Curlin, Keeneland and Everything In Between...land

  The good news: Keeneland opens up this Friday. The bad news: enduring a few horse racing posts from time to time.  I'll try to be brief. Still, with some gracious scheduling this season, we Cats fans have two opportunities (God willing and the cricks don't rise, or Raycom doesn't pick us up) to enjoy a feat that tests your fanhood as much as your liver: The Keeneland-Commonwealth Double.  And, although prognostication is NOT my thing (I was in the hole a cool grand by the end of both meets...against the favorites, mind you), I have to feel that there is no way Raycom picks us up two weeks in a row, and if they do, I'm feeling the matchup with the woefully atrocious Hawgs as the one that may be chosen. Regardless, the strongest, most concentrated meet of thoroughbred racing in the world is upon us and in our backyard.  And even though we don't have a 100,000+ seat stadium, stellar band, or top-notch tailgating (although we do our best), we are fortunate to have the Keeneland-Commonwealth connection that other fans from the SEC can look at and say, "Yeah, that was pretty cool."   Do not fret, loyal readers.  Instead of bombarding you with lengthy, crappy picks as I attempted to do last year, I will merely throw out the early and late Pick 4's for each Saturday (as long as Matt hasn't fired me yet), as they are a relatively nice risk-to-reward wager, and as always, I appreciate people that have the guts to post their own picks BEFORE telling me that I am a moron.  Finally, while most of us were packing our pockets full of beer/bourbon and crushing our final beers on the walk to the stadium, Curlin was quietly crowning himself as the most prolific American racehorse EVER.  Granted, inflation skews this accomplishment, but it is awesome for the sport that the connections for Curlin had the guts to let him run instead of turning him for a profit, which is sadly the M.O. nowadays.  I am honored to say that I have seen him run twice (2007 Kentucky Derby, 2008 Stephen Foster), and his Stephen Foster run, carrying ten more pounds than any other horse, was nothing short of spectacular.  So, as we brace ourselves for the showdown in T-town, let's get ourselves a little money on Friday so we can blow it out on the town Saturday night in celebration of our our first SEC victory.  Because, much like horseracing, the SEC this year has shown us already that there is no such thing as a safe bet.