Lecomte Stakes

January 17, 2015

Dear Readers,

 Saturday, it must be time for another Kentucky Derby prep race. After the Sham I needed to sharpen my pencil, and to that end I’ve spent the morning looking over the entries for today’s (GIII) Lecomte Stakes at the Fair Grounds in Louisiana.  

1.                  International Star – No doubt a nice colt, but Eagle beat him pretty handily in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes in November. Unless the time off between races has helped him, I don’t see him beating Eagle in this race.

2.                 Tiznow R J – Yikes, did you see how far this guy won by in his last start? Admittedly it looked like a bumper car race behind him. Nonetheless he’s lightly raced and appears to have found his footing. Can’t ignore him.

3.                 Four Leaf Chief – I admit I’m scratching my head over this one. He wins a stakes race, impressively, and then comes back in an allowance-optional claiming and runs like a wild March hare. Strange.

4.                 War Story – Two starts, two wins, and both times he looked to be running green. No reason he shouldn’t improve with racing.

5.                 Hero of Humor – If you can’t say anything nice… This horse was 87-1 in his last out and he beat one horse. He would be a surprise.

6.                 Savoy Stomp – With only three starts, and one of those a dismal run on an off track, I can’t get excited about this horse. Granted he has big time connections and he cost a lot of money…

7.                 Runhappy – I like the name. Even though he ran very green, it was an impressive first start. Why not run him in this race?

8.                Killingit – Form on this colt was looking good and then there was that last race as a prohibitive favorite.

9.                 Dekabrist – This horse fills lots of races. I don’t think he belongs in here, but then stranger things have happened.

10.            Another Lemon Drop – I can’t make a case for this horse not running in this race, considering some of the others, but at the same time I can’t make a case for him winning it either.

11.               Eagle – This colt was impressive in his first out going five furlongs, and probably needed the second race where he finished second. In the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, he had to find running room late and when he did he was impressive. 

I have to go with the probable favorite in this race, and that looks like it will be Eagle. In his last race he looked like the real deal.

I also like War Story to feel brave off his two starts and his two wins. He’s got to be getting smarter with running.

Pretty much the same sentiments when it comes to Runhappy.

And then there’s Tiznow R J with that impressive win in his last start.

This is going to be a fun race to watch.

Take care,

Shelley Riley

Check out my latest book; For Want of a Horse – A Short Story Collection

 

 

 

 

Sham Stakes - Santa Anita

January 10, 2015

Dear Readers,

Here we go, the first three-year-old race in California that offers qualifying points for  May’s Kentucky Derby. The (GIII) Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

Some very strange monikers, but I know how difficult it is to get a name approved for your horse. We all know a good horse makes for a good name. Here is the field:

1.       St. Joe Bay:   After breaking his maiden in a brilliant manner, by 10 ½ lengths, he's been close in his next two races, but not close enough.

2.      Pioneerof The West:    I don’t know what to make of that last race. Maybe he didn’t like the surface.  He ought to be fit, he’s run five times since August.

3.      Rockinatten:    I like this horse’s chart and I suspect he’s been brought in from Florida to avoid some big guns lining up for the Florida prep races.

4.      Unblunted:   This horse got packed wide in the Gold Rush in the first turn, and he looked rank once he straightened out down the backside. Then packed out on the final turn, he didn’t have anything left for a stretch run. I don’t know what to think of this horse. His post position should help him a lot.

5.      Rock Shandy:   Ran an even race in the Cecil B. Demille, you have to respect this horse.

6.      Papacoolpapacool:  Would be a surprise.

7.      Calculator:  He’s been chasing a good one, and he would seem to be the obvious choice. Having said that, there’s been a bit of time between races. I think that could make this race more of a challenge than the form would suggest, and even with that great work he posted.

8.     Hero Ten All: Two races under his belt and both were nicely done. Maybe a little green in both races. Should improve with practice. 

 

This should be a fun race to watch, I don’t think I would spend a lot of money. Maybe a small flutter on Rockinatten, and an exacta using him and Calculator. If I really felt flush and had money to spare, I would buy a Tri-fecta using Rockinatten, Calculator and Unblunted. But mostly I think this is a good one to keep my money in my pocket and root for my favorite, which would be Rockinatten. 

Take care,

Shelley Riley, Author of Casual Lies – A Triple Crown Adventure, and For Want of a Horse – A Short Story Collection.

Winterfest Ekphrasis - Part II

January 9, 2014

Dear Readers,
     As promised in yesterdays posting, here is the Winterfest Ekphrasis photo and the story I was inspired to write after seeing it. The photo was taken by Jordan Bernal, our club president.

Face in the Wall ©

“Tell us a story, Grammy.”

“A story?” The woman’s gaze swept over the two children. Both rosy cheeked, they’d just risen from their nap. Kevin knuckled one eye and yawned. While Carly sucked her thumb and tugged at tousled blond curls.

