Mucho Macho Mardi Gras

story by Maria Glorioso

photos by Maria Glorioso

and Jonathan Bachman

    Only in New Orleans can you one minute be looking for a festive hat and the next in the Winner’s Circle with a Derby hopeful wearing a feather boa. Much of it can be attributed to the Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler 

Laurie Hicks, with Stride correspondent Maria Glorioso

attitude that is infused in all parts of the Big Easy.  The feeling is not confined to the French Quarter, it makes its way all the way out Esplanade Avenue to the race track next to City Park, the Fair Grounds Race Course.

     

Patti and Julie Reeves in the winner's circle.

As I wandered the track to get the feeling of Louisiana Prevue Day, I ran into many fans decked in their Mardi Gras finery – it is that time of year, you know.  There were members of the royal court of the Krewe of Nereids. Their 44th Mardi Gras parade will take place on Feb. 27th.  There was also Ms. Mardi Gras Fair Grounds for the day (voted on by a small pool of trainers, jockeys and jockey agents), Laurie Hicks.  

Mucho Macho Man, looking as macho as he can while wearing
boas - post Risen Star win.

     And who else did I run into - Patti and Julie Reeves, part of the ownership team of Mucho Macho Man.  They were in the market for a Mardi Gras-inspired hat.     Well, you can guess the rest of the story. 

     

     Those hats are now considered lucky hats. After disappointing in his last start, Mucho Macho Man redeemed himself, another very Mardi Gras concept. His win in the Risen Star Stakes brought my new acquaintances from Reeves Thoroughbred Racing Stables $180,000 in grades stakes earnings for the Kentucky Derby trail. The 3-year-old son of Macho Uno also reveled in the Mardi Gras spirit that enveloped the day. He proudly pranced out of the winner’s circle wearing two boas of his own! I heard he was going to Bourbon St. to celebrate.

Ms. Mardi Gras Fair Grounds, Laurie Hicks

The winning connections in the winner's circle at
the Fair Grounds Race Course. (Jonathan
Bachman/ Eclipse Sportswire)

The paddock at the Fair Grounds

Fans in the paddock at the Fair Grounds(above)
The Royal Court for the Krewe of Nereids(below)

A selection of festive hats at the Fair Grounds.

2011 Road To The Roses Fantasy Derby League

        WinStar Farms and Twinspires.com are hosting THE Road To The Roses fantasy horse racing contest.  The prizes for this thing are very nice and the first race that counts isn't until February 26th. So, you have time to enter.  We have started our own league inside this contest.  The League Name is "Stride Road To The Roses" with a League # of 1313038988 and an Activation Code of #4192170078.

     In addition to the prizes being offered in the contest, Stride LIVE will give the winner of our league a DVD with the Zenyatta video in HD. Of course, you have to beat us. Our selections are to the left.  It is kind of tough this time of year. Everyone wants to put Uncle Mo on their list, but who knows how he will run as a three-year-old.  You also have To Honor And Serve on the shelf waiting to make his 2011 debut. So, knowing that Uncle Mo and To Honor And Serve were #1 and #2 made those two pics easy, but the rest were incredibly hard. Had to go digging underground and go surfing to come up with the developing horses that might generate points.  The same can be said for the trainer selection. Todd Pletcher is a given, but after that, who has more than one horse? We went with Baffert because he always seems to get horses ready around this time of year, but he is no guarantee.

League Name: Stride Road To The Roses, League #1313038988, Activation Code #4192170078

At Home With The Winningest Jockey

     If there were any jockey to help Silver Medallion break through and make his presence felt on the Derby Trail, why not the world's winningest jockey in the likes of Russell Baze. He has 27 riding titles at the track by the Golden Gate Bridge, he now has three straight El Camino Real Derbies and he has a bonafide Derby contender in his charge.  
     Baze was Silver Medallion's fifth jockey, at his fifth track mind you, in only six starts for the Kentucky Derby hopeful. The TYB Stables son of Badge of Silver wasn't highly regarded either. The connections for 1-2 post-time favorite Comma To The Top considered the El Camino at Golden Gate Fields the easier of the  prep races on Saturday.
    When Comma To The Top decided to surge to the front and burn himself out running rank, Silver Medallion and Baze capitalized on the opportunity. Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Comma faded to sixth place and off the board, causing some pretty plump show prices. For Silver Medallion though, having a local expert, and hero, in the irons proved advantageous. Baze slid Silver Medallion into the 4-path and the 6-1 shot cruised to a 1 1/4-length win in 1:50 2/5 for the 1 1/8-miles, just 4 ticks of the track record.  The performance earned him the highest Beyer Speed Figure for all of the Derby preps over the weekend.
     With a first-leg qualifier for the Preakness 5.5 under his belt, and $120,000 graded stakes earnings, the Santa Anita Derby is the likely to be Silver Medallion's next start.

