Upon Further Review

While driving home last night, I realized I forgot the most recent female jockey in our employ. So rather than jeopardizing my shot at the WG HOF, I might as well give the answers to my trivia question:

1) Helen Vanek (Leather N Lace twice @ Tampa)
2) Tammy Piemerini (Chaffed Lips @ Tampa)
3) Helen King (Iron Boy @ Prairie Meadows)
4) Inez Karlsson (Art of Diplomacy @ Hawthorne)
5) Inez Karlsson (Oculuna @ Arlington)

I think that covers all of them. On that same drive, I was putting the list of HOF members together in my head and have come up with the following categories:

Horses (no particular order): Tytus, Silver Peagus, Lite Brigade, Go Go Diablo, Stumbling Block, Starlet Sky, Iron Boy, Dawn Raider, Chief Magistrate, and Leather N Lace.

These members are not necessarily the fastest or highest earners, but they all occupy a special place in the stable for various reasons.

Jockeys: Daniel Centeno and Paul Nolan

Centeno was an automatic first ballot and Nolan was added by the Veterans Committee.

Trainer: Jamie Ness (*)

Ness' plaque needs an (*) because we'll never know for sure what he was feeding the horses to make them run so well, but we cannot ignore the impressive stats he piled up.

Investor/Partner: Mark Kane

While he was not an original member and he isn't the largest investor, Mark's contributions to the stable are numerous. He embodies the spirit of what this investment is supposed to be (he even has the ink on his arm to prove it). He attends all of the races, has traveled across the country to some of these races, and he couldn't care less about his ROI. No one has given our horses more treats in the barn or sponsered more barn tours. He has outfitted a number of folks in WG gear and taken in a couple strays when their racing days were over. Mark is always the first in line outside the winners circle to purchase a beverage for those in attendance. Whenever the business/admin burden annoys me and I think about getting out, he is the one I think about when I buy another horse in hopes of landing the "big one". He plays the lottery and says when he wins, we'll go on a shopping spree.

If that resume doesn't warrant the HOF, there should be no such honor. So the next time you see Mark, give him a nod of appreciation.