“Carly, don’t suck your thumb,” Carmelita admonished the wide-eyed child. “You’re too old to be sucking your thumb. Do you want to end up with a bucktoothed smile?”

Carly opened her mouth, but didn’t remove the thumb. Carmelita suppressed a smile. I didn’t tell her to take her thumb out of her mouth, now did I?

“How about an apple, you two hungry?” Carmelita drew the two children into her arms. They both shook their heads in the negative.

“Grammy, story.” Carly spoke around her thumb, her words garbled.

“Give us a kiss and I’ll tell you a story.” Carmelita smiled as the young girl removed her thumb and deposited a wet smooch on her grandmother’s cheek. “How about you Kevin? Do you have a kiss for Grammy?”

Kevin squirmed. Carmelita laughed. “You getting too old to kiss your Grammy?”

The little boy shrugged and leaned in to give her wrinkled cheek a quick peck.

“Alright then, the price of a story has been paid.” Carmelita gazed over the children’s heads and out the window into the garden.

“He waits.” Carmelita whispered.

“Who waits, Grammy?” Kevin said.

She didn’t answer, her gaze was locked on a vision, one that only her words could describe. Carly tugged on Carmelita’s sleeve, the old woman blinked and hugged the children tighter. She felt their little frames stiffen in her arms, as they sensed her unease.

“The Man in the Wall.” Carmelita told them, and a slight tremor shook her frame as she uttered the words.

The children waited. Eyes wide, they stared at their grandmother.

“In my village there is a stone hut, the roof is gone and no one lives there anymore. The floor is stone and the walls had once been plastered in white. The only life that remains is the green mold that rises with the damp to find a foothold in the crevices between the stones. There were once two doorways, but no longer, now there is only one. The other is stone and where the Man waits.”

“Grammy?” Kevin pulled at her sleeve. Carmelita looked into her grandson’s earnest face. “How can that be, does he stand in front of the stone?”

“No, Kevin,” Carmelita said. “The Man waits in the stone.”

“But Grammy, how could he breath inside the stone?”

“He doesn’t breath, Kevin.”

“He’s dead, and walks with God?”

“No, he’s not dead. The Man waits.”

Carly’s thumb had crept back into her mouth. Her lips moved as she sucked harder. Carmelita kissed the top of the little girls head.

“What does he wait for?” Kevin said.

“He waits for us.”

“Why?”

“When we each are ready, the Man will show us the way.”

“Where are we going?” Carmelita could see the impatience on Kevin’s face as he asked her for the answers.

“To a place with many wonders.”

“What kind of wonders, Grammy?”

“You will see when you’re ready.” Carmelita hugged him close.

“Does every family have a Man in a door?”

“No, just ours.”

Carly pulled her thumb from her mouth and locked gazes with her grandmother. “Are you ready to go through the stone, Grammy?”

“Yes darling, I am.”


Check back in tomorrow, I will be sharing my thoughts on the Sham Stakes, a grade three event at Santa Anita.

Take care,
Shelley Lee Riley, Author of Casual Lies - A Triple Crown Adventure and For Want of a Horse - A Short Story Collection

www.shelleyriley.com

Winterfest Ekphrasis

January 8, 2015

Dear Readers,

I’m going to shift, at least a portion of my attention, to the major three-year-old events that lead up to the Triple Crown. This includes the Sham at Santa Anita Park on Saturday. I plan on taking a long look at the entrants tomorrow and I’ll post my opinions on Saturday.

Lately most of my attention has been focused on various writing assignments and deadlines. One of which was the Winterfest event the California Writers Club, Tri-Valley Branch, puts on each year. As part of this celebration they include an Ekphrasis where members submit works of art, be they photo, craft, painting or drawing. Members are encouraged to write a poem, haiku or a short story to be displayed next to the image.

To that end I submitted a crayon drawing I’d created a few years ago. Next I wrote a short story to accompany it. Here is the portrait and the short story.

Authoress©

Lost in thought, the woman sat alone in the small Parisian café.

I’d stumbled upon Mariage Frères at the end of the rue du Bourg─Tibourg. The victim of a wrong turn, I’d been wandering the back streets of Paris and was overcome by fatigue and thirst.

Now with my swollen toes resting on the heels of my shoes, I had both a steaming cup of Marco Polo tea and a flakey almond croissant waiting for my attention on the small wrought iron table in front of me.

Intent only on getting the weight off my feet, I hadn’t noticed the woman when I’d entered. Left of the entrance, she was tucked in a corner where two windows met. Caressed by the filtered rays of the sun through the old water hued-glass—she was arresting. I found I couldn’t tear my gaze away.

