Would the Real Hat Box, Please Stand Up?

Borrowed from Pinterest

A fancy "derby" hat begs for special transportation when boarding a plane for a trip to a horse race.
     "The large cardboard box that's my home in your closet, just won't cut it for an airplane ride", says the Hat.

Borrowed from Pinterest

Excitement built today as the quest began for the perfect hat box to transport my large, fancy top piece to Kentucky and opening day at Keeneland ....  The search was way more difficult than expected, but with the trusty internet - anything is possible, right?  After pursuing more than a couple online derby hat stores and not finding much, a Google search led to an interesting, hour-plus long pursuit. While hat retailers abound - selling everything from top hats, fedoras, bowlers, baseball caps, fancy feather adorned showpieces and fascinators - - actual hat boxes, or containers able to transport a hat with some size and opulence are way more difficult to find.

A "Hat Box" search led to lots of beautiful pictures and examples of artsy, vintage and attractive options for smaller hat storage on several websites.  Pinterest and Etsy offered exciting, lush hatbox images - but all unfortunately led to dead ends or to boxes that were either too small or too flimsy to do the travel job.

Samsonite 1950's from Etsy

So, the question is, how do people travel with fancy hats?  Short of wearing a fancy hat on your head en voyage or shipping it to your destination in advance, how do these valuable adornments get to race tracks around the world with feathers, bows and ribbons intact? A search for "Hat Shipping" led to nothing useful, although I am certain that someone would do this for a price...

Ebay and Amazon proved to offer a different avenue of options.  In addition to fancy cardboard types, a variety of vintage hat "suitcases" popped up with people selling relics of travel from the past.

American Tourister print advertising 1960's

 Finally.... a hat box "suitcase".  Back in the 1940's-1960's, Samsonite, American Tourister and a few other brands offered fashionable, sturdy hat "suitcases" - many with small lingerie compartments - for women looking for safe and convenient portability for their hats while traveling.  With the decline of hat wear, these suitcases have become difficult to find - but there are vintage pieces available.

The hat suitcase that has caught my fancy (and that could actually hold my largest hat) is American Tourister's 20" round hat case (also referred to as a "train" case) from the 1960's.  Vintage advertising showcases this as a very glam addition to any suitcase ensemble.  Very "Mad Men" ish!

Pinterest - I had the top two cases in purple.

This "find" also brought back a blast from my past as my first suitcase was a beautiful lavender American Tourister two-piece overnight-size suitcase and make-up travel case given to me as a gift from my Dad before I graduated from high school. Wish I still had them...

Ebay - Already Sold :(

So, I've narrowed my quest and with a little more searching hope to find my dear Hat a comfortable and safe "seat" for the upcoming plane ride....this vintage red case has me thinking ... now that's a REAL hat box!

The Field is Set ..... Odds and Post Positions for the Kentucky Derby

Whether you like to pick a horse by name, number, jockey, trainer, through an in-depth review of past performance or by a roll of the dice - now is the time to get serious and take a hard look at the line-up and make your picks! 

Earlier today post positions and morning line odds were established for the 20 horse line-up and this information is pretty important. Horse racing post positions are 1-20 for this race with the #1 spot being "on the rail" or on the very inside and the #20 taking the far outside spot.

Post Positions

California Chrome, the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby at 5-2 odds, drew a decent position in the number 5 slot.  He is expected to win this race and this position probably won't hurt him although anything can happen. 

The dreaded #1 inside position (a horse has not won the Derby from this post since 1986) goes to Vicar's in Trouble at 30-1 odds.  The far outside spots will be taken by a couple horses that have had some recent attention for their strong workout performance at the track - Ride on Curlin at #19 and Wicked Strong in the far outside #20 post position.

I've taken a wicked liking to Wicked Strong given the horse's ties to the two places I have lived most of my life - upstate New York and Boston, MA.  Wicked Strong (originally named Moyne Spun) was bred by Anne and Bill Lynn of Syracuse, NY and is part of their wonderful story which you can read more about here.  Less than two years ago the couple sold their horse to a Boston group who renamed him Wicked Strong as a tribute to those injured and killed in the bombing at last year's Boston Marathon.  In addition to these home town connections, I watched this stellar horse win the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct by 3 1/2 lengths earlier this month - this horse is ready to roll and can really run!  Not sure how this less-than-favorable post position will play out for him (only one horse has ever won from this spot) but may still put some of my money on him in an exotic bet.  Go Boston Strong!

