River Trail

I walked exactly seven miles on the River Trail with the Geezers this morning. We did an out-and-back from the Clinton Library. I think it took us a little over two hours. Jayme joined us. Man, she is truly funny. There's a woman who walks with us named Diana. I hadn't seen her since before Oaklawn, when I sold her on buying Ainsle's Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing. She gave me a glorious report of the season she and her husband had.

Levy Trail South

I walked Levy Trail South tonight in 31:46. I jogged for a total of two minutes just to see if I can still jog. I'm still not sure.
Jo has spent her entire life walking in the front door and looking back to swat Pam to make sure it was clear who got the first shot at the food and water bowls. She looked back yesterday and this morning. Tonight, when I came in from my walk, she didn't. I don't know if any of that looking back business had anything to do with Pam being gone, but I hope it did (though, of course, I know everyone goes out of their way to personify the actions of their pets).
I didn't know much I would miss the great Pam.

Original Levy Loop

I walked the original Levy Loop this afternoon in 33:14. I pinpointed within a foot or so where I first saw Pam and her three siblings on the morning of May 5, 2001.

38th Street Loop

I walked the 38th Street Loop this morning in 33:34.

Pam: 2001-2017

Pam died in Pete's lap at 11:59 p.m., April 26, 2017. She was born May 5, 2001. Pam was best known as a significant character in issues of the Little Rock Hash Trash from 2002-2006.

Hash

We were out for 55 minutes on a Hash run so poorly set that the group I was with covered 2.08 miles. Most us went in circles and were never further than maybe four blocks from the start. Pinocchiho and a relative newcomer named Paul set the piece of shit.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...each American man who has one of those terribly stylish, trendy explosions of hair growing out of their face. I predict that thirty years from now their grandchildren will laugh their asses off at the pictures: "Goddamn Grandpa, what the fuck were you thinking?"

Levy Trail North

I walked Levy Trail North this afternoon in 33:22.

OVERHEARD
"I wanna' get my ass some food and a goddamn Coke."
—man in the Kroger parking lot

Orange Street Loop

I walked the Orange Street Loop late this afternoon in 49:23. It was my last training session for working the Hash aid station at the Ouachita Trail 50 tomorrow.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop this evening in 34:50.

Oaklawn Park

HOT SPRINGS—I walked from Oaklawn Park to my dad's former house and back this morning. It took me 1:47:18. It's a little over six miles.
Today I lost $2.50 at Oaklawn Park to finish the season up 50 cents. There's voucher in my pants I purchased for $40 on Jan. 13 that's currently worth $40.50. I'm a winner.

Pete was happy to get the word skulduggery into the paper

HOT SPRINGS -- Three-year-old horses tend to behave like first-year college students.

A handful figure things out in a hurry, but most struggle to find their way.

Take Classic Empire, for example.

Eclipse Awards voters named the son of Pioneer of the Nile as the champion 2-year-old male, mostly because of two Grade I stakes victories, including one in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

He got the award despite occasional bursts of assorted skulduggery on and off the racetrack, most notably when he wheeled coming out of the gate and threw his rider in the Grade I Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga in August.

Then, after back-to-back Grade I victories, he started his 3-year-old season with a lackluster performance in the Feb. 4 Holy Bull Stakes two months ago at Gulfstream Park and flags were raised.

His refusal to go through with a planned workout a few weeks later raised more flags.

They were lowered Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

Classic Empire harnessed his energy gracefully this time, racing strongly to the finish when he at last put a half-length in front and won the $1 million Grade I Arkansas Derby before an estimated crowd of 62,500.

Classic Empire, off at 2-1, raced the 9-furlong distance in 1:48.93 and earned 100 Road to the Kentucky Derby points. He ranks second in the Road to the Derby standings with 132 and is a lock to make the expected Derby field of 20 on May 6.

"He just has so much ability," trainer Mark Casse said. "I knew if we could get him here that he'd be tough. He's been a challenge, but the last month and a half have been good."

Jockey Julien Leparoux has ridden five of Classic Empire's career starts.

"He ran 100 percent today," Leparoux said. "I was expecting him to be a little tired at the finish, but he's a nice horse, and he did it today."

Conquest Mo Money finished second at 17-1, a length in front of third-place Lookin at Lee, a 12-1 shot trained by Steve Asmussen. Sonneteer, second in Oaklawn's Rebel Stakes last month at 112-1, was another length back in fourth.

Malagacy, an impressive winner of the Rebel and the 2-1 second choice in the Arkansas Derby, faltered late to finish fifth. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said he thought the 12th gate compromised Malagacy's chance.

"I thought he ran a courageous race from a difficult post," trainer Todd Pletcher said.

The No. 2 post helped Classic Empire, as did his demeanor on this day.

Misbehaving entering and leaving the gate had been on his list of quirks, but he loaded easily, left quickly, and appeared comfortable at or near the rear of a tight seven-horse lead pack.

Classic Empire made his move while going wide entering the head of the stretch, but got past Malagacy first and finally Conquest Mo Money, the Sunland Park Derby runner-up, that was gut-wrenching for his connections.

"I wasn't sure he was going to get there," Casse said. "I don't think everything went perfectly for him. He had every right to get tired in the last part of it, but he kept running."

Conquest Mo Money, a son of Uncle Mo, did not race as a 2-year-old but began his career with three consecutive victories at Sunland Park Racetrack in New Mexico. He finished second in the Grade III Sunland Derby on March 26. With 60 total Road to the Derby points, he and his connections are in.

"Oh my God, it's so exciting," trainer Miguel Hernandez said. "I want to say 100 yards from the wire, I said, 'I got it, I got it, I got it.' It was exciting."

