A beautiful day at the Great Race Place…

Oh, that Art Deco glory…

They’re at your service!

This oddly perspective-d mural has been there as long as I can remember…

Behold, the scorched earth of the Eaton Canyon Fire.

In the shadow of the burned hills, the races go on!

Lead ponies…

The beautiful Clubhouse…

Johnny Longden, Bill Shoemaker, Laffit Pincay, and Chris McCarron. The greats. I was privileged to see them all. Well, I saw Longden present a trophy, so that counts.

The statuary is just one of the elements that makes this place such a treasure…

An olive tree that’s probably original to the place…

Zenyatta, the Queen of Racing…

Carriage horse Sally getting a foot bath…

Movie Review: Stagecoach (1939)

This is a seminal movie in the history of film, and for good reason: the cast, storytelling, and cinematography are spectacular and ground-breaking for the time. John Wayne is sensational in his breakthrough role as is Thomas Mitchell (Scarlett O’Hara’s dad and George Bailey’s Uncle Billy) as a drunken doctor at the end of his rope. There’s a shot in here of an Indian shooting and re-loading his gun on a running horse that my dad excitedly pointed out to me the first time I watched it. Thanks, Daddy, for introducing me to this, and so many other classics.