Well, this year has been so extraordinary, something so beyond my wildest dreams, that I want to start recording as much as I can of it. Thing is, a horse like Street Sense, if you're really, really lucky, comes along once in a lifetime. I think it's time to share the experience, insofar as I'm able. It's a great story to tell, but only because of the greatness of the animal.

And, as if winning the Breeders Cup Juvenile and the Derby weren't enough (they are), I'm lucky enough to be able to travel with this remarkable, fascinating, superlative, intelligent and occassionally maddening (OK, maybe more than occassionally) racehorse to Saratoga Springs, New York for a six week adventure as he chases the Jim Dandy and Travers Stakes. I'll help take care of him, which means, mostly, I'll walk him around in great big circles. More on that and what else I'll be doing, later.

I've learned more about horses from this one guy than I ever expected I would.

I help take care of racehorses because I love the animals and the game, so there'll be more to this story than the champ (we're taking 12 horses with us), but he's the reason I get to pack up my hound Zoe (Dog of Power and Horse Warder Extraordinaire, when she's not asleep) and my belongings and trek to the Far North.

This'll be the first time in my 6 year involvement in racing that I've left home, work and family and just been a racetracker. And, Saratoga is quite the place to be one, from what I've heard. Much of the excitement of this trip comes from hearing story after story about the Spa, and wondering what it's actually going to be like. So, some of what I'll post here will be about the inevitable encounters with racetrack characters (many of whom are more or less straight out of "Cannery Row") and whatever oddball stories I hear or about or, heaven forbid, become a part of.

Well, that's the first post, my "mission statement", if you will, to tell stories about Street and his relatives, about the game, about caring for the critters, and about the track, the people and the passion of horseracing. The game is, to me, the most beautiful, primal, romantic, heart-rending and sublime of human and animal undertakings and I'm excited to communicate what I can about it.