Shaquille O'Neal effects the Preakness post position draw.

June 26th, 2012 Casual Lies the Memoir update

Dear Reader,

I certainly hope this update finds you all in good health and still enjoying my update entries. Chapter thirteen came back from Tracy today and here is a short excerpt that will be thought provoking.

[Who would have thought Shaquille O’Neal, one of the three most sought after choices for the National Basketball Association’s 1992 draft, could affect the outcome of that year’s draw for the Preakness Stakes? Certainly not me—I had never even heard of him. My mom, on the other hand, was a North Carolina native who watched college basketball with an unholy glee. Her favorite was North Carolina State University, with Duke University a close second in her affections.

As we trooped over to Pimlico’s Sports Palace the morning of the Preakness draw, we were discussing the condition of the track and how we hoped the sun would either emerge, drying out the surface, or that it would just go ahead and pour down rain. A muddy track would be a blessing compared to the hard yet slippery condition it was in now.]

I am still working on the last chapter and I am having more fun with all the wondrous memories of New York. I have a publishing workshop this weekend so I am getting ready for that at the same time I work on this last chapter. To say I can be easily distracted would be admitting to a character flaw and I hesitate to admit to something that is already so obvious.

Suffice it to say; I am anxious to get done so I can move on to the next step. That step will include sifting through hundreds of photographs. I want to include pictures, where appropriate, throughout a hard copy of the book.

As always, thank-you so much for your interest and please feel free to email me with any queries you may have.

Take care,

Shelley Riley

I'll Have Another's scratch from the Belmont Stakes

June 8, 2012

Hi Everybody,

I wanted to talk just a little bit about the unfortunate turn of events resulting in the scratching of I’ll Have Another from tomorrows Belmont Stakes. I feel so disappointed that we have all been denied the opportunity to see a Triple Crown winner after so many years has passed without one.

I watched the press conference streaming live on my computer and was so very impressed with how the owner and trainer of this terrific horse handled, what had to be a gut wrenching situation. Tears held at bay by just a thread, they both showed a lot of class, just like their horse, while under a barrage of criticism and outright speculation.

I have read many reports about the entries in the Belmont being forced into a detention barn. How the New York racing officials felt this was necessary, to ensure the integrity of one of the greatest historically significant three year old races in the world. How the entourage of people associated with each entrant were screened and scanned before they could enter the facility, and care for their horses.

When I was there in 1992 with Casual Lies I was honored and thrilled to have been assigned a stall in Woody Stephens barn. The medication rules in New York at that time were more restrictive than any other state we had raced in. We were aware of this long before we had agreed to leave Maryland for New York and I was more than willing to comply completely and thoroughly with those regulations. Casual Lies ran completely clean of any medication of any type that day in 1992.

If I had been asked to put Casual Lies in a detention barn with all the other horses entered into the 1992 Belmont Stakes, thus ensuring all the contestants’ ran as equals, at least as it pertained to medication, I would have acquiesced without complaint. In fact I would have been tickled to death to move him. It wouldn’t have hurt me or Casual Lies, not even one little bit. He was always happy as long as his grub showed up at the appointed times.

It would appear, at least to me, everyone involved had endeavored to do the right thing for racing in this year’s Belmont Stakes, both officials and participants. All grumbling aside of course.

Finally I can’t tell you how impressed I was with the behavior of I’ll Have Another during the press conference. Did anyone notice the little girl standing in front of him as he grazed? This is after all a three year old colt, primed and ready to run. A little girl standing in front of a racehorse, on a lose shank, without fear is not something I would have expected to see occurring anywhere, let alone in front of an international television audience.

I fervently hope no other horses are scratched from the Belmont Stakes tomorrow. I also hope there aren’t any huge form reversals, which would only add fuel to an already overheated fire of speculation about the honesty of this breathtakingly beautiful spectator sport. My life would have been dull indeed if I had been unable to indulge my passion for the horses that I loved so much, in a sport that has endured for centuries.

Here’s to a safe and beautiful 144^th running of the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg in the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. I look forward to next year and yet another chance for a Triple Crown winner in the 145th running of the Belmont Stakes.

Thank-you so much for your interest,

Shelley Riley