M.E. Altieri

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• Posted Oklahoma Loses Horses. The Racing Community Can Care, or Simply, "Like." to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  I'm writing this article with tears in my eyes,  and an enormous rip in my heart.  I hope that you will take the time to read it all,  and embrace what I'm feeling--and what I'm asking of you, as lovers...
• Posted Orb. ORB. ORB! Will He Do it? Does it Matter? to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  I'm a rabid Orb-lover.  I bet him in the Kentucky Derby, because I knew--I just knew--that he'd win.  I knew I wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage with my winnings, but I wanted to know that I knew.  You...
• Posted Whinnying Colors by Fan Favorites: Your Chance to Own an Original Moneigh to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  This is an event that you should attend, virtually.I didn't write the article, below--I merely took the press release, and edited it.  (I'm obsessive--you should know me by now.  I never just "look at" something--I have to mess around with...
• Posted Mad Men in the 21st Century? Horse Racing Advertisers Forget Their Largest Audience. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  On Kentucky Derby Day, I arrived at Lenny and Patti's house, ready to rock.I plopped down onto their comfy sofa, sipped from my Coke, and jumped into the lively pre-Derby conversation.  OTB tickets distributed, we three launched ourselves into the...
• Posted No f!llies in the Kentucky Derby: American Horse Racing Runs Backward, with a Bullet. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Happy Kentucky Derby Day, readers.  Enjoy your Derby celebration--have a great time, wear big or goofy hats, scream at the TV, to urge your horse around the second turn.  Celebrate our beautiful sport.  But remember, please, that the best horse--the...
• Posted NYRA Gallops in the Right Direction: Eric Wing is in Da House. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  When Dan Silver left his post as Director of Communications & Media Relations at NYRA (New York Racing Association) last October, I was devastated.I love Dan:  over the years he'd become a valued colleague and trusted Friend--a *genuine* Friend, the kind...
• Posted Gary Contessa for NYRA CEO--YES, a REAL Horseman at the Helm. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  I put this article under the category, Horse Sense because, really...this is a sensible, intelligent argument.A couple of months ago, immediately after hearing that Ellen McClain was relinquishing the reins of NYRA, I sent an email to a NYRA Board...
• Posted The Dubai Kahayla Classic: the Horse Race Americans Won't Get to See on Dubai World Cup Day. :( to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  You know, I don't write much or often about actual races--I'm not a turf writer, per se.  My "beat," so to speak, seems to be the stuff that others don't deem to be very important.My role in horse racing often...
• Posted Whoa, Nelly! Black Caviar as the Archetype of the Strong, Capable Female to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  By now, every horse racing fan on Earth has heard of Black Caviar--the uber-horse from Australia who's won 24 races in a row, as of today.  (25 March 2013)  This record has not been equaled in over 100 years of...
• Commented on So God Made a Horse: Please Pray for Rachel Alexandra.
  Oh, wow, Joani. What you wrote is so beautiful, I'm moved to tears. YOUR heart and words say it all--about Rachel, about the Lord--I can add nothing, only thank you so much for sharing the contents of your soul with...
• Posted So God Made a Horse: Please Pray for Rachel Alexandra. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, a day in the lives of many Christians when we go to church to have ashes put on our foreheads, as a priest reminds us that we came from dust, and to dust we shall return.Sounds...
• Posted National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Celebrates Black History Month, and You're Invited. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  February is Black History Month here in the United States, and no other industry owes such a great debt of gratitude to the contributions of African-Americans than horse racing.  On February 12th, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of...
• Posted American Friends of The Brooke: an Opportunity to Turn Good Intentions into Action. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Dear readers,I'm weeping as I write this.  I mean, I'm crying my guts out.  This is not an easy piece for me to pen, because I'm so affected by the pictures and stories to which I've been exposed recently.  Stories...
• Posted Hay, F!llies and Mares! A Shout-Out to Women Who Love Horse Racing to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  If I had a nickel for every time I've witnessed a woman or a girl whispering, gushing, smiling or musing about a horse--I'd be the wealthiest person on Earth.We womenfolk have a relationship with horses that's so deeply-rooted, so intimate,...
• Posted Belmont Stakes 2012: Shell Shock, and My Best Horse Racing Experience, EVER. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Those of you dear readers who know me, know that I've been a fan of horse racing for a long time.  As in, half-a-century.  I began riding American Quarter Horses when I was four years old, and my Mother and...
