War Memorial Golf Course/Levy Loop

Ed, John, and I played War Memorial Golf Course today. Ed scored 88. John and I scored 105. I had nines of 53 and 52 and used 35 putts. I had one birdie.
Tonight, I jogged for about seven minutes and otherwise walked the good ol' Levy Loop in 28:31.

Cooks Landing

Seven other Geezers and I completed the Cooks Landing Loop this morning. We went about 6.8 miles in 1:45:50. I jogged for 14 non-stop minutes with Bill Brass.

War Memorial Golf Course/Levy Trail South

John Czarnecki, Ed Pennington, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this morning and early afternoon. Ed scored 88. I scored 93 and John 98. I had nines of 48 and 45 and used 36 putts.
Late this afternoon, I walked Levy Trail South in 34:22.

Levy/Hash

I walked for 1:08:43 around Levy this morning.
This afternoon, I was out with the Little Rock Hash House Harriers for nearly two hours. There was a lot of standing around involved, so I don't think we went more than two miles.

Levy Trail

I walked through rain for seven miles on the Levy Trail this morning. I was out for 1:54:40.

War Memorial Golf Course/Levy Trail Loop

I played the first 12 holes of War Memorial Golf Course with Tim Biggs, John Czarnecki, and Ed Pennington, and I sucked throughout. I scored a 53 on the front nine and played the first three holes of the back nine in +3, +2, and +1, in order. For 12 holes, I used 30 putts. No kidding. I used 25 putts for the front nine, which has to be close to a lifetime PR.
I walked the Levy Trail Loop very late this afternoon in 30:38

Levy Trail North

I walked Levy Trail North this morning in 33:34.

Ridge Road Loop/Levy Trail 5K

I walked the Ridge Road Loop this morning in 1:00:49, with splits of 16:21, 14:59, 14:41, and 14:49.
Late this afternoon, I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete the Levy Trail 5K in 44:40, with splits of 14:38, 14:36, and 14:18.

Cooka Landing/War Memorial Golf Course

I walked with the Geezers from Cooks Landing this morning for 2:04:17. I started about a half an hour before the rest and probably covered a little over six miles.
John Czarnecki, Ed Pennington, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this afternoon. I scored 93, with nines of 49 and 44. Ed scored 94 and John 111. I used 32 putts, including a 4-putt and two 3-putts. I had 4 pars, 6 bogies, 5 doubles, and 3 triples.

Pam's Path/Levy Trail Loop

I walked Pam's Path this morning in 1:02:37.
Late this afternoon, I walked the Levy Trail Loop in 31:10.

Hash/Levy Trail Loop

It took me 1:38:37 to set a run for the Little Rock Hash Harriers in Burns Park this morning. I covered about five miles.
Late this afternoon, between the conference championship games, I walked the Levy Trail Loop in 33:12.

Burns Park Loop/Oaklawn Park

I walked a slightly shortcutted, perhaps five-mile version of the Burns Park Loop this morning in 1:29 (I forgot to put my watch on and consequently timed it with the clock in my car). My legs can still feel yesterday's golf round.
This evening at Oaklawn Park, I walked from my car parked by the barn kitchen, north on Central Boulevard and back for 50 minutes, or a little over three miles. I felt great, very energetic. I hope to run soon. Before the walk, I wrote a decent story about the Dixie Belle Stakes and won a total of $7.40 on three bets. I am down $5.60 after four trips.

Levy Trail South

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete Levy Trail South this morning in 27:30. Now, on to War Memorial Park for my first golf round of the year.
It felt like my first round of the year. John Czarnecki, Ed Pennington, and I played War Memorial Golf Course this afternoon. Ed scored 91. I scored 105 and John 109. I used 34 putts. This score makes my game sound much worse than it is. It might take me a round or two, but I'm close and not at all concerned. For one thing, it was really too cold and, for the first five or six holes, way too windy.

Orange Street Loop/Levy Trail South

I walked the Orange Street Loop this morning in 44:35, with splits of 15:15, 14:58, and 14:22.
I walked the Levy Trail Loop late this afternoon in 32:44.

33rd Street Loop

I hadn't run or walked the 33rd Street Loop since April 5, 2016, until this morning, when I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete it in 1:11:37, with splits of 28:46, 14:02, 14:15, and 14:34.
I weighed 188.5 pounds this morning. It was the first time I have weighed under 190 since approximately January 2015.

