Me and Frances Albert

WWFD is not a fire department. What Would Frankie Do (WWFD) is my new motto when it comes to handicapping the next month or so of horse racing. OK, maybe I’m on a music kick where I may be a little obsessed about Frank Sinatra right now, but I’m thinking that cool, breezy attitude that Frankie had, would serve me well with my Kentucky Derby bets. Hey, I think I’d Have the World on a String, if my thinking comes true. So let’s take it Nice and Easy.

First of all, old blue eyes is not putting a sugar solution and a mint sprig into a fine lowball glass full of bourbon, ice and a splash of water. Maybe he’ll ask for a twist of lemon. Mint juleps are for dames as the Chairman of the Board would say. Me? I’ll have what’s he’s having. Remember with me, it’s All or Nothing at All.

I have scoured what’s left of the papers, the hot sheets, Horse Racing Nation and now I’m thinking that The Best is yet to Come, but I’m likely to go up to the betting window and say Something Stupid if I’m not careful. Sure, it’s easy to say Forget Domani (tomorrow), but I’m really looking to qualify the best pick and then place the bet on him as if it were April in Paris, but it’s May in Kentucky and I’m looking to make some money.

Speaking of dames, we have the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. I’m hoping that one of my girls is a winner rather than looking like the Lady is a Tramp. I’m seeing My Miss Sophia or Sugar Shock for the Kentucky Oaks. Luck Be a Lady is what I want to scream, but I’ll say it at the window with a vote of green back confidence. I want to win big and forget the World We Knew. So remember this, if you want to stay Young At Heart, bet big-win big, so Come Fly with Me to the $5 dollar window. You’ll know that I’m the winner when I yell Fly Me to the Moon, because I can finally afford it.

As the April rains bleed into the month of May, I have decided to go with My Miss Sophia in the Oaks. I hope she’ll Make Me Feel So Young, so I can once again run to the window and collect. Yes, Frank Sinatra is gone, but he left many examples of how to gamble and stay cool From Here to Eternity. In the Kentucky Oaks, Sinatra and I are going with My Miss Sophia to the point where I’m ready to Tell Her That I Love Her.

When I was 17, it was a Very Good Year for the Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew in 1977. And I have a feeling that Louisville will be My Kind of Town lasting though June when that Summer Wind that blows in from across the bay at Belmont in good old New York, New York. There is a part of me that thinks that Wicked Strong has a chance, but then I watch the replays of California Chrome’s three year old campaign and I think hey, That’s Life. So I’m going with who should be the morning line favorite, California Chrome. Remember, you go your way and I’ll go My Way, should you not like my choice.

I will go up to my virtual betting window with California Chrome Under My Skin. I’ll dance once again down the Road to Mandalay with a win ticket and an exacta of Wicked Strong and Chrome, boxed. (just in case) I know, I know, you think they are going to be Strangers in the Night at the finish line, and that’s cool. We’ll have to see. Softly as I Leave You, with Frankie on the ‘record player’ and with that swinging beat, all I can say is Happy Kentucky Day and it’s Just in Time…Riders Up!