Out the Inbox and Vice Versa

TWO GOOD MEN and a FUN READ

While most people were prepping their grills for the July 4th barbecue, a pair of horseplayers, noted author Mark Cramer and his buddy, Alan Kennedy, an East Asian art expert, were beginning Stage 2 of their charitable odyssey in, appropriately enough, France, author of the Statue of Liberty.

Their travels puts a new spin on the Tour de France, so to speak, the 1,000 kilometer “Racetrack Tour de France’” to benefit retired Thoroughbreds. By the time all stages are complete, the two Americans will have visited 13 racetracks. If you wish to learn more about the itinerary, do so by visiting http://ridingfortheirlives.blogspot.com/.

In his recent e-mail, Cramer, whose “Tropical Downs” is the only known work of fiction to incorporate real life handicapping within a crime novel, was lamenting the fact that American racetracks are so far from each other.

I didn’t have to remind him that, given present trends, they’re likely to get farther apart in the future. He did come up with one plausible link, beginning at Fort Erie in Canada, crossing the border down into a stopover at Finger Lakes en route to Saratoga. I’m sure Cramer would plan it as a summer sojourn.

Every place seems to be “the Saratoga of…” somewhere else where people like to congregate. And, although, I’ve never been, everyone familiar with Chantilly calls in “the Saratoga of France.” And aesthetics notwithstanding, why not? The first race at Chantilly was run in 1834. Chantilly is as much about history and horses as is the Spa.

On the backside of the race course are the “Great Stables,” erected in the early 1700s. This beautiful horse stable, replete with Versailles styled gardens, serves as the Living Museum of the Horse. Of course, we’re referencing Ver-sigh here, not Ver-sales.

“Tropical Downs,” meanwhile, is the first book I’m touting as a fun summer read. Also, please find time, especially you Feature Race Analysis fans, to wager one betting unit on the future of some thoroughbred that gave all it had on the racetrack. Please help the organization of your choice help all those that provided a lifetime of entertainment.