The Outside Rail

As the Maryland Jockey Club’s Dave Joseph put it, “Lots of good writing today, right? You’ve got the mist and all that.”

Right. Mist. Atmosphere. And one pretty cool horse.

There were three naked, hot, wet women in my car Sunday. If that doesn’t make you keep reading, nothing will. But, sorry, that’s as risqué as this gets. The women – Sam Clancy, Julie DeFelice and Cathy Roelke – ran Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run Sunday morning in the rain and cold and rain and cold and rain and cold.

It’s 2:23 on the last Saturday of April in Maryland’s Worthington Valley just north of Baltimore. In less than an hour, the 13 horses in the Maryland Hunt Cup will leave for the paddock. Let’s walk the shedrow.

Can you hang black bunting on an auto-repair shop? That’s what I think about every time I drive past Fair Hill Auto, the local place where cars get fixed and stories get told.

What a difference four and a half days make. The buses are headed north, home from sunny Florida and Disney. The band’s performance went great, so did the choir’s concert. But, man, these kids are quiet. No movies, no jokes, no conversations, everybody (OK, probably not everybody) is asleep.

The wifi stinks, so does the legroom. The movie choices are odd (the credits to Lilo and Stitch are rolling). There are two kids in Disney character snuggies (maybe) across the aisle. Four rows in front of me, Leonard the bus driver just keeps on steering – straight and steady. He’s with us until Florence, S.C., where his relief awaits. He’ll get eight hours sleep and drive home in the morning. We’ll keep on heading south.

“All right, you **********ers . . . I don’t want to see anything but elbows and **** flying.” With that bellow, from the top of the narrow stairway to the lower barn, and those well-placed profanities, Lonnie Fuller announced the beginning of storm preparations.

Joe, you’re doing a great job with your blog.