Food forgotten, I stared. Her hair was slicked back from her face, the severity lessened by a long, light blue silk scarf. Wrapped several times around her head, she’d tied the silk in a fanciful bow at the crown. Vivid jewel tones of every primary color covered her smock-like dress in a riotous pattern that matched the simple beaded necklace and hoop earrings she wore. This unconventional get-up attracted my attention, but what sustained my interest was the look on her face.

Clearly the woman didn’t see the people on the street in front of her. Perhaps she was reliving a moment lost in the past. No? Maybe what she saw was a future, one she anticipated. I couldn’t tell.

Her facial features were a combination of clean cut and bold: big brown eyes were etched in coal, and a long straight nose with well defined nostrils gave her an air of authority and intellect. The well-shaped lips were brought to prominence with a heavy application of red lipstick. The only indication of her mood was the melancholy smile that tugged at the edges of her mouth. Or was it a look of satisfaction?

My tea cooled as I ventured into my own imaginations. Very bohemian in appearance, she could be a writer or a poet or perhaps an artist. No, not an artist, too neat, no paint-stained fingernails or dabs of titanium white smeared across her smock. No, she was definitely an intellectual, confident and creative. My mind raced with the image of abstract conversations that would take place over cigarettes and bottles of deep red Bordeaux in her glass-enclosed loft. 

Was she visiting the scene of her next literary work? Finding her way through a jungle of words that didn’t want to be organized into coherent thoughts, or plot lines? A journey started with the first sentence written. Was the story taking hold and giving her little choice but to follow it to a logical conclusion, which she didn’t want to be logical? Or had she, like me, written herself into a dead end?

With a sigh the woman pushed back her chair with the scraping of iron on tile. I watched as she emptied her cup and put a coin on the table. She passed me and our eyes met. Reflected in her eyes, I saw the same smile I’d stared at earlier, only it was on my face.

The look was one of bemusement, not melancholy. She smiled with real warmth and I grinned, in return. I was thrilled. Without a word spoken she’d inspired me. I’d been bemused and my imagination re-lit. What writer’s block? I thought as I tore a hunk off my croissant and stuffed it in my mouth. I was now in a hurry to finish my snack so I could start writing again.

My thoughts carried me to a scene that wanted to play out in my mind. I didn’t see the man who walked into the café, nor did I notice when he sat down and began to stare.

    

I also submitted a short story on a photo submitted by another club member. I will post both tomorrow. In the meantime, I've listed two of the short stories contained in my recent release, “For Want of a Horse – A short story collection,” as single stories in digital format only, on Amazon in their Kindle store. If you’re interested in a short read, check them out.

 

All of my titles are available on Amazon, both in paperback and digital. Thanks for reading and be sure to check back tomorrow and Saturday.

Take care,

Shelley Lee Riley, Author of the multiple award-winning Casual Lies - A Triple Crown Adventure.

For Want of a Horse

January 3, 2015

Dear Readers,

2015? Wow, I'm glad I made it. When I was a kid, I spent a remarkable amount of time considering longevity. Of course in those days the average life expectancy was sixty-five, and now it’s closer to eighty.

An avid reader of science fiction by the time I was ten. I was able to read Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 before it underwent expurgation by Ballantine Books. 

The Twilight Zone with Rod Serling, when it first began in 1959, became a TV must-see each week. I watched movies like the Blob, Vincent Price in the Tingler, Invasion of the Body Snatcher’s, The Angry Red Planet, I could go on and on. But the bottom line, was that I often pondered what each decade would bring, and more importantly would I live to see the wonders that humanity could discover.

I counted fifty-five years ahead and wondered what I would see if I lived that long. Now it is fifty-five years ahead, 2015 has come and I’ve seen it…and all the marvels that have come with the passage of those fifty-five years.  

I certainly don’t think in fifty-five year increments anymore. I’m left to wonder about the future in more modest terms. One year? Five? Twenty-five?  I’ve lived long enough to appreciate each new day. It's a blessing to wake up and discover every part of my body still works, more or less, as intended.

So here’s to another day and another year. I hope 2015 is a good one, and I’m looking forward to enjoying another New Year’s Eve that will herald in 2016.

I’m happy to announce For Want of a Horse has been published, and is now available on Amazon, both in a paperback and digital format. The book is a collection of Thoroughbred short stories, which I’ve written over the last year. It’s an eclectic assortment, which includes several genres; contemporary, historical, and even a fantasy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy it. I’m deep into my next novel, Defiant, and that should be ready for publication this spring. You’ll find a sneak peek is included in For Want of a Horse.

Take care,

Shelley Riley, Author of the International multiple award-winning Casual Lies - A Triple Crown Adventure.

www.shelleyriley.com

Here is the url to paperback edition of For Want of a Horse;

http://www.amazon.com/For-Want-Horse-Short-Collection/dp/0986393908/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Here is the url to the digital version of For Want of a Horse;

http://www.amazon.com/Want-Horse-Short-Story-Collection-ebook/dp/B00RNIWULO/