecstasy, carrying with it sweet scents of Arab Spring, now settles over the twin spires as Mubtaahij readies to wear Derby Roses 2015.

Posted on April 28, 2015 by John Daniel Begg under Arab Sring In Kentucky, Kentucky Derby 2015, Mohammedan ecstasy, Mubtaahij, Society, The twin Spiresc

Condo Commando, ridden by Joel Rosario, will wear the winner’s lilies after the Friday, May 1, 2015 Kentucky Oaks.

CONDO COMMANDO (USA) dkb/br. F, 2012 {22-b} DP = 3-1-6-0-0 (10) DI = 2.33 CD = 0.70 – 6 Starts, 5 Wins, 0 Places, 0 Shows Career Earnings: $748,600

TIZ WONDERFUL (USA) b. 2004	TIZNOW (USA) dkb/br. 1997	CEES TIZZY (USA) gr. 1987	RELAUNCH (USA) gr. 1976	IN REALITY (USA)	b. 1964 [BC]
				FOGGY NOTE (USA)	gr. 1965 *
			TIZLY (USA) b. 1981	LYPHARD (USA)	b. 1969 [C]
				TIZNA (CHI)	b. 1969
		CEE’S SONG (USA)* dkb/br. 1986	SEATTLE SONG (USA) b. 1981	SEATTLE SLEW (USA)	dkb/br. 1974 [BC]
				INCANTATION (USA)	dkb/br. 1965
			LONELY DANCER (CAN) b. 1975	NICE DANCER (CAN)	b. 1969
				SLEEP LONELY (USA)	dkb/br. 1970 *
	EVIL (USA) ch. 1998	HENNESSY (USA) ch. 1993	STORM CAT (USA) br. 1983	STORM BIRD (CAN)	b. 1978
				TERLINGUA (USA)	ch. 1976 *
			ISLAND KITTY (USA) ch. 1976	HAWAII (SAF)	b. 1964
				T.C. KITTEN (USA)	ch. 1969 *
		LIT’L ROSE (USA) ch. 1987	MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]	RAISE A NATIVE (USA)	ch. 1961 [B]
				GOLD DIGGER (USA)	b. 1962 *
			GIRLFRIEND (USA) b. 1978	TOM ROLFE (USA)	b. 1962 [CP]
				DANCEALOT (USA)	b. 1971
YEARLY REPORT (USA) b. 2001	GENERAL MEETING (USA) b. 1988	SEATTLE SLEW (USA) dkb/br. 1974 [BC]	BOLD REASONING (USA) dkb/br. 1968	BOLDNESIAN (USA)	b. 1963
				REASON TO EARN (USA)	b. 1963
			MY CHARMER (USA)* b. 1969	POKER (USA)	b. 1963
				FAIR CHARMER (USA)	ch. 1959
		ALYDARS PROMISE (USA) ch. 1983	ALYDAR (USA) ch. 1975 [C]	RAISE A NATIVE (USA)	ch. 1961 [B]
				SWEET TOOTH (USA)	b. 1965 *
			SUMMERTIME PROMISE (USA) b. 1972	NIJINSKY (CAN)	b. 1967 [CS]
				PRIDES PROMISE (USA)	b. 1966
	FISCAL YEAR (USA) dkb/br. 1995	HALF A YEAR (USA) ch. 1984	RIVERMAN (USA) br. 1969 [IC]	NEVER BEND (USA)	br. 1960 [BI]
				RIVER LADY (USA)	b. 1963
			SIX MONTHS LONG (USA) b. 1976	NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)	b. 1961 [BC]
				PRIME TIME (USA)	br. 1959
		FISCAL GOLD (USA) b. 1990	SLEW O’ GOLD (USA) b. 1980	SEATTLE SLEW (USA)	dkb/br. 1974 [BC]
				ALLUVIAL (USA)	ch. 1969 *
			FISCAL FUN (USA) b. 1980	FOOLISH PLEASURE (USA)	br. 1972
				FALAFEL (CAN)	b. 1973

“Well when you’re sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac

Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day

Ah, I’ll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon

And another girl to take my pain away.”

The Rolling Stones: Dead Flowers from the 1971 album Sticky Fingers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k64CrBxCAtI

So very, so terribly very, soon after the Roses of the Derby Day have withered and are, but dead flowers, the name of the Derby winner will yet be assured of racing immortality.

Man has opinions, horses have facts.

Back home in England, from whence the Derby comes, from whence, we all come, we have an expression that, if not categorically factual, at a minimum is a good bar to go by:

We say that:

Blood will out.

Gentlemen:

First things first:

Ladies go…first.

On Friday, before the Saturday Run for the Roses, Girls run for the Lilies.

Believe You Can and Rosie Napravnik, the first female jockey to ride the Kentucky Oaks winner!

