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Things Of Interest!
July 23RD, 2008

Had a few interesting pictures to share with you today. First off, we purchased a few orchids for our house as anniversary presents. Our 5 year anniversary was July 18th, so we bought orchids. Four our 4 year anniversary we bought a share in the Adena Racing Venture 2, which has fostered our great love of Harlem Rocker. Here's a few photos of the orchids, very poor photos actually. I promise to post some better ones once we get some sunlight.

Orchid 1

Orchid 2

Things Of Interest 2...

We just had a huge rainstorm come through with flash flooding that blocked many streets in the city. We got over 1.3 inches of rain today in about an hour. When I got home from work I went outside to grill us some dinner, and 2 Blue Herron's landed on my nextdoor neighbor's roof. They were huge. I happened to have my camera just inside the door, and snapped a few photos before they quickly flew away. They are quite big birds.

2 Great Blue Herron's on the Roof

Blue Herron, Click to Enlarge

Things Of Interest 3...

After dinner I decided to turn the TV to ESPN to see what was on. It was a Mets game, but since we are in NY, the Mets game was blacked out because we need to watch it on a local sports station. Fortunately our DirectTV receiver will try and search for the program on other channels. I expected it to find the game on MSG, but instead I got this...

Fun with DirectTV

Hmmm, Channel 9323 TEST?

Harlem Rocker Headed for the Travers?
July 18TH, 2008

Grumblings are afoot on the NTRA and picked up by ESPN today that Harlem Rocker could be headed for the Travers at Saratoga this August. The $1 Million Mid Summer Derby is one of the biggest races of the summer. Quotes from Pletcher:

"Harlem Rocker, who remained undefeated on dirt with his victory in the Prince of Wales Stakes last Sunday, could make his next start in the $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, trainer Todd Pletcher said Thursday. "I would say it's a possibility; I haven't had a chance to speak with the Stronachs yet, but the spacing is good," Pletcher said..."

Do dreams come true? Being a pessimist, I would usually say no. But I've been dreaming of seeing Harlem Rocker in the Travers since he won his Maiden Race. We've got our tickets already, and man, the Travers is one hell of a fun party each summer as it is. I can't imagine how awesome it would be if we had a horse running in it... and he won. Keeping all my fingers crossed...

Articles:

Pletcher eyes Travers for Harlem Rocker - From NTRA

Pletcher eyes Travers for Harlem Rocker - And some more Pletcher Horse Updates from ESPN

Racing Blog with Travers Rumors - Timesunion.com Blog

Harlem Rocker Wins 2008 Prince of Wales Stakes
July 13TH, 2008

Today Tracy and I drove the short distance (1 hour) to Fort Erie Canada to witness the running of the Prince of Wales Stakes. Harlem Rocker, the horse we own a share of through Adena Racing Venture 2 and Horse Hats Racing Club was running in the $500,000 8th race. Morning Line Odds were 2-1 but he eventually went off as the 4-5 favorite. We made some bets and were highly confident of a win. Harlem Rocker did not disappoint, and won by a length over East End Tap. It was a great race, and a great day. View a bunch of the photos I took in our Harlem Rocker Prince of Wales Stakes Photo Gallery.


Harlem Rocker - 2008 Photographed: 07-13-08 Camera: Canon S700IS	Reaching for the Finish! Photographed: 07-13-08 Camera: Canon S700IS	Dusty and a Winner! Photographed: 07-13-08 Camera: Canon S700IS

Visit the Gallery for More Images!

Katahdin Hike Gallery
July 10TH, 2008

View a collection of my photos from my hike up Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, Maine. The peak is 5,267 FT High. Photo Gallery.


View Back over Knife Edge Photographed: 07-02-08 Camera: Canon S700IS	Katahdin Summit from South Peak Photographed: 07-02-08 Camera: Canon S700IS	Snow and Alternate Appalacian Trail Photographed: 07-02-08 Camera: Canon S700IS

Harlem Rocker to Race in Prince of Wales Stakes
July 9TH, 2008

Harlem Rocker is set to run Sunday, July 13th in the Prince of Wales Stakes at Fort Erie Racetrack. Located just over the Peace Bridge near Buffalo NY, this track hosts the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. The race is 1 3/16 mile on a dirt oval. The total purse is $500,000. 8 Horses will partake in this years running.