     The El Camino Real Derby is a big race for Golden Gates Fields. It is one of the few graded stakes races the track hosts and, with the inception of the Preakness 5.5, the El Camino gained added significance.  To document the big day, Eclipse Sportswire photographer Bob Mayberger ventured west.  His photographs of some of the sights and scenes around Golden Gate Fields are in the slideshow below.


Scenes From Golden Gate Fields from Stride LIVE on Vimeo.
Eclipse Sportswire photographer Bob Mayberger ventured to Golden Gate Fields this past weekend. As many focused on Santa Anita and Tampa Bay, the three-year-old prep race whose winner scored the highest Beyer Speed Figure was the El Camino Real Derby, and Mayberger was there to document the day.

Kentucky Derby Contender Photos

Uncle Mo, To Honor And Serve and more - in pictures

***CLICK HERE***

     Please check out the photo pages for top Kentucky Derby contenders at the site hosted by our editorial partner Horse Racing Nation.  They have a fantastic Kentucky Derby Contender Poll and list at this web address. Also, we have photo profile pages for many of the top horses and individual photos of others. We will continually update and add to the pages as we go along to you can see the best photographs of your favorite horses.  Here is the spot - KENTUCKY DERBY CONTENDER PHOTO PAGE

Hot Jazz and Hot Horses In The Big Easy

     Check out the trailer for this lovely documentary by Jonathan Bachman, who regularly shoots for Eclipse Sportswire. As the racing season heats up and Kentucky Derby Trail gets rolling, one of the many destinations to take in a prep race is The Fair Grounds in New Orleans. So if the Risen Star or Louisiana Derby are on your schedule, check out some of Bachman's hot documentary on smoldering jazz in NOLA. It will get you in the mood and maybe it will give you some ideas for what to do when you arrive in The Big Easy.

Brass Roots Teaser Trailer from Come See About Me on Vimeo.

From The Trailer:
     ""Brass Roots" chronicles the history, people and culture that has encompassed modern New Orleans Brass Band Music.
     Compiled from hundreds of hours of footage from interviews, concerts and New Orleans second lines, this documentary brings an unprecedented look into the lives of the musicians that create and preserve New Orleans' signature sound.
     Featured bands, artists and experts include: Rebirth, the Dirty Dozen, Treme, the Soul Rebels, Hot 8, Free Agents, To Be Continued, L'il Stooges, Glen David Andrews, Frenchy, Lolis Eric Elie and many, many more.
     The history of the music and artists involved will be told within the context of New Orleans' complex, and often troubled, history as an urban center in the American South. New Orleans has been plagued with corruption and violence, but throughout it all, brass band music and second line culture has persevered.
     We aim to look at how brass band music serves as a cipher for passing down hundred-year-old traditions to younger generations, keeping the artistry, culture and character of New Orleans alive through music.


     We asked the artist behind this documentary about their inspiration and this is what they had to say:
     “Brass Roots” was begun by Alejandro de los Rios and Jonathan Bachman, a writer and photographer living in New Orleans covering the Saints and the Hornets, while spending many nights rocking out to Rebirth, Soul Rebels, the Hot 8 or any other of the city’s hottest brass bands.
     With little to do in the summer months when the NBA and NFL aren’t playing games, Alejandro and Jonathan were anxious to do something other than sweat out the New Orleans heat. With a shared love for brass bands, the idea to film a documentary was made.
     Through friends, Alejandro and Jonathan met Michael Seaman, an audio engineer with experience in feature films, live recording and New Orleans music, and “Brass Roots” was born. Our aim is to chronicle the history, people and culture that has encompassed modern New Orleans Brass Band Music.

For more about the movie visit - www.brassrootsmovie.com

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