Ghetto Cat Loop/Orange Street Loop

There are two inches of snow on the ground in Levy that ain't going anywhere soon. At this moment, it's 11°F with a RealFeel® of -4. They say the high today will be 24. Days like this remind me of the absolute unfairness of climate change. Despite the fucked weather, and aided by a scarf I improvised from an old T-shirt, I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop this morning in 35:14.
I walked the Orange Street Loop tonight in 47:26. Quite a bit of treachery remains on the roads.

Oaklawn Park

HOT SPRINGS—I walked right at four miles before the start of racing at Oaklawn Park today in 1:03:16. Later I lost $2 and am now down $13 after three trips.

Pete's Smarty Jones Stakes story

PETE PERKINS

HOT SPRINGS — Horses with Kentucky Derby aspirations face a long list of tests prior to the first Saturday in May.

None are more significant than the two-turn test, and Bob Baffert-trainee Mourinho aced it to win the $150,000 1-mile Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park in 1:37.25 before an announced crowd of 9,000 on Monday.

“We were hoping he would pass that test,” Baffert said.

Mourinho, by 2010 Derby champion Super Saver, flew in from California on Wednesday to also pass the shipping test and hold off Steve Asmussen-trainee Combatant, who finished second, 3 1/4 lengths back. Tap Daddy, also trained by Asmussen, was third, eight lengths behind Combatant and 4 1/2 lengths in front of Bode’s Maker, fourth in the five-horse field.

The Smarty Jones was Mourinho’s first race beyond 7 furlongs.

Two program entrants were scratched from the race. Todd Pletcher-trainee Navistar failed to arrive because of travel issues, and Lone Rock, trained by William VanMeter, raced Saturday.

Mourinho, with jockey Drayden Van Dyke aboard, led from the start and reached the first quarter in 23.33 with Tap Daddy a length back and Combatant in third. He passed the half in 48.09 and three-quarters in 1:12.27.

“He made the lead easy, but it looked like he had plenty left at the end, so it was very encouraging,” Baffert said. “The time was pretty decent for this time of the year, so we’re really excited about it.”

Van Dyke is a 2012 graduate of nearby Lake Hamilton High.

“This is extra special because it’s my hometown,” he said. “I’m very happy.”

Combatant passed Tap Daddy near the head of the stretch but would gain no more than three-quarters of a length on Mourinho through the finish.

The Smarty Jones is Oaklawn’s first race to award Road-to-the-Derby points, with 10 to the winner, four to second, two to third, and one to fourth. Since the points system was adjusted for the 2014 Derby, the final qualifiers have earned between 20 and 32 points.

Oaklawn’s Southwest Stakes, scheduled for Feb. 19, is the track’s next to offer points on the Road to the Derby.

Oaklawn offers opportunities other than the Smarty Jones to earn credentials for the Southwest and beyond, including a handful over the first four days of the season. Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope said that’s been the idea all along.

“Everyone has always looked for their best opportunity to get to the Arkansas Derby and then on to the Triple Crown,” Pope said. “You want to give them options. You try to offer them a variety of races and give them the choice.”

Two 1-mile optional-claiming races with first-level allowance conditions run Saturday fit Pope’s list, and more than just the winners of those demonstrated an ability required to advance. First, D. Wayne Lukas-trainee Bravazo won by a neck in 1:37.74 over Ezmosh, trained by Brad Cox. Lukas, a Hall of Fame horseman who has trained four Derby winners, sounded confident that both Bravazo and Ezmosh had earned further opportunities.

“Those two are nice horses,” Lukas said. “I think they’re going to show up down the line.”

Two races later, Donnie K. Von Hemel-trainee Higher Power won by three-quarters of a length over 1/2 favorite New York Central, trained by Asmussen, in 1:39.52. Von Hemel said he was confident that Higher Power was a quality horse before the race. Afterward, he sounded as if the sky might be his figurative limit. He said the Southwest was among the considerations.

“He’ll move forward from this race,” Von Hemel said. “I think he learned a little bit. He had some traffic to contend with today. He has to keep getting better, and I think he will.”

The Southwest is the second race of four at Oaklawn that award Road-to-the-Derby points. It is followed in that category by the Rebel Stakes, scheduled for March 17, and the Arkansas Derby, scheduled for April 14.

Baffert said he was unsure of the next step for Mourinho but that the Southwest is a possibility.

“He’s still taking baby steps,” Baffert said. “I don’t know which race I’ll run him back in, but maybe the Southwest would be a spot. We’ll get him back to California, and we’ll figure it out.”

Pam's Path/Maple Street Loop

My left foot hurt all day yesterday. I was fearful that the new 361°'s might have been the cause, particularly since I have five new pairs under my back-bedroom bed and the almost new pair I'm running in. This morning, I put in a pair of the old Dr. Scholl's inserts and the foot felt fine as I alternated four-minute walks with one-minute jogs to complete Pam's Path in 55:52, with splits of 14:23, 13:44, 13:32, and 13:13.
This evening I walked the Maple Street Loop in 28:38.

