I'm back on the java train with a freshly healed and rejuvenated gut. Sure, my throat is raw from talkin' and smokin' up the proverbial storm, but that ain't a hamper to my lil bit o' turf-writing. There's more to come of that turf-writing, by the by. Just as there is now more ring-writing, proper. Also: HELP WANTED looking for a horse fan to take part in my Kibbitz podcast. Inquire within.
For meow and humsoever gentlepersons --
THE CIGAR
Gurkha Viper
7 x 50 Churchill Box-pressed
w. Dominican Habano
b. Dominican
f. Dominican & Nicaraguan
7 x 50 Churchill Box-pressed
w. Dominican Habano
b. Dominican
f. Dominican & Nicaraguan
MELATONIN COMPLETES GOLD CUP DOUBLE
The hand-feel on this Gurkha is silky as all get-out. Box-pressing is on the gentle side and density seems a tick under-stuft. Cold draw notes of highly creamy milk chocolate and cedar, predominantly. White bread and white pepper get added whenst match is applied.
Melatonin: the lil horse that could. Could what? Could under-dog. Well. From his 16-1 win at the Santa Anita Hcp. (while many a good pony was over at the $10M USD Dubai World Cup) -- to Saturday's Gold Cup win over stiffer competitions put up by falling back Hoppertunity and coming on strong Hard Aces. By a length and-a-half, the five year-old horse earned a win-and you're-in spot at the Breeders' Cup Classic. Word is that he may more nigh on the calendar, be pointing to The Awesome Again Stakes.
Mr. Joe Talamo, jock, had this to say post-victory and regarding the run: “I knew I had a lot of horse turning for home, but my horse dug in so nicely. I don't know what else to say, he's an unbelievable horse and the sky's the limit." After not knowing what else to say, he added: “He's a jockey's dream. He just does his thing. He does not have to go to the lead. As you saw, he laid second, comfortably. What impressed me the most about him today was when Win the Space came to him at the eighth pole, he just battled back. He gives you everything he's got.”
Ash piles on loosely and somewhat flakily in grey complected variances. Milk chocolate, creamy cedar, a somewhat immature tobacco with a white pepper attachment which comes across as potentially bite-prone. Dirt underbelly. White bread lacings. Not much of a finish. Mouth-feel is a nicely moistened tingle. Room-note is kind and sweet. A coffee note sidles up to the medium profile. Strength is mild.
Melatonin's tenacity in under-dog victories and swinging above his weight doesn't end on the track. Shortly after he broke his maiden on the dirt, and three weeks into his stay at current owner Hofmans' barn -- the young fella became wobbly and simply just not right. A blood test would reveal a quite serious neurological disorder, equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). It would be a year and a half before the horse would return to the track. In short gentlepersons, you count out Melatonin at yer own peril; thus sayeth his-story.
NYQUIST TAKES 2ND BREEZE
This past Saturday, Nyquist, winner of the Kentucky Derby, loser of The Preakness, and sitter-outer of Belmont Stakes, had his second public workout since being shelved after the second Triple Crown jewel due to fever and elevated white blood cell count. He went 5 furlongs in 1:02.07 before the day's Santa Anita card onset. “It wasn’t super-fast, but it was exactly what we wanted,” trainer Doug O’Neill said after the breeze. Team Nyquist has the stated goal of a Breeders' Cup Classic go -- but it might take a good week to decide the whats and whens of before that.
Gentlepersons, I am now fully in the "Gurkha experience." Two re-touches on a fercockt burn have yielded limited positive results. Flavor notes are unchanged, lest a dustier delivery of the dirt under-belly. Too there is a vibing in of a sour note attempting at a dry white wine under my tongue.
MOONIST 2011 - 2016
According to DRF, "'Moonist, the champion aged Quarter Horse of 2015, was euthanized late Tuesday after complications from colic, trainer John Cooper said on Wednesday.'"
My heart-felt condolences to the multi-graded stakes winner's connections and fans. He was the first horse to win four derbies in a single year (2014) at Los Alamitos. He too won ten derbies and four stakes in that, his three year-old campaign. All told, Moonist was a winner in 24 of 34 starts and earned a total $878,468. The fine gelding won four championship titles, as well. Unbeaten in four starts this year, Moonist was rated the nation’s leading older horse. He wore pink. I liked that. May his memory be a blessing.
I'll re-light and tend to my roses, hang some hand-washed laundry on a sunny line. A toasted caramel nuttiness flirts in.
I'll re-light and tend to my roses, hang some hand-washed laundry on a sunny line. A toasted caramel nuttiness flirts in.
K A P L O W I T Z SCALE
K being the least, Z the greatest