The ladies have their own Derby, called the Kentucky Oaks, on Friday, 1st May, 2015.

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:

Condo Commando

To win the Kentucky Oaks, May 1, 2015.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The broken foot bone suffered by jockey Joel Rosario at Saratoga on Friday jeopardizes not only his mounts Saturday at Saratoga, including Orb in the Travers Stakes, but a full slate of races Sunday at Del Mar, including Game On Dude in the Pacific Classic and Goldencents in the Pat O'Brien.

Condo Commando will be ridden by the unflappable, Joel Rosario 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:

Mohammedan ecstasy, carrying with it Arab Spring, now settles over the twin spires as Mubtaahij readies to wear Derby Roses 2015.

~~~

A close call, a fierce fight…Sometimes, getting beat is the best way to whet your appetite for later victory.

MUBTAAHIJ

(IRE) b. C, 2012 {4-r} DP = 1-0-2-0-1 (4) DI = 1.00 CD = 0.00 – 7 Starts, 4 Wins, 1 Places, 0 Shows Career Earnings: £1,346,252 in GB/UAE

DUBAWI (IRE) b. 2002	DUBAI MILLENNIUM (GB) b. 1996	SEEKING THE GOLD (USA) dkb/br. 1985	MR. PROSPECTOR (USA) b. 1970 [BC]	RAISE A NATIVE (USA)	ch. 1961 [B]
				GOLD DIGGER (USA)	b. 1962 *
			CON GAME (USA)* dkb/br. 1974	BUCKPASSER (USA)	b. 1963 [C]
				BROADWAY (USA)	b. 1959 *
		COLORADO DANCER (IRE) dkb/br. 1986	SHAREEF DANCER (USA) b. 1980	NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)	b. 1961 [BC]
				SWEET ALLIANCE (USA)	b. 1974 *
			FALL ASPEN (USA)* ch. 1976	PRETENSE (USA)	br. 1963 [C]
				CHANGE WATER (USA)	ch. 1969
	ZOMARADAH (GB) br. 1995	DEPLOY (GB) b. 1987	SHIRLEY HEIGHTS (GB) br. 1975 [CP]	MILL REEF (USA)	b. 1968 [CS]
				HARDIEMMA (GB)	b. 1969
			SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS (USA)* b. 1979	ROBERTO (USA)	b. 1969 [C]
				WHERE YOU LEAD (USA)	ch. 1970 *
		JAWAHER (IRE) b. 1989	DANCING BRAVE (USA) b. 1983	LYPHARD (USA)	b. 1969 [C]
				NAVAJO PRINCESS (USA)	b. 1974
			HIGH TERN (IRE) gr. 1982	HIGH LINE (GB)	ch. 1966
				SUNBITTERN (GB)	gr. 1970
PENNEGALE (IRE) b. 1998	PENNEKAMP (USA) b. 1992	BERING (GB) ch. 1983	ARCTIC TERN (USA) ch. 1973	SEA-BIRD (FR)	ch. 1962 [S]
				BUBBLING BEAUTY (USA)	ch. 1961
			BEAUNE (FR) ch. 1974	LYPHARD (USA)	b. 1969 [C]
				BARBRA (FR)	br. 1969
		CORAL DANCE (FR) b. 1978	GREEN DANCER (USA) br. 1972	NIJINSKY (CAN)	b. 1967 [CS]
				GREEN VALLEY (FR)	dkb/br. 1967
			CARVINIA (FR) b. 1970	DIATOME (GB)	br. 1962
				CORALINE (FR)	b. 1957
	GALE WARNING (IRE) b. 1988	LAST TYCOON (IRE) b. 1983	TRY MY BEST (USA) b. 1975	NORTHERN DANCER (CAN)	b. 1961 [BC]
				SEX APPEAL (USA)	ch. 1970 *
			MILL PRINCESS (IRE) b. 1977	MILL REEF (USA)	b. 1968 [CS]
				IRISH LASS (GB)	b. 1962
		GAY APPAREL (CAN) dkb/br. 1975	UP SPIRITS (USA) b. 1961	TURN-TO (USA)	b. 1951 [BI]
				SPRING RUN (USA)	b. 1948 *
			BRIEF ATTIRE (CAN) b. 1962	MENETRIER (FR)	br. 1944
				CHORUS BEAUTY (CAN)	b. 1954

And, so we go now, on to the boys of Saturday afternoon, 2nd May, 2015 and their date with the ROSES…~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A star is born:

Horse play

Baby Mubtaahij

As, seeing is believing, attend closely to this race in the desert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PL3JcWEmpk

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2015/04/15/mubtaahij-leaves-for-america.aspx

Arabic Ecstasy…Mubtaahij is bred and inbred to so much royal racing blood that it would be easier to list the Kings and Queens of our sport to whom he is not blood kin.

As all our Nana’s told us:

Blood will:

OUT.

Andrew Beyer alone can stop Mubtaahij from winning the Roses May 2, 2015.

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 1970’s 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 arithmetical 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 2015.

