And…we’re off! I’ve finally committed to a fantasy stable (not that anything like considered deliberation of last weekend’s prep races factored seriously into my decisions), and the Road to the Roses: Brooklyn Backstretch Charity League is set to go for year #4.
As in past years, the winner of our league will have a donation made in his or her name to the racing charity of his or her choice. Past recipients include the Belmont Child Care Association, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and Days End Farm Horse Rescue. I pledge $75; in past years, league members have voluntarily contributed, and our donation is usually several hundred dollars.
You don’t need to contribute to win…just join! Standings will be posted here weekly, and the races begin this Saturday. The only rule is that you don’t get to make fun of me (publicly, anyway) for my picks, which are designed to make me finish somewhere below first and (I hope!) above last. It would be terribly bad form for the league administrator to win at her own game.
Please note: only one stable per person.
My guiding principles in choosing my stable this year are not so different from previous year: I needed a cat horse (even if he’s a turf horse); I don’t pick horses with terrible or misspelled names; I give preference to parents who were favorite horses of mine, hence the inclusion of Elite Alex. Ordinarily, horses withnamesthatruntogether are automatically excluded, but Queen’splatekitten claims feline exemption.
So get your stable set up and start collecting points—you can join our league with this information:
League Name: Brooklyn Backstretch
League Identifier/Number: 1492256215
Activation Code: 3256324600
And if you’re interested in contributing to the donation, please e-mail me (address at the “contact information” tab at the top of the page), leave a comment, or contact me through the Brooklyn Backstretch page on Facebook or Twitter. And while you’re at it, follow on Twitter and “like” on Facebook!
In a little self-promotional news, I’ve had some fun instances recently of my worlds colliding. Last week I wrote a commentary on the human side of the NYC-OTB closure for Thoroughbred Times after a conversation with a former student’s father, who worked for NYC-OTB for 30 years; and I recently wrote a profile of Helen Pitts for the alumnae magazine of her high school in Maryland…at which I was her 11th grade English teacher. The format is a little hard to navigate, but click the clink, click the top issue (Winter 2011) to make it full screen, then mouse over the pages at the bottom of the screen to get to pages 12 and 13. Bit of a pain, but well worth it for the photo of Helen with her newborn Olivia!
On Tuesday I spent a wonderful morning with the good folks at Akindale Thoroughbred Rescue, and a full post with pictures is coming in a day or two…
Brooklyn Backstretch 
I will be signing up once I finalize my stable!
And I pledge a $25 donation to the winner’s chosen charity. We know it won’t be me….
I’d participate again, but I’m not really happy with my stable. I made the mistake of setting it up too early. I didn’t realize that the scoring races didn’t start until this weekend. I thought they were last weekend. If I had known, I would have waited.
However, I will send a donation…All the racing charities are good causes and I’m happy to help!
I joined the league. I’m JRT Racing. I don’t expect much – my horses always seem to drop out early.
Linda, thank you!
Elizabeth…my stable is a disaster. Join! We’d love to have you.
Deborah – good luck. Let’s hope you’re pleasantly surprised this year.
Teresa,
I’ll set up my stable this evening and pledge $75 to match yours. For now though, how can you be old enough to be Helen Pitts English teacher? You don’t look old enough to be an English teacher now!
I had fun setting up my stable, but it’s in no way a winning one, I suspect. I’ll happily toss in $25 to the donation pot.
I’m in Teresa and am part of your stable, and I pledge $75 to match you, too. Thanks, for the information, and the motivation. Looks like it will be fun, and for a good cause.
Teresa,
I pledge $100.00 to the Jeremy Walk for The BCCA and the PDJF. No, no stable for me. You know my “quaint” handicapping method and I don’t theink it would work for this.
Why not include the walk as a charity? That way both The Anna House Children and the PDJF will benefit.
I’ll send you some “stuff” on it shortly so you can put it up on the site.
Stuart
AndyScoggin’s Big Red Stable will pledge $50 to the prize pool. I,too, have little confidence in my picks, but I love Teresa’s creative fundraising idea!
I have joined as well. Not expecting much, but this is for a good cause and a great way to raise money! I’ll contribute $25.00.
Holy moly, folks, you’re incredibly generous! We’re up to over $300 already!
Stuart, the winner can contribute to whatever racing charity he or should would like; I don’t stipulate or make recommendations. I mentioned those three only because they were past recipients.
Yay, Elizabeth! Glad you came back.
Waaay too kind, Lynne. 🙂
I joined the league, but I already had my account set up with two different stables. I’ll use the Derby Fever 2011 one to count for your league… so watch the other one do better! I’ll add a donation too, just not sure what amount yet. 🙂
Grizzle-T Ranch has joined Brooklyn Backstetch League. I pledge 50.00.
Wow, everyone…this is great – our donation is up to $425. Some racing charity is going to be very, very happy. Your generosity is so touching…thank you!
Good luck to all in tomorrow’s races!
I wasn’t paying attention (one of my stronger qualities!) and have not declared a donation; so put me down for $75. Given the way To Honor and Serve ran this past Sat it looks like I’ll be out of contention before we get to the Fl Derby! Oh well…..
Scott…thank you! Incredibly generous. Um, and yeah…I’m not happy that I let myself be talked off including Soldat by someone who’s supposed to be a lot better at this than I am.
Just joined myself (didn’t know about this until I was catching up on the blogs just now), and I’m suddenly in second place with the 50 points I had in week one (though I certainly will drop this week as that stable has NO horses running, but I’ll be creating a new stable this week once I do my work for the Gotham).
Excellent, Walt! Glad you’ve joined us. Note, though, that for scoring purposes, only one stable per person, so let me know which you’d like me to count. Good luck!
I’m in again….must defend the title!
Well…co-title, anyway. Ashely Herriman shares that one with you. 🙂 Welcome back and good luck!
Small technicality…I was sole winner the year before 🙂
Oh, right! That’s the year we couldn’t find you. 🙂