Social media award to Adam Hickman

The Queen's Plate Stakes is the Albany Stakes of Canada with the added bonus of being called a "classic" and ten times the purse, but at the end of the day, it's a race restricted to three-year-olds bred in Canada just as the Albany is for three-year-olds bred in New York.

That hasn't stopped heaps of praise being being poured over Inglorious, the Hennessy filly who defeated 16 males to win Canada's most prestigious race. Some compared her to Rachel Alexandra, others salivated at the thought of an Inglorious showdown with top older females Blind Luck and Havre de Grace in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic; many have already referred to her as "great"--a sensational reverie considering she has yet to win a graded stake and losses behind Kathmanblu and Daisy Devine don't inspire considering that duo is a combined 0-for-5 since defeating Inglorious.

But the point of this post isn't that a winner of restricted stakes is overhyped, it's that she's receiving any hype at all, and Adam Hickman of Horse Racing Nation deserves tremendous kudos for playing a large role in making that happen.

Adam Hickman has worked tirelessly in the social media universe to get the word out on the Queen's Plate. He sparked thought-provoking conversations on Twitter regarding class and handicapping the race, he got bloggers talking about the race well in advance, and discussed in an engaging way the fun Woodbine had in store for those on track.

I've been waiting for awhile for someone to really wow me with its social media concerning a single event. NYRA, Keeneland, and Del Mar each have tremendous presences on a day-in-day-out basis, but Hickman's concentrated campaign on the Queen's Plate was the first I can remember that produced such a noticeable spike in attention for a single event.

My only negative criticism is that Adam didn't sell himself well enough. When I originally wrote this post I thought Adam worked for Woodbine, but he's with Horse Racing Nation, something I should have known by now given that I've absorbed his tweets with a ravenous appetite the past week.

Woodbine should also work on its search engine optimization since a Google search for QUEEN'S PLATE STAKES does not return Woodbine in the top ten, though Queen's Plate Woodbine has the race's page right on top.

Life shows a broken down Ruffian in slideshow about cool horse names

As a journalist, I certainly respect the role photographs play in telling a story--a picture is worth a thousand words and all that.

Every photograph has the ability to tell a story, but that does not always mean it tells THE story. Maintaining balance in this symbiotic relationship is essential, yet things managed to get slightly off kilter in image 12 of Life's "Weird Wonderful Horse Names" photo gallery when a fun note about Foolish Pleasure's name included the macabre image of Ruffian broken down on the backstretch as the Derby winner raced into the far turn during their infamous match race.

It doesn't bother me that Sports Illustrated devoted a full-page spread to Go For Wand's broken leg or that publications published pictures of a broken down Barbaro fighting for his life or Eight Belles being euthanized on the track. Those images told the story better than "Barbaro broke down in the Preakness" ever could.

But the above just seems tasteless. If Life has any out here it's that the caption states that Foolish Pleasure is racing "in the Belmont" rather than at Belmont Park. It's entirely possible that the editor who put this together didn't even know what was going on in the background, but it's still a poor choice especially considering the subject of the photo won the Derby.

In defense of NYRA trying Empire State of Mind

Both then and now, the New York Racing Association was the subject of a verbal lashing for replacing "New York, New York" as the song that welcomes Belmont Stakes entrants to the track with a cover version of Alicia Keys' "Empire State of Mind."

As far as sins of the Turf go, this one was venial at worst. People complained more about NYRA changing the song than they do about its ridiculous 26% takeout.

Truth be told, I applaud NYRA for trying something new. Its heart was in the right place, but the execution fell flat. A move like this required a far bigger splash than Jasmine Villegas. Had NYRA secured the song's original singer, Alicia Keys, it could have provided a moment, but alas, Jasmine bombed. Her performance was so bad most wondered if she could make it anywhere, let alone the Big Apple.

But it's hard to imagine that Jasmine's selection was NYRA driven considering she was a Disney darling at the time, and the mouse corp. had its PR machine in overdrive trying to create the next teen sensation. Disney, of course, owns ABC/ESPN, the networks who broadcast the Belmont 2006-2010, so imagining the suits in Orlando drooling over the synergy isn't much of a stretch.

So, it's back to Old Blue Eyes singing "New York, New York" this year, and while I'm not as enamored with a recording as I am live singing, bringing back even a recording of NYNY will offer an opportunity for the whole crowd to provide live singing rather than the booing it provided during Villegas's tour de flop.

"My Old Kentucky Home" is the most famous song in American Thoroughbred racing, and part of its charm is that with the University of Louisville chorus providing vocals, it's easy for the crowd to sing along to.

Some advocated for a return to a more arcane "Sidewalks of New York," but I can't imagine choosing anything over a song that includes the lyric, "If I can make it there I can make it anywhere" (a turn of which "Empire State of Mind" includes).

Belmont Stakes lexicon, BANNED edition: Let's can the stamina talk

I had so much fun in spring 2010 writing a paean to the terms I wanted banished from the Kentucky Derby lexicon (e.g. "weak crop") that I thought I'd do the same for the Belmont Stakes this year.

If spring is when a young man's fancy turns to love, then Belmont Stakes week is when an old Turf writer's curmudgeonly ways turns to disdain, and Ray Kerrison of the New York Post began the litany on Monday by describing the third jewel of American Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown as "the last surviving pillar of the days when horses were bred and prized for stamina."

Now banned from my Belmont Stakes lexicon (unless used in a quote by someone I'm interviewing for a story) is the word stamina.

Here's a little-known fact by those not in the know: Breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, etc. rarely prize stamina. The Thoroughbred is about speed. The ability to carry speed over distances isn't stamina, it's speed.

Winning the Belmont Stakes in 2:24 as Secretariat did was not a display of stamina but of speed. Winning the Belmont in 2:31.57 as Drosselmeyer did was not a display of stamina but of attrition. Smarty Jones' loss to Birdstone--a Grade 1 winner at two who went on to win the Travers Stakes--may have hurt Smarty's esteem in the eyes of "stamina" lovers, but is there any doubt that Smarty Jones would have won the 2010 edition of the race by daylight?

Speed wins races, not stamina. The former is measurable: S/he who is faster is speedier. The latter is subjective--a term typically but foolishly assigned to horses who win "distance" races, as if carrying 126 pounds for six furlongs in 1:08 isn't a showcase of stamina.

The Thoroughbred tradition is one of speed, and its greatest races, including the Belmont, are run in that same tradition.

Call this photo

The photo for show in the fourth race on Saturday, May 28 at Belmont Park is as tight as any photo I have ever seen that wasn't declared a dead heat.

Looking at the image above (or at the link provided), it's impossible for me tell which horse had his nose on the wire first, so I have to think that placing judges have better technology than just a photo.

Well, I have technology to manipulate a photo, and I still couldn't tell who won.

I blew this up and rotated it to focus only on the noses on the line. The outside horse is at left, and the inside horse is at right.

Before you go looking at the results to see who won, try to guess for yourself. I've already told you it's not a dead heat, which I actually think makes the guessing game harder since I'd have said it was if given that as an option.

Good luck!