• Posted Anticapping, Day Two: Let's See How Saturday Goes... to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  No pussyfooting around tonight...here are my good vibe / horse-lovin' / touchy-feely picks forSaratoga Race CourseSaturday, 4 August 2012...
• Posted Anticapping, Day One: Report from the Front to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  OK, so apparently going with the gut ain't half bad.  I picked at least one horse in nine of the 10 races today.  Honestly, I don't keep track of how well real handicappers are doing, so I have no idea...
• Posted Anticapping: Picking Horses, for Those Who Just Wanna Have Fun to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Back in the proverbial saddle, I've decided to surrender to the Truth: that I am not a handicapper.  I'm the Anti-capper, as it were.  I think that speed figures are voodoo.  And we all know that I don't believe that...
• Posted "Flying Change..." by Patrick Smithwick: Guts. Glory. GREAT Book. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Every now and then, someone writes a book that I love.  Less-often, someone pens a tome to which I can relate, directly, and cry my way through to the end. "Flying Change:  A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing"  by...
• Posted BlueApplePuceHo in the Third? Respectful Horse Names Only, Please... to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  I am fascinated by popular culture:  the fact that so many nice, otherwise-intelligent people have (or make) the time to follow "reality" shows (which have nothing to do with reality, at all), and to give a tiny rat's patootie about...
• Posted Handicapping for Poets: Want Fun? Forget What You Know, Bet What You Feel. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  I'm not a professional handicapper, but I play one on the Internet.I've never been a scientific sort:  things like speed figures don't make sense to me.  And past performances, I defenestrate them, too, because--as y'all must know about me, by...
• Posted Book Review: "Six Weeks in Saratoga," by Brendan O'Meara to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  SIX WEEKS IN SARATOGAHow Three-Year-Old Filly Rachel Alexandra Beat the Boys and Became Horse of the Yearby Brendan O'MearaISBN13:  ISBN13: 978-1-4384-3941-9Excelsior Editions (State University of New York Press, Albany, New York, 257 pages, $27)I like writing book reviews, because I love reading...
• Posted Saratoga Race Course: Field of Dreams. Still. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Last September, I posted this on this 'site.  My wrap-up for the Saratoga season.  But the season is about to begin again, and I feel compelled to remind myself (and maybe you) why Saratoga--America's oldest and most revered race course--is...
• Posted How to Grow Horse Racing? Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Opening Day 2012 at Saratoga Race Course is upon us.  This exciting time of year actually makes me pensive, as I consider once again ways to help grow our sport.  I write about this industry, and I love the horses and...
• Posted Horse Racing: Why do I Love This Sport? Well... to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  A couple of weeks ago, I had occasion to call (Thoroughbred) Hall of Fame Trainer, Leroy Jolley.  We ended up talking for about 25 minutes, and I came away with a thought that I need to share with you....
• Posted Beauty. Speed. Endurance. Heart. Americans, Meet the Arabian Horse. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  The Dubai World Cup is the richest collection of races on Earth, and yesterday's show at the magnificent Meydan Racecourse was no disappointment.  Americans who love horse racing were glued to their TVs from the very first minute of the...
• Posted Have You Shivered Today? Watch this ad for the Dubai World Cup. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  I am up to my eyeballs in deadlines today--which is precisely why I need to take a break, and write about something that reminds me why I do what I do.Allow me to take you to into a timewarp--we're going...
• Posted Horse Racing Loses One of Our Own: Davy Jones, 1945 - 2012. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  You have to understand that I did not expect my world to be turned upside-down today. I hunkered down to work in my home office, while outside a snowstorm bore down on me. I was quite fine.  Drinking coffee, gathering...
• Posted 2012: The Year of Seattle Slew. to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  Happy Birthday, Seattle Slew!  The mighty warrior horse was foaled on 15 February 1974 at Ben Castleman's White Horse Acres Farm near Lexington, Kentucky--and on his strong back he took millions of people for the ride of our lives.  This...
• Posted HBO's "Luck": Good, Bad or Ugly? to Saratoga Horse Racing Blog: Mairzy Doats By The Alpha Mare Marion Altieri
  HBO has introduced a new series, "Luck," -- I'm sure that every racing fan on Earth--well, OK, at least in the U.S.--is aware of this, and watched the show.   We tuned in if for no other reason than the...