Harlem Rocker drew post 4, and has morning line odds of 2-1. The favorite, Queens Plate Winner Not Bourbon drew post 7 and odds of 7-5. I think harlem Rocker has had some good workouts lately, and will do well. Looks like Eibar Coa is back up top. I am planning on making the trip to the track, as I only live about a 1.5 hours away.

Infrared Gallery 2
June 22ND, 2008

View a collection of my infrared photos in my second infrared gallery.


Pfrengle Property, Chili Photographed: 05-24-2008 Camera: Canon A400	Corbett's Glen, South Entrance Photographed: 06-15-2008 Camera: Canon A400	High Falls Entertainment Area Photographed: 06-21-2008 Camera: Canon A400

Urban Spelunking
June 21ST, 2008

Some may say that I did a very foolish thing, but I also did a very neat thing and took a trip to explore Rochester's old subway tunnels this weekend. There is a lot of history, graffiti, and neat things to see down there. I didn't come across any bums or druggies, but I did see a guy on a bike in the distance, he had no flashlight though, so he did not pursue me in the tunnels. Pictures and a description of my trip are in my photo gallery and portfolio page.


Subway Entrance near South Ave Photographed: 06-21-2008 Camera: Canon A400	Looking West under Broad Street Photographed: 06-21-2008 Camera: Canon A400	View of the old Aqueduct Under Broad St. Photographed: 06-21-2008 Camera: Canon A400

There are also a few neat panoramics in the panoramic gallery.

Broad Street Aqueduct

View images of the Broad Street Aqueduct in the Panoramic Gallery

More Rally Photos
June 17TH, 2008

Got some more of my Rally Photos posted. View them in my STPR 2008 Rally Photo Gallery.


STPR Rally 2008 Wellsboro PA Photographed: 06-06-08 Camera: Canon G6	Special Stage STPR 2008, Fairgrounds Photographed: 06-06-08 Camera: Canon G6	Stage 1, STPR 2008 Wellsboro PA Photographed: 06-07-08 Camera: Canon G6

Wii Would Like To Vote...
June 17TH, 2008

How are you doing at Wii Votes? Do you vote? Well, how tuned are you?

How Tuned Are You?

Another Winner in the Group
June 16TH, 2008

Fellow Hockey Player and friend Andy LaPietra has gotten into the horse ownership fun himself by purchasing 5% of a horse from Hibiscus Stables - Portugesemano'war. We joined him on a rainy Saturday to watch his debut race at the Fingerlakes. Portugesemano'war had raced before, but didn't seem to be performing at the higher level at Aqueduct. He was purchased by Hibiscus Stables and brought to the Fingerlakes to race. He did not disappoint as he battled head to head with Phone Charger right to the line to win! View some photos of the race here.

Portugesemano'war Battles Phone Charger

It was a neat race. Read all about it in an article from Hibiscus Stables. Tracy hit the win and the trifecta, while I got the exacta. Andy placed more significant bets and will also share some of the winnings. Link to Photo Gallery.

Past Performance 136KB PDF File

Race Results 13KB PDF File

For those of keeping track, Harlem Rocker had a poor polytrack outing in his Queen's Plate trial. I was wondering how often he worked the track, and If they had an idea he may not like the polytrack or not. With such low odds 1-5, I did not make a bet on him in the trial, and he disappointed, finishing 4th. The plan was to continue training and work towards the $1,000,000 Queen's Plate on June 22nd (Is that in Canadian or American $$$$?).

Things were looking up I felt when Harlem Rocker turned in a bullet workout Saturday.

I was eagerly looking forward to seeing him race next weekend, and had plans to make the trip up to Woodbine for a day of betting and racing. Then we got this update from Dave W:

"Although Harlem Rocker's workout yesterday at Woodine was fast, he still didn't like the track. He appeared uncomfortable on the surface and Adena feels that it will probably be in his best interest to skip the Queens Plate.