Casse said he knows how difficult the Road to the Derby can be.

At times, Classic Empire seemed equivalent to a star athlete allowed to remain active despite occasional chicanery. He was tolerated from the start for his talent despite an almost slap-stick start to Saratoga's Hopeful Stakes that would've drawn laughter if not for the peril it presented his jockey that day, Irad Ortiz, Jr.

John Oxley's colt wheeled right and stopped 20 yards out of the gate as the 3-2 favorite in the Hopeful, dropped Ortiz, Jr. to the track.

A month earlier in his second career start, Classic Empire angled in from the first post at the start of the Grade III Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs, but Leparoux quickly regained control to direct him to a three-quarter-length after trailing by 4 lengths at the head of the stretch.

In an interview last weekend, Casse said he had never been more impressed by any of his 2-year-old winners.

At one point in February, Classic Empire simply refused to work at Palm Meadows Training Center, near Gulfstream Park. He had what at first appeared as a minor abscess to a hoof, but it became so painful that his compensation for it led to back pain. These matters, in turn, led to what Casse said were psychological matters detrimental to the champion's will.

"When he was continuing his antics, we kind of had thrown up our hands and been like, 'Well, what are we supposed to do?,' '' said Norman Casse, Mark Casse's son, and assistant trainer.

Mark Casse took Classic Empire back to a farm near Ocala, Fla., where he first trained. The move apparently helped. He worked 5 furlongs in 59.60 on the farm's Windy Ridge Training Center track on April 3.

"Last-ditch effort, we send him back to Ocala where it all started for him and said if he trains there, good," Norman Casse said earlier this week. "If not, we'll take a step back and wait until summertime. So, he earned his right here."

He obviously had.

"It was a relief, and maybe disbelief that, after all the obstacles that came our way, we were able to achieve this," Mark Casse said. "There were so many people who helped us with this. We needed it because it's been tense."

Oaklawn Park

HOT SPRINGS—I walked for nearly an hour at Oaklawn Park on Thursday, Day 1 of the Racing Festival of the South. Today I walked for exactly 43:14.
I won $28.50, thanks mostly to a cold $5 trifecta on the Apple Blossom Stakes. With one day to go, I am up $3.00 for the season.  I have a two-dollar bet figured for tomorrow. If it hits, great. Nevertheless, I will have my first winning season since, I think, 2010.
No, wait; counting simulcast gambling, and thanks to California Chrome's victory in the 2014 Kentucky Derby and a crazy performance by longshot Commanding Curve in the same race, I was in the black in 2014.

Orange Street Loop

I jogged for a total of four minutes and otherwise walked the Orange Street Loop this evening in 44:50.

38th Street Loop

I alternated one-minute jogs with nine-minute walks to complete the 38th Street Loop this evening in 30:28. It rained most of the while.

Levy Trail North

I walked Levy Trail North late this morning in 33:03

JIM NANTZISMS FROM MASTERS SUNDAY*

"Rickie Fowler, winner of five tournaments worldwide since 2015, including the Players Championship last month down in Florida."
—The Players Championship has been played in May, with its finish on Mothers Day, since 2007. Fowler won it in 2015
*accept for this one factual error, Jim did a decent job today

Levy Trail North

I walked Levy Trail North this evening in 33:57. It's nice to have baseball and Beat the Streak back. My plan this year is to participate more, but only when I'm not swamped by newspaper writing like I was today.
Oh, there are two excuses for John's and my comparatively shitty play the other day. One is that it was windier than two motherfuckers—perhaps the windiest afternoon I have ever played through. The other, and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, is that we played from the red tees. I got there a bit late, and Gil likes to play from them, so it was too late for me to lead the way from the whites. John thinks that was the most significant factor, but I disagree. There is only a total yardage difference of 330 yards, or an average of 18.3 yards a hole. In my mind, that means, at most, eight strokes, or a quadruple-bogeyed extra par-4 hole. The difference was wind blowing an average of thirty miles an hour, the extra hole, and our playing more like we typically do. I still maintain that I witnessed a miracle on par with the parting of the goddamn Red Sea when John shot that 84 on March 31.

War Memorial Golf Course

I played War Memorial Golf Course with John Czarnecki this afternoon in 102, with nines of 50 and 52. I used 35 putts. I was en route to a decent round but played each of the final two holes in five-over. No kidding, an eight on a par-3 and a nine on a par-4. By the way, John scored 106, so we both kind of returned to earth from our rounds five days ago.

Levy Trail North

I walked Levy Trail North this afternoon in 33:51.

BRACKET
Pete Perkins finished 10th of 60 in the paper's NCAA Tournament pool. Pete Perkins II finished 38th. Some fuck named Jarod Dailey won.

I PLAN TO STAB...
...any living U.S. citizen who has ever said, "He's not my president."*

...any living U.S. citizen, not on stage telling a comedy joke, who has ever said they think Barak Obama or George W. Bush was the worst president in U.S. history

*unless they were talking about someone who wasn't the president of the U.S.

Oaklawn Park

I walked from the Oaklawn Park press box to the Regions bank branch at the south end of the parking lot to get money for a hot dog. Counting that, plus time spent wandering among the barns and a trip back to the press box, I spent 40:14 walking early in the afternoon before I wrote a story about the Rainbow Miss Stakes, a six-furlong race for 3-year-old Arkansas-bred fillies.
I lost five dollars and am down $28.50 for the season. With two weeks left, I'm running out of time.

OVERHEARD
"Did you watch the game last night?"
—one man to another in the Oaklawn Park parking lot in a clear demonstration of progress for the women's movement. He referred to Mississippi State's upset victory over Connecticut in the NCAA Women's Tournament semifinals