Morning Line Odds

There are not a lot of favored horses in this big race which means that any one of them has a good chance to win and that the odds are favorable for placing some good pay-out bets.  Other than California Chrome at 5-2 odds, the only other horses that the handicapping experts have deemed worthy of below 10-1 odds are Hoppertunity at 6-1 and Wicked Strong at 8-1.  Of course all of this will change as soon as the betting begins and it will be interesting to see how this field of horses plays out.

My favorite jockey, Mike Smith (of his own and Zenyatta fame) will be jockeying Hoppertunity in this race.  Mike is a Hall of Fame, fantastic jockey and I always bet him to win (regardless of horse) as he more often than not wins his race regardless of odds.  In the #11 post position, his horse is perfectly placed close to the center to take off, break ahead of the pack and win the Derby.

20 fantastic horses in this race!  Check out Equibase for more information on horses, jockeys and trainers past performances.

Kentucky Derby Cheat Sheet

Created by America's Best Racing Brand Ambassadors, this cheat sheet does a great job of outlining "what you want to know" about the upcoming Kentucky Derby scheduled for Saturday, May 3 at Churchill Downs.  This article gives a nice overview of each 3 year old contender providing info on jockey, trainer, earnings, racing style and more all in one place.

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire

Now, I'd really like this job!  As part of an ongoing commitment to new fan development, America’s Best Racing (ABR) launched an effort last year to increase interest in the lifestyle and competition of America’s high profile Thoroughbred races and big event days across the country. 

Six brand ambassadors were selected who have met with media outlets and have had appearances on college campuses, in high-traffic areas and strategic locations to help attract a younger audience to the sport of horse racing.  While I haveabsolutely no issue with the 50-70 year old male patrons who dominate the horse racing grandstands and clubhouses, it sure would be nice to build attendance of the younger crowd!

2014 Official Breeders' Cup Logo Introduced with a Touch of Hollywood

A new logo for the 2014 Breeder's Cup was introduced today incorporating a ribbon of movie film rolling through the center of the image and a feeling of Hollywood.  The Breeder's Cup is a grand event and this will be the 8th time and third consecutive year that Santa Anita (Arcadia, CA; 30 minutes away from Los Angeles) will be the site for the annual races.

"The 31st Breeders’ Cup will be televised live by the NBC Sports Group, climaxing with the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be broadcast live and in primetime on NBC on Saturday, November 1." For more details and to read the full press release, link here.


With the beautiful San Gabriel mountains as a backdrop, Santa Anita is considered by many to be the world's most beautiful race track.  Santa Anita Park was designed in the art deco style and first opened on Christmas Day in 1934. In close proximity to Los Angeles, SantaAnita attracted many movie stars to its seats during the hey day of horse racing and still manages to garner the attention of the Hollywood scene today.  This is a fancy hat place, especially on Breeders' Cup Weekend.

The 2014 Kentucky Derby Horses

30 days until the running of the 140th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3 and here is the complete list of contenders, rankings and total points earned to date.    

• Kentucky Oaks
• Kentucky Derby 

Happy Birthday Zenyatta & Z13!

Queen Zenyatta and her second colt Z13 (yet to be named) are sharing a birthday today at Lanes End Farm.  Zenyatta is now 10 years old and Z13 is celebrating his first birthday. 

Happy Birthday to you two!

Superstar 2012 Foals.... Here they Come!

Cozmic One trains at Mayberry Farm in Florida.

Jess's Dream and Cozmic One in Training

It still could be another year or so before we see them on the tote board, but Jess's Dream (Rachel Alexandra's first colt) and my personal interest, Cozmic One (Zenyatta's first colt) are being readied for the big race course.  Here's an excellent update from the Daily Racing Form....