The plan now is for him to reunite with Pletcher at Belmont and start looking for a race at Saratoga."

Doh! Rats, I had hoped to see him this weekend. But even more disappointing, was that he had skipped the Preakness because it was felt his best route was the Queen's Plate. I think he could have given Big Brown (who I never liked anyway, and is obviously beatable) a run for his money.

BUT... I have said all along I'd love to see this horse race Saratoga, so maybe this is a blessing in disguise. The Jim Dandy is held at the end of July and the past 3 winners (Street Sense, Bernardini, and Flower Alley) have all gone on to race and win the Travers. I love Saratoga, and I would love to see Harlem Rocker win there... and take out Big Brown in August!

Last weekend, my father and I went down to Wellsboro PA to attend the 2008 Susquehanock Trail Performance Rally (STPR 2008). We had a really good time and saw some really neat cars and drivers. I am attempting to get some of the better images photoshopped and up for everyone to see. I also have some videos posted on YouTube. Here is a sampling...

Well, we all knew that Harlem Rocker was headed towards the Plate Trial on June 1st, but official confirmation never came until Forday afternoon. I was out of town this weekend, or else I would have made the trip up there, for what prmoised to be a easy race. I had hoped to make a heft y wager on this race, and make some nice scratch, but when I saw the past perfomrances the only horse in the same league as Harem Rocker was Not Bourbon. From what I saw, Harlem Rocker would go off at very poor (betting) odds. I was not surprised when morning line odds came out a 1/1 for Harlem Rocker. There was no money to be made here on what would obviously be a Harlem Rocker / Not Bourbon Exacta.

After I saw the morning line odds, I decided not to bet. I figured he would go off around 1/5 for 1/3, and what is the point of wagering $100 to win maybe $25? When you could easily lose that $100, as anything can happen in horse racing. If Harlem Rocker had worked out on the Polytrack, I may have felt more confident in betting. How would he behave on the poly track? Well, the answer may have been poorly.

I never saw the race (link anyone?) but from Dave W. "Harlem Rocker ran 4th today in the Plate Trial at Woodbine. He seemed to struggle on the surface and this may be a case of a horse not liking polytrack. He looked to be "swimming" a bit around the final turn and failed to launch into his usual stretch run."

More info from Dave W. about Harlem Rocker's Performance "I spoke with Adena today about Harlem Rocker and he seems to have come
out of the race OK. As of now, the plan is for HR to remain at Woodbine. They have not given up on the Queen's Plate as an immediate target and want HR to have a chance to train over the Woodbine surface before making a final decision about his ability to handle that kind of track.

Coa said this after the race: "He kind of made a move and realized it wasn't his game and he decided not to run. He never made me feel that he was handling it at the beginning of the race, I wasn't worried about it. But he never picked up the bit."

Coa told Adena that the distance was not the problem, and that HR was not really acting like himself prior to the race either. He did not load easily, and never really got into the bit at all during the race. I'm sure we will get some updates on his training over the next week or so and will let you know how he is doing."

Well, I don't know what to think now. It would be easy to say, well the horse didn;t like the poly, but how do we bet him at the Queen's Plate now? Which horse will show up? I plan on trying to make the trip our for the Queen's Plate this month. I can't wait to get some photos of this fine horse. I hope he can rebound.

Why did I miss the Queen's Plate Trial of Harlem Rocker? Well, because the wife and I journeyed down to Baltimore Maryland for the Orioles game vs. the Boston Red Sox, where we saw none other than Manny Ramirez hit his 500th homerun! What a great moment. It was so fast, and the Orioles wouldn;t show a replay, so I have to go to ESPN to watch it again. It was awesome. So many Red Sox fans. A great milestone, only 24 other players in MLB history have reached this point.

So just 1 more to our list of great sporting events that we have attended, which include:

Where are the rest of the stories? Well, they are in the archives page. See the bottom section of the Menu at right. Periodically, the older stories on ScaredyCatFilms will be moved to the archive section. This move has been a long time coming, as the main page was quite filled with all the excitement of Harlem Rocker's Racing Debut.