~~~~

Then, we will all know for certain, as, if our Andrew picks poor Mubtaahij, the horse will be either struck in the head by lightning just after leaving starter’s gate, or drop poor

Frenchman Christophe Soumillion, a really world class lad, over the fence on Clubhouse Turn, or snap one, or both, forelegs, or, run a good, solid 19th all the way round.

It is our concomitant custom here to pick a number of back up possibilities to militate against Andrew Beyer’s picking our horse and, in so doing, destroying our horse’s chances at Derby Roses, but Beyer simply hasn’t the requisite creative imagination necessary to pick a Mohammedan race horse, so that mitigates against the need to have a reserve horse to fall stall the harrowing calamity a Beyer pick might bring our Mubtaahij.

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

YOUNG JOHN DANIEL BEGG’S

~~

“MAGNIFICENT IMPOSSIBILITY”

~~

Posted on 1st May, 2015, Friday 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.”

The Kentucky Derby

This year, That Magnificent Impossibility, looms May 2nd 2015.

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, wan, frayed and just plain tired.

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

Child of the English:

Dar~~BY

Princess Michael of Kent, June 7, 2014 in John Boyd | Royal Hats

Called after Lord Dar~By,

The English Darby 2014 won by the remarkable colt, in the purple jacket:

called….Australia:

Pre-race favorite Australia (center) on his way to victory in the Epsom Derby

On the subject of tests of champions, consider that:

The English Dar~By, a quarter mile longer than the American Derby, in addition, is finished going:

~~~

UPHILL!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ubnb3Y3800

“You’re sublime, you’re a turkey dinner.

You’re the time, of the Dar~by winner.”

Cole Porter

You’re the top.

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

Here, Her Majesty, appears keen on taking some flyers at Epson, home of the English Dar~by, with quite a good deal of seriousness.

Bravo, Mam!!

Queen Elizabeth, June 7, 2014 in Angela Kelly | Royal Hats

Shades of purple seemed the order of the day at the 2014 English Dar~By for both the winning jockey and Queen Herself.

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 water.

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: 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 2014 L’Arc.

For the second year in a row!!

Le Gran Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, a Longchamps, a Paris, 2014.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJpiAbwCf6k

~~~

TREVE–L’Arc winner, 2014

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.

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

- Mortal man holds to fleeting, feeble and fallible opinion. God holds to immutable fact.
  
  ~~
  
  The rich man ought not be taxed at all~~he ought be compelled to employ and train the poor man~~directly~~personally.
  
  ~~
  
  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.
  
  ~~
  
  Finis Origine Pendet…
  
  The escape commences…
  
  ~~
  
  September, 1957
  
  ~~
  
  Saint Jane Frances de Chantal Catholic parochial school, called, by anyone of any background, simply: “Chan~al,” a place where, of an autumn day in 1957, school, for me, began and ended in the first convening of the first grade in which a tiny nun, one Sister Dom Bosco, appeared before me, just behind the window appearing at far left of this photograph, and piped out this: “I may be small, but so then, is the Atom Bomb.”
  
  ~~
  
  My determination to escape school commenced immediately on hearing about this Atom Bomb business and took 16 dicey and arduous years to finally accomplish.~~
  
  ~~
  
  Non Sibi
  
  The escape continues…
  
  ~~
  
  September, 1966
  
  ~~
  
  The Cathedral Latin School
  
  ~~
  
  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
  
  ~~
  
  Kentucky Oaks Day, Friday Morning, 1st Mai et Kentucky Derby Day, Saturday Morning 2nd Mai, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, 2015
  
  Website: http://johndanielbegg.wordpress.com
  
  http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=122865699&trk=tab_pro
  
  http://www.facebook.com/JohnDanielBeggPublicAffairs http://www.tumblr.com/blog/theoldsoldiershome1952
  
  http://www.facebook.com/john.begg.33
  
  http://www.pinterest.com/johnbegg33/boards/
  
  http://independent.academia.edu/johnbegg/Papers?s=nav#add
  
  http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/jtdbegg
  
  Tweets: @jtdbegg
  
  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
  
  ~~
  
  Acta Est Fabula
  
  The escape concludes…
  
  ~~
  
  The Catholic University Of America, Washington, District of Columbia.
  
  ~~
  
  1976, Anno Domini Nostri Iesu Christi.
  
  ~~
  
  Acta Est Fabula.
  ~~
  
  Deus Vult.
  
  ~~Our Ubiquitous Presence~~
  
  The Queen~~
  
  Our Queen now 63 years on~~
  
  Simply the best President we could ever hope to have~~