It's a small world after all ...

So I'm sitting at breakfast this morning at Meydan with my good friend Gail Treagar, an Australian journalist and Thoroughbred owner, and I'm listening to her conversation with a young Japanese fellow sitting to her right.

I mentioned to another Australian friend, punter and racing analyst extraordinaire Peter Ellis, that the University of Kentucky men's basketball team was up on Cornell 32-16 at halftime.

"Excuse me," the Japanese man said. "Did you say Kentucky was winning?"

It turns out that his name is Shinichi Watanabe, a 27-year-old advertising account executive in Tokyo. He goes on to tell me that he used to live in Lexington, as I do now, and went to the University of Kentucky in 2004-'05.

Travel halfway around the globe and find another UK fan at the very moment the Wildcats are playing an NCAA Tournament game. What are the odds?

Go Big Blue, indeed.

An extremely bright and engaging young man, Shinichi told me he was studying general education in Kentucky before transferring to the University of Arizona to study in its Race Track Industry Program.

Born and raised in Hokkaido, home of the Shadai Stallion Station, he said he enjoyed his time in Kentucky very much and loved visiting the area's many stud farms.

"I saw a lot of them; Three Chimneys, Coolmore ...," he said. "They are very beautiful."

I gave him a business card and told him to please contact me if he should ever find himself in Lexington again. Before we parted company, I asked him what he remembered most about the Blue Grass state.

"The climate," he said first. "Much different than Arizona.

"And the sports. Everybody there is crazy about basketball and football ... but the football team wasn't very good."

Spot on, my friend, spot on.

By the way, the Wildcats beat Cornell 62-45 to advance to the tournament's Elite Eight, setting up a showdown with West Virginia on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

I may just have to catch up with my new pal Shinichi to keep tabs on the game.

Go Big Blue, indeed.