Coda (Adagio)

Rap Tale was sold at Fasig Tipton on Tuesday night for $135,000. Claimed for $25,000 from Edward P. Evans, Rap Tale earned some $200,000 on the racetrack for Kasey K Racing Stable. Not too shabby I'd say. Especially considering that she wasn't that fast. In fact, as several haters were quick to point out here (and as I readily agreed), she was rather slow. Her career high Beyer was 78. But she was brilliantly managed by my buddy Bob and trainer Bruce Brown. Even I had my doubts about her campaign at times; but the plan all along was to somehow earn some black type to go along with her sterling pedigree and sell her at auction, and it was executed to perfection. After a couple of frustrating near misses at the Big A, Rap Tale ran second in the Candy Eclair at Monmouth (with a 67 fig), and won a restricted stakes on the grass at Colonial (72). She won seven races in 29 career starts. All in all, not bad for a horse that some here suggested should be running in 4K claimers at Penn National (ha ha ha ha, imagine that).

Rap Tale was sold to an owner from Australia, where her sire, Tale of the Cat, is quite popular. With her breeding - she's out of a Pleasant Tap mare who's a half-sister to the graded stakes winners Another Review, Dance Colony, and No Review - she certainly has the potential to be a better broodmare than she was a race horse. Though that wasn't really too bad after all as it turned out.

- Excuse the shameless interintrafamily promotion, but just returning the favor. Please take a moment to check out the Head Chef's Grapes and Greens blog. The subject matter is vegetarian/flexitarian food and wine pairings, and there are recipes within that will appeal to all of you red meat eaters (even myself) as well. And, if your feel so inclined, please take a moment to leave a comment too, and tell her I said hi (since I'm not speaking to her for posting my picture).

- And a brief music note....Calling all R.E.M. fans: Make sure to check out Live At The Olympia: 39 Songs, recorded in 2007 during a five night working rehearsal in Dublin. I often find that veteran bands, when playing old material, merely go through the motions. But here, the band breathes new life into classic material going all the way back to their Chronic Town EP from 1982; as well as songs from my personal favorite R.E.M. album, Fables of the Reconstruction.