Thank you Cat

[Classy]

I just wanted to give Cat and Mr. Cat a Big Thank you for keeping most of us in touch with there forum Horsepatties!!!!! Now we have a couple good forum to stay in touch!!

[Moegray]

Will happily second that big THANK YOU - a couple of the bestest, nicest people could ever hope to - well it's hard to splain in words, but those who know them will know what am talkin about !!

[ScrapingThePaint]

And I will "third" that.

Horsepatties.com is a great site with a great forum. And they support a very good cause: Second Stride.

[Diver52]

Hooh?

Why?

Well, despite being one of the Uninvited. . .hope to see the Cats soon, not to mention GC.. . my friend and I were hovering all around the elevator to Frontrunners on SA Derby Day hoping to find GC and friends and slope along. . .despite our very visible Secretariat Tshirts, no luck. . .

[CatThiefofKy]

Thanks Classy, Moe, STP and Diver. It was strange timing that my husband was creating a website to help Second Stride raise money when the DMFF was first closed. When I told him about this forum closing, he was happy to add a section for us to continue our racing discussions and friendships.

No one was meant to be "Uninvited." My email system went down shortly before Kent started the website, so the only people I could tell about the website were those who had recently emailed me; mostly those who have helped Second Stride, belonged to the Thoroughbred Club I belong to, or were also co-owners with me in horse partnerships. I apologize if anyone here felt left out, that was not my intention. I just didn't have access to many people's emails to send them info about the new racing forum. But quite a few other DMFFers found us, and we were glad to add them to our little group, and have made some new friends.

Kent will leave the website up, as long as it continues to be active. If anyone here would like to join us, you are more than welcome. Since the horse racing forum is connected to Second Stride, it is moderated, and not a place for personal attacks on other posters, or personal attacks on people who make their living in the horse racing industry. The intent is for it to be a place that helps to build up racing, not tear it down. Racing, especially in Kentucky, is struggling right now, and I don't want to be a part of something that contributes to further problems. I am happy to say the 50 or so members at the new site have been great, not always agreeing, but doing so in way that is respectful, so I know that is possible. We were just glad to have a place to talk horses with others who shared our passion for racing.

Kent's original goal was to create a website to raise money for Second Stride. So I am also happy to say that has happened as well. In the past few months, several hundred dollars were donated to Second Stride through the site, as entry fees in various contests, helping Second Stride to bring in and adopt out 9 retired thoroughbreds (and one shetland pony ) during that time. I hope to continue to host handicapping contests to raise money for Second Stride, as our needs grow, and sources of funding shrinks in this tight economy, that is a no-cost way for us to raise much needed funds. With Mary's permission, I hope to be able to post about the future charity handicapping contests, with the hopes of providing a fun way for handicappers to win nice racing related items, while helping to find new careers for retired TB's.

Now that this site is back up, I expect most of Kent's site's members will be back posting here. So I just want to thank you all for your support of Second Stride, and helping Kent get his site started. Your participation and patience, as he worked out the many bugs is very much appreciated. He doesn't have a background in computers, so it was many late nights trying to figure out how to get the site up and running. He is done with the chatbots, vBookie races, etc, and has moved on to other ventures. But he will help me keep the forum going, as long as folks continue to post there. I know I was glad to have a place to post about GC's, Traveller's, and my Derby Week adventures with Mine That Bird and Company. And although I don't think we convinced anyone else to bet him, our streak of finding the Derby winner because of time spent on the backside continues. I am guessing next year, should the connections of another 50-1 shot invite us over to meet their horse, a few forum readers might toss a few bucks on him, just in case. And I appreciated the other posters sharing their stories, and posting interesting articles, and keeping me up to date when things were too busy for me to spend much time online reading about horses. So thanks to all of you too. I will continue to post my long trip reports, Thoroughbred Club meeting updates, etc. on Kent's site, but plan on visiting here as well, as I feel more comfortable with the new DMFF.

And I do hope to set a regular schedule of fun handicapping contests, to benefit Second Stride on Kent's site. The grants we have recieved in the past are now only wanting to fund the larger charities, as many of the small ones are failing. It is ironic in our case, because we limit the number of horses we take in to be sure we can adequately care for them, no matter how long it takes to place them. By limiting our numbers, we are sure not to fail, but it also means we won't get as many grants that could help us increase the number of horses we can care for at one time. Our facility can house many more horses than we currently have. Many horses are on our waiting list who need to come in. But we won't bring more in until we are sure we can fund them, and we are penalized for that, ...... a viscious circle I guess. But we are still happy to do what we can do, and appreciate all the help we have had from the horseplayers/fans on the DMFF and Kent's forum.

If anyone is interested in an additional forum, here is where the horse racing forum is on Kent's site:

http://www.horsepatties.com/forum/

The Horse Players (Public) is the section we have been using. There is also a public section where Second Stride has begun to post updates about our horses, so folks can see exactly who their donations are helping.


PS.. I may have accidently "reported" Diver's post when trying to quote it...still figuring out to how to use this board. But didn't mean to report the post....

[Ogygian]

Cat:

Your posts are always great, and I know that the work that you do in raising badly needed funds for Second Stride is awesome as well.

Your contributions to the DMFF have been enormous as well. Your trip reports are legendary, and you hang w/a good group in here as well (Traveller, etc).

[Classy]

Cat you are a class act and I for one will be using both forums! MTB was my pick for the Derby too!! How lucky you where to be there and to meet him and his connections. Thank you for all your help in helping horses after the race and keeping friends together!

[Syncopate]

Cat you are a class act and I for one will be using both forums! MTB was my pick for the Derby too!! How lucky you where to be there and to meet him and his connections. Thank you for all your help in helping horses after the race and keeping friends together!

Couldn't have put it better-