Oaklawn Park

HOT SPRINGS — I walked from the parking lot of Oaklawn Park at lunchtime today for 1:05:28.
I lost the one bet I made, for $5, so I'm down $12 after two trips.

OVERHEARD
"I got a song for him: 'You're a loser. You're a fucking loser' ''*
—from one of several women walking up to the second floor at Oaklawn Park a few minutes before Race 3, right after (and I mean fucking nearly instantly after) one of the others said: "Hey, look. There's a horse in this race named Sing Him a Song." The woman's tune was very well received, both by her friends and, by extension, most of the Oaklawn pressbox
*sung to a rather nebulous tune that was, for Pete at least, reminiscent of a pop hit from the 1970s or 1980s

McCain Mall/Oaklawn Park

It rained very hard Thursday night, so I drove to McCain Mall, where I walked for right about thirty-eight minutes. What a depressed place. Several stores were closed, and many that were open had a clerk at the counter and no one else in sight. Yesterday I walked for an hour and twenty minutes before the races at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. It was cold, and I motored right along. I'm guessing I went about five miles.
It was the first day of the season. I lost two win bets for a total of $7. Coach Carnahan, by the way, is getting around great on his two new hips.

Fort Roots Loop

Two other Geezers and I walked the Fort Roots Loop from Burns Park Golf Course this morning in 1:46:51. I think we went about five miles.
Late this afternoon I walked the Levy Trail Loop in 32:13.

Levy Trail 5K

I walked the Levy Trail 5K this morning in 47:32. I went through three miles in 46:05.
Early this evening, I walked the Maple Street Loop in 30:42.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
If Oprah Winfrey wins the 2020 U.S. presidential election, will Canada allow the Americans who moved there four years earlier to sublet their apartments to other Americans moving in?

Pam's Path

Man, this was the best I have felt in while. I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete Pam's Path this morning in 58:21, with splits of 15:05, 14:42, 14:34, and 14:00. It's a good thing I'm not at 6,000 feet. If I were, my beach-town friends from Texas would have no chance to keep up with me.

Levy Trail

I am on an all-out calorie-counting attempt to get into smaller pants. A byproduct of such are bouts of hypoglycemia, and they have become somewhat regular over the past week or so. I keep feeling as if I have them in hand, and then I go wobbling all over the Levy Trail, like tonight. I was out for 43:58 and happy to make it home unassisted and in one piece. For a while, I wasn't absolutely sure I was on Orange Street. It looked different to me.
By the way, my legs feel great.

PARAGRAPH OF THE DAY

From two brothers born in the 19th century, Oaklawn’s continued success, born and passed along as an interlock of goods and passion, has endured and blossomed through three generations. The late Charles Cella was the third owner and president of the thoroughbred racetrack founded in part by his grandfather and great-uncle Charles and Louis Cella in 1904, which opened for racing off Central Avenue on Feb. 24, 1905. Charles Cella, the founders’ grandson and nephew, died after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s disease on Dec. 6, at the age of 81, five weeks short of what would have been his 51st season as track president.

—from a story about Louis Cella, the fourth successive member of his family to run Oaklawn Park

Levy Trail 5K

I alternated one-minute jogs with four-minute walks to complete the Levy Trail 5K at lunchtime today in 46:18. I went through three miles in 44:59, with splits of 14:55, 15:04, and 15:00.
My calves were stiff, but not nearly so much as yesterday.

Maple Street Loop

I walked the Maple Street Loop this morning in 32:34.

Levy Trail North/Ghetto Cat Loop

I jogged for a total of the three minutes and otherwise walked Levy Trail North this morning in 32:29. My calves have been stiff throughout this latest comeback run. That stiffness peaked today. Calve stiffness—more specifically tibialis anterior stiffness—has burdened my running since, at most, two years after I started. I first began to run regularly in November 1973 and remember complaining to my dad and an early mentor named Fran Irwin about calve stiffness during the summer of 1976. I don't remember earlier bouts, but I do remember telling dad and Fran of my familiarity with them. They have always gone away in time and are, I believe, correlated to my fitness level.
Late this afternoon I walked the Ghetto Cat Loop in 32:15. It got above freezing in Levy today for the first time in five days.

Levy Trail 5K

I walked the Levy Trail 5K late this afternoon in 50:14.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop this morning in 35:26. It was 15°F when I started, with a RealFeel® of 2. Fucking 2.