1925-2013
R.I.P., Jonathan Winters. No matter if early childhood was a little sad or troubled, he was one guy who always made us laugh. Hollywood Squares, his own show, it didn’t matter; he got through past the hurt and shame and made what was going on inside a little lighter.
Kitts Anderson, first time we met him, we knew we’d be in good shape because of the striking resemblance he bore to Jonathan Winters. Then there was the time early on in the apprenticeship when the Old Master Mistah Dick Mitchell took us to lunch in the holiest of holy Hollywood haunts, Musso & Frank, and you could feel the spirits of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Chandler still seeping from the mahogany bar. We saw all manner of bygone celebrities in there — Don Adams, Carol Kane — and then there was Jonathan Winters holding court in a corner booth and you told Mitchell, “God, I have to go tell Jonathan Winters ‘Thank you’ and you told Mitchell how Jonathan Winters made your earlier years a little less serious and Mitchell encouraged you to go over there and do it, and so you did. Those were times when there was potential and dreams and all manner of grand visions — like one of the very first days in Los Angeles when you were sitting at the top of the Hills at Yamashiro and looking down at the sparkling city and telling your companion “This is ours to conquer!” — and Mitchell asked you what you wanted to do most and you said “I have to go be on Jeopardy!” or something ridiculous like that and Mitchell said “What’s stopping you? Go try out tomorrow” and so you did and maybe it took 15 years after that but hell if it didn’t happen. And now is midlife.
Sometimes there are signs. Thank you, Dick Mitchell. Thank you, Kitts Anderson. Thank you, Jonathan Winters. Thank you all for your humanity.
Free ones: Rundown…
Sunland (deputizing for soggy Aqueduct) 9, 10, 11
Calder 3, 4, 5
Santa Anita 4, 5, 8
Pay-side: Today…
Keeneland 1, 5, 6, 7, 8
Tampa 3, 4, 6, 8, 10
Hawthorne 7, 8
Oaklawn 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11
Golden Gate 4
Lone Star 8, 9
Today’s Stakes Pageantry: OP 9 is the Instant Racing, and it is on the pay-side. OP 10 is the Grade I Apple Blossom, and we shall exclude favored Grace Hall. If she’s out, we’ll be OK. Admittedly, that is a big ask!
Yesterday’s Activity: Hoo-boy. Runnin Thunder, third at Calder, 8-5 winner. Yow!
Bonkers Box ran last and next-to-last at Santa Anita in the finale, a real Jester of the NetCapper Bullies, that one. Ugh.
Nearly glory in the opener at Keeneland, via the 14-1 runner-up effort from Bonkersmate Coaches Favorite. The 17-10 second-choice won, top LifeLiner in a contentious race, and the saver perfecta was $57 for $2. Reasonable.
Another close call in Pimlico’s third, courtesy of 45-1 runner-up So Serene, First Bonkersmate. The 2-1 fave, top pick on both the Betting Line and LifeLiner, was the victrix, and this insurance exacta was fantastical $236.
Pim 8 was the antidote to the Santa Anita finale, with touted threesome Nastar Medallist and Bonkersmates Terlingua’s Cause and Vianney Lane coming good for a $108 exacta.
And then for the nighttime revelers, we opened the Lone Star with a win from Martys Wimbledon, $13.80.
WMF Report:
Early
Fonner 6f
Hawthorne 6f
Santa Anita 6f
Turf Paradise 6f
Nocturnal Submission: High hopes for high-priced #2 D’flying Pulga in Chas. Town 6 (9:31 p.m. EDT / 6:31 p.m. PDT), with #3 Ominous Sky thrown in for moral support. …And then there’s TuP 6 (6:27 / 3:27) for #5 Plenty Due. …
Thank you. Best wishes. Goodbye. Bye-bye.
nice “first post”! thanks
That makes you wonder