Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Off to see The Pamplemousse


Nice topiary, huh?

Dinah and I went out to Santa Anita early this morning to see our favorite Derby horse The Pamplemousse work. We met up with blogging friend Mary Forney who very graciously introduced us to some people and talked horses with us. She's really nice! I first became aware of The Pamplemousse through Mary's blog. Dinah had never seen The P. before and was immediately charmed by him.



We got our breakfast at Clocker's Corner and just loved observing the scene with jockeys and trainers we've heard about for a long time all mingling around us.

This jockey had a set of good luck charms tagged to the back of his helmet. I tried to get a better shot of them but didn't want to seem intrusive. Luck is obviously a big part of horse racing life. The jockey to his left is The Pamplemousse's jockey, Alex Solis. Looks as if he's texting somebody. Maybe it's the horse's trainer who's currently in Dubai for one of the world's richest races.



The Pamplemousse means grapefruit in French, but it's easy to remember his name if you think instead The Purple Horse, because this horse is an extraordinary lavendar color-- you can't miss him. The horse is named for a restaurant in Del Mar which some of The P's partners own. I heard the restaurant owner and another guy, maybe a pr guy, talking. "This horse has everything, (yadda yadda) and a big fan base too." Well that includes Mary, Dinah and me, so that kind of cracked us up, because we felt we were fan base 1,2 and 3.



The early morning light doesn't give you a sense of his amazing appearance. They were returning from their work here.



This horse seems so relaxed until the gate opens and then he's on fire. I was so excited to see him racing past that I took this picture:



oh well. I'm sure Mary has more restrained footage!



I thought Dinah's colors worked so well with the linoleum that I made her pose for this picture.

April 4 is the day of the Santa Anita Derby and The Pamplemousse's next race, last one before the Kentucky Derby. I can't wait.

Great day.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fun post! Great purse (and linoleum). The P has a lovely face!

Linda Davick said...

This was lots of fun to read. Love the photo of Pamplemousse racing by! Must have been a BLAST having breakfast at Clocker's Corner with Dinah and Mary. And Dinah's BAG!! Oh I want one.

Sally said...

It was a great day!

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

That does sound like a fun day (I'm so jealous!)
I like you you call him "The P."
I hope he aces his races.
Flattering photo of "The D." too!

p.s. Will the P. have a cameo appearance